August 03, 2009

Vegas arena dead

In case you were wondering what ever happened to that Las Vegas basketball arena that got preliminary approval two years ago, well, it's dead, a victim of the collapsing economy and, quite likely, what was a nebulous financing plan from the start. Just listen to the Las Vegas Sun's report:

At a June 2007 council meeting, an REI Neon official promised the developers would be able to tap the deep financial pockets of "multiple billionaires." At one point, Goodman asked REI Neon official Greg Borgel to confirm that four billionaires "who have contacts with the business community" were lined up to be principal investors.

"I'm not asking for their names," Goodman said, according to a transcript of the meeting.

"Oh good, 'cause I can't tell you," Borgel replied.

They call them "mayors," but another M-word might be more appropriate.