LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Athletics' vision to make Las Vegas the team's new home in 2028 is continuing to become closer to reality.
In December of last year, the A's got approval from the Las Vegas Stadium Authority to begin construction on their new ballpark on the Strip. Now we're starting to find out more of what the future holds at the site of the Tropicana.
The A's filed for a land use permit with Clark County, and Channel 13 obtained the submitted documents. They include stadium blueprints and new renderings of the ballpark, along with new details of the state-of-the-art 30-thousand-seat venue.
Channel 13's Nick Walters went to the Strip to show sports fan pedestrians the renderings and get their thoughts.
"That stadium looks good," said James, a visitor from South Carolina. "It looks sleek. The design of it and the architecture, it looks pretty and I think it'll bring a lot of money to the town and to the state."
"I think it'll be really cool to have the MLB in such a popular place like Vegas," Chandler from Utah said. "There's so many people here, and it's going to have a big market for baseball fans here."
"I'm from Boston, and we have a lot of history in our ballpark," Red Sox fan Tim said. "Not a lot of history in that ballpark right there. It looks like either a spaceship or a giant egg they're putting on the Strip."
A big concern locals have regarding the ballpark at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue is parking.
The south end of the Strip is already considered busy and congested. With T-Mobile Arena a couple blocks away, Allegiant Stadium right across the highway, Michelob ULTRA Arena a short walk away, and the Thomas & Mack Center also nearby, ballgames coinciding with other events can make for heavy traffic.
"Just a headache," Jeff from Utah said. "Just thinking about where to park and how early to get here. That's probably something they're not thinking of now but will be an issue, I'm sure."
"I don't think any locals will be going to the games," Tim said. "I think it will all be tourists."
"Yeah, traffic is crazy, but you're walking. This is a walking town," James said. "With progress comes problems."
The land use file documents revealed the A's plan for parking, including the construction of an on-site parking garage.
The team plans to provide 2,470 on-site parking spaces—2,370 for the stadium and 100 for office staff. That's 5,180 spaces less than what county requirements would make the A's to have.
The Clark County Code requires the new stadium to provide 7,500 parking spaces based on a standard of 1 space per 4 seats. 150 spaces are required for 60,000 square feet of office space, leading to a total requirement of 7,650 spaces.
The team argues that the parking requirement by the county is excessive, given the ballpark's location in the Resort Corridor, where attendees are more likely to use other forms of transportation.
Fans are expected to use public transit, taxi services, the Monorail, or walk from their nearby hotels.
Stadium plans include a dedicated Uber/Lyft drop-off/pick-up area, shuttle bus locations, and taxi queues to facilitate event attendees without relying on their personal vehicle parking.
The A's await a green light from the county, and the team says they're on schedule to break ground at some point this spring.
