Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley has thrown her support behind a 50-acre site adjacent to AREA15 that developer Fisher Brothers is pitching as a future home for an NBA expansion franchise, with the proposal envisioning an arena anchoring a mixed-use entertainment and retail district just west of Interstate 15. The site sits next to the 30-acre AREA15 complex, which has drawn more than 17 million visitors since opening in 2020 and includes over 600,000 square feet of immersive retail and entertainment space.
Berkley called the project an exceptional location for a future NBA franchise and a transformative investment, according to FOX5 Vegas, which first reported her endorsement. Las Vegas Mayor Pro Tem Olivia Diaz, who represents Ward 3 where the property sits, also voiced support for the arena and sports district vision, according to the same report. Both officials have acknowledged that league officials and a future team ownership group will ultimately decide where any franchise plays, but they are encouraging serious consideration of the Fisher Brothers proposal.
A Crowded Field of Suitors
The AREA15 pitch lands as the NBA narrows its Las Vegas expansion search to three finalist ownership groups: Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley paired with Jerry Colangelo, according to reporting cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Fisher Brothers CEO Winston Fisher told the paper his firm owns 80 total acres in the area, with the proposed 18,000- to 20,000-seat arena specifically situated on land between AREA15 and Palace Station. The company has confirmed it formally submitted its site proposal directly to the NBA and has held preliminary talks with bidding ownership groups about serving as their development partner, positioning itself as flexible on arena size depending on what an eventual owner needs.
Fisher Brothers is pitching itself as a real estate partner rather than a franchise bidder, and the company says the site comes with infrastructure already in place. Per the proposal deck, the property is shovel-ready with municipal support and existing economic incentives, and it sits within a designated redevelopment area and federal opportunity zone. Fisher Brothers reports $18 million in completed site improvements, including a new 16-inch water main meeting Las Vegas Valley Water District standards and a new 21-inch sewer main along the frontage capable of flow rates up to 3.3 million gallons per day. A masterplan umbrella agreement also secures 40.5 megavolt-amperes of dedicated power capacity, and the tourism improvement district program has authorized $140 million in economic incentives tied to the area.
Location, Timeline and Money at Stake
The site sits near Rancho Drive, Sahara Avenue, Desert Inn Road and Spring Mountain Road, and the proposal pitches it as about seven minutes from roughly 150,000 Strip hotel rooms and within a 20-minute drive of 2.4 million residents. Fisher Brothers, founded in 1915, manages $6.1 billion in assets and encompasses more than 8 million square feet of commercial and residential property across New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami, and the company has said it is flexible on structure and open to partnering with potential franchise owners.
The financial stakes of any winning bid are enormous. The expansion fee alone is estimated at $12 billion to $13 billion, with a new arena expected to cost another $2 billion to $3 billion. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said that while T-Mobile Arena — home to the Vegas Golden Knights and suggested by bidder Bill Foley — has been floated as an option, the venue would require significant improvements to serve as a permanent NBA facility, per comments reported by Lindy's Sports. The NBA was targeting a start as early as the 2028-29 season for prospective Las Vegas and Seattle expansion franchises, according to WMBD.
Competing Pitches Keep Piling Up
Fisher Brothers is far from the only party chasing this prize. Resorts World Las Vegas has also been listed among potential sites. Oak View Group previously announced plans for a $10 billion, 66-acre sports and entertainment campus with a 20,000-seat NBA-ready arena south of the Strip near Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, a proposal that dates back to June 2023. Caesars and VICI have also pitched an arena behind three Las Vegas casinos, as previously reported by Hoodline.
World Market Center has also been identified as a potential site for a Las Vegas arena. Separately, Magic Johnson met with Governor Joe Lombardo to advocate for landing a Las Vegas franchise. With league officials still weighing finalist ownership groups and competing arena sites scattered from downtown to the North Strip, where any future team ultimately plays remains an open question that the NBA and a winning owner, not the city, will decide.
