Bally’s Corp. chairman Soo Kim says the gaming entity is close to obtaining the funds needed to build an important aspect of the land surrounding the Athletics’ Las Vegas ballpark.
Kim said the money would be used to build the northwest podium of the gaming company’s multi-phase mixed-use project that is planned be built on the 24 acres that will accompany the $2 billion stadium, which is being built on a separate 9 acres of the 35-acre site, located on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.
The multilevel podium is expected to feature food and beverage, dining and entertainment options before and after A’s games and attract visitors to the site on non-event days. Bally’s is keeping the A’s and the landowner of the site, Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc., informed of the progress of their Las Vegas plans.
‘We are close’
“Still a few details to be worked out,” Kim told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Sunday via email. “The good news is that we are close. We understand that it’s important that the podium be built in time for spring 2028 opener and we are in close dialogue with the A’s and the landlord GLPI to make sure that we will all be ready for it.”
GLPI owns the land, which Bally’s leases, with the ownership of the 9 acres the stadium is being built on set to be transferred to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, the public entity that will own the ballpark.
The first phase of the Bally’s project was also set to include a central utility plant that would serve the A’s ballpark and Bally’s project, a 2,500-stall parking garage and the multilevel plaza, which were to be ready for the opening of the stadium in 2028. Future phases of Bally’s project include a hotel and casino, more retail and dining space and a 2,500-seat theater. In total, Bally’s project was estimated to carry a cost of $1.1 billion.
In May, A’s vice chairman Sandy Dean said that the team was tentatively planning for the possibility of opening the ballpark without any phase of Bally’s project being completed. Then it was noted that the central utility plant would be built in two phases, one mainly serving the A’s stadium and a future phase to be utilized by Bally’s. Dean also noted that the A’s would build a scaled-down version of the parking garage, planned for the southeast corner of the site, which could be added to once Bally’s project was ready to come online and the extra parking would be needed.
The main entrance to the ballpark will be 38 feet above ground level, and the A’s had plans to create a temporary plaza area that would located below the main stadium area, where fans would need to take escalators to reach the entry of the stadium, should Bally’s not build the multilevel podium in time for Opening Day 2028.
To get the elevated plaza built in unison with the ballpark, the permits for the work will need to be submitted by September, with groundbreaking in November, Dean said in May.
A’s ballpark moves along
As Bally’s works to secure the necessary funding for the first phase of their project, construction of the A’s ballpark moves steadily along.
The A’s have spent well over $400 million on the project already, with construction surpassing the one-year mark in June The framing of the seating areas for all four levels of the stadium now stretches around the entirety of the 9 acres. Concrete has been poured on the majority of the second level deck, with concrete also being poured on portions of the third and fourth levels.
The installation of the stadia, or precast concrete seating risers, began at the ballpark last month. Crews have added the stadia to portions of two levels of seating as of Monday morning.
The first steel roof truss arch was completed last month, with the next arch set to be installed starting next week. The massive steel arches, with the largest spanning 700 feet long and being located 290 feet above the field.
The next update on the stadium project and the status of Bally’s funding will be heard at the Aug. 20 Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
