With the team now reaching the $600-million mark in spending on a new Vegas A’s ballpark, the most unexpected issues in the development have not been posed by the Athletics, but by development partner Bally’s.
Athletics ownership confirmed the team has spent $600 to date on the $2 billion ballpark project, with two of the six roof trusses already installed and the remainder expected to be installed before the end of the year. Full installation of the six trusses will launch the installation of the roof panels. The precast seat risers have been installed on the main level, with upper level installations next. Other interior work–drywall, framing, masonry–has begun. The anticipated opening date for the new Vegas A’s ballpark is 2027.
Ironically, the construction proceeds on schedule and on budget, according to Athletics officials–quite the accomplishment considering how many pundits (pro and otherwise) were predicting the project would fail. And, also ironically, the only roadblocks experienced on the project have had nothing to do with the ballpark itself or the team; they are directly related to development partner Bally’s.
When the Athletics came to an agreement on a new ballpark on the site of the old Tropicana Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, the team’s status was considered to be considerably more tenuous than the state of things at Bally’s; after all, a resort and casino was considered to be a much surer bet than an expensive facility housing the third major league team in a small market. And what Bally’s proposed to built on the old Trop site alongside the ballpark wasn’t exactly extravagant. The plan for Bally’s Las Vegas: two hotel towers—one with 1,800 rooms, one with 1,200 rooms—built around a 56,000-square-foot casino with 1,500 slots, 75 table games and a sizable 16,500-square-foot sportsbook. Add to that a triple-level, 2,500-square-foot theater and 500,000 square feet of retail, entertainment and dining. Some elements of the complex will be split: One parking ramp would open with the new ballpark, one with the resort, while a shared power plant has been divided into two power plants, one serving the ballpark and one the resort.
Since that original proposal, however, Bally’s has scaled back expectations, abandoning the initial plan for the parking garage and joint utility plant, leaving it up to the Athletics to pick up the slack. According to AP, Bally’s was unable to finalize financing for the plaza until recently and reportedly discussed a sale of the plaza and mixed-use development to a third party. Right now Bally’s is planning to move forward with the plaza and the rest of the development.
Photo courtesy of the Athletics, via the ballpark construction cam.
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