Las Vegas casino: Proposed north Strip resort project gets green light

With little debate, commissioners, acting on a series of zoning matters, green-lighted the multibillion-dollar LVXP project between the Sahara and Fontainebleau resorts.

Before the vote, company executives gave a brief presentation about the project and said it is continuing to meet with homeowners in the nearby Turnberry Place about concerns they’ve raised on the project.

LVXP, a team of Las Vegas-based real estate developers planning the project that has no name or price tag, has said the resort would take four years to build and that traffic and drainage studies would be among the first matters completed as the project proceeds.

But the developers are first working with Turnberry residents who fear the high-rise project would block views from their own condominium units.

“I think every large project is going to have its adversity to be able to make its way through public opinion,” LVXP Chief Construction Officer Nick Tomasino said after the meeting.

“I think it’s an absolute win-win for the community and for the development itself,” he said. “And bottom line, the commission unanimously approved it going forward. Based on today’s vote, the commission also shares our opinion. We think it’s going to have a great economic impact and at the end of the day we’re going to all stand back several years from now looking back to this day and enjoy the beautiful new development.”

He noted the project would result in thousands of construction and permanent facility jobs and there would be millions of dollars in tax benefits for all Clark County residents.

Paul Buller, president of the Turnberry Place Community Association, sent a four-page letter to commissioners and Tomasino listing eight concerns about the project.

Among the concerns Buller listed were dust mitigation and dragging dirt onto Paradise Road during construction, draining water from the site during underground excavations, bright flashing signage from the resort, the overuse of additional traffic signals, particularly for arena game days, and avoiding late-night construction noise. He also voiced concern about financing being in place before construction begins to avoid a situation like the early days of Fontainebleau which sat dormant for years after the Great Recession halted construction on that project.

Tomasino said his company agreed to work with homeowners on every issue except late-night construction hours. He said during summer months, it would be difficult for construction workers to be expected to work daytime hours on hot days and night construction would be a necessity.

FAA clearance

Commissioners also asked about whether the Federal Aviation Administration had cleared the project’s height restrictions. Company officials said they have that clearance, including the added height of construction cranes during construction.

The LVXP project is the second in Southern Nevada involving construction of an NBA-ready arena, even though the National Basketball Association has not committed to bringing a franchise to Las Vegas.

Experts say bringing a team to Las Vegas is expected, but where it would land is unclear.

Representatives of the Oak View Group have discussed building a 20,000-seat NBA-ready arena at a resort planned at Interstate 15 and Blue Diamond Road, but there are numerous reports unconfirmed by the company that it intends to move instead to vacant land near the Rio hotel-casino.