Howto prep for big-time sports
Real estate group sees boost in land values
Southern Nevada real estate professionals already have seen indications of an anticipated climb in local land values as a result of Las Vegas’ leap into big-league status.
“Building a Big League City” was the theme of a forecast event for the Southern Nevada chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate organization, and the group on Thursday dissected issues with a panel representing the marketing side of arriving teams, a keynote speaker from Denver who witnessed a major turnaround for downtown
Denver as a result of the construction of Coors Field and a panel of real estate professionals examining the region’s transition.
“The Raiders stadium project has spurred values in the area,“said panelist Travis Nelson, vice president and commercial sales manager for First American Title.
He said a 2.5-acre parcel just north of the stadium site recently closed for $7.25 million.
“I think it’s also spurred a lot of activity on South Las Vegas Boulevard,” he said.
The stadium project as well
BIG LEAGUE
and Economic Research director Stephen Miller previously told the Review-journal. Less than 30 percent of the workers in Nevada have bachelor’s degrees.
On Thursday, Miller said it made sense for Seattle-based Amazon to look on the East Coast for the second headquarters site. Sixteen of the 20 finalists lie east of the Mississippi River.
“Thus, Las Vegas did not stand much of a chance,” he said.
Paul Anderson, the incoming director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, which worked on Nevada’s proposal, said Amazon has nearly 4,000 employees in the state, including those at Las Vegas-based subsidiary Zappos.
“We expect to continue to grow that relationship,” Anderson said.
Amazon could employ as many as 50,000 people in and around the location it chooses.
Besides looking for financial incentives, Amazon said it wanted proximity to a metropolitan area with more than a million people, a talented workforce, a location within 45 minutes of an international airport, direct access to mass transit and the ability to expand the second headquarters to as much as 8 million square feet in the next decade.
The company had already made a noticeable investment in its Las Vegas Valley presence with a new fulfillment center that opened in August. Tax incentives helped to recruit a local presence for the company.
Nevada’s attempt to lure Amazon included social media campaigns and a nearly five-minute promotional video with scenes of the Strip and reference to the area’s healing after the Oct. 1 shooting.
Contact Wade Tyler Millward at wmillward@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4602. Follow @wademillward on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.