MGM Resorts arena will rely on adjacent properties for parking

LAS VEGAS -- MGM Resorts International, partnering with entertainment company AEG on a 19,500-seat arena project on the Strip, plans to use its existing hotel-casino parking facilities bordering and neighboring the arena site to provide parking for the $350 million venue behind New York-New York.

Parking will be provided in the CityCenter employee garage, New York-New York garage, surface parking designated at the Excalibur and a small surface parking lot south of the venue, according to a traffic impact analysis conducted by MGM’s engineering consultant, Lochsa Engineering.

A total of 3,895 parking spaces have been designated for the arena project, according to the study submitted recently to Clark County. The arena, plus 80,000 square feet of shopping, a park and plaza, will be on the north side of Tropicana Avenue behind the New York-New York parking garage. The arena’s west side will sit near Frank Sinatra Drive. The arena site is 14.5 acres.

As many as 6,000 parking stalls at Excalibur and its immediate casino-hotel neighbors to the south, Luxor and Mandalay Bay, can also serve the arena.

MGM spokesman Gordon Absher said the New York-New York and Monte Carlo self-parking garages were built with more parking spaces than required under county code with expansion in the immediate area in mind.

“We’re cognizant as anyone of parking issues and traffic issues because we are our own neighbors,” Absher said.

For a weekend arena event, 2,823 cars are expected to arrive during the peak hour before the act, while 3,628 cars are projected to leave during the peak hour following the arena event, the report said.

The traffic analysis also included data on the number of local residents and out-of-town visitors who are projected to attend the estimated 100-120 annual arena events. About 46 percent of the arena goers will be locals, while about 54 percent of the attendees will be visitors, according to the analysis.

Most local residents will arrive by car, while the vast majority of arena attendees who are visiting Las Vegas and staying at hotels less than 2/3 of a mile away from the arena will walk.

Other visitors staying at hotels farther away will use as private car, transit, taxi, monorail, shuttle and limo to reach the arena, according to the study.

The report projects 5,997 locals will enter the arena during the peak hour before a weekend event, while 7,698 locals will exit the venue during the peak hour afterward.

For arena attendees who are out-of-town and staying within a 15-minute walk of the arena, 3,818 of these “close proximity” visitors will enter the arena during the peak hour of a weekend event, while 4,899 will depart during the peak hour after the event, according to the analysis.

For other visitors staying farther away from the arena, 3,254 will enter during the peak hour during a weekend event, while 4,174 will exit the building during the peak hour afterwards, the report said.

Many more arena attendees are expected to leave the venue during the peak hour than enter during the peak 60-minute period before the event because people are expected to come to the building over a broader time period.

Pedestrian access will be provided from all four directions to the arena, the report said. For people who park at the Excalibur lot, they will walk on a sidewalk along Frank Sinatra Drive underneath Tropicana Avenue to reach the arena on the opposite side of Tropicana. MGM’s traffic experts believe the sidewalk can handle the pedestrian flow, Absher said.

Under a previous county approval, the county expects MGM to “provide improved pedestrian access between this (arena) site and the properties on the south side of Tropicana Avenue.”

County public works officials are reviewing the traffic analysis, said Nancy Amundsen, county director of comprehensive planning. Staffs for both the county and MGM will discuss potential vehicle and pedestrian traffic mitigation and safety features that would be included in the development agreement, Amundsen said.

The report also recommended MGM install a minimum 5-foot sidewalk along Tropicana Avenue and connect the existing sidewalk segments to make a continuous route from Frank Siantra Drive to Las Vegas Boulevard

County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said a parking requirement waiver was granted to MGM because commissioners felt comfortable the extra parking on the Excalibur side of Tropicana Avenue can serve the arena.

MGM representative Greg Borgel of Moreno and Associates Inc. explained in a Nov. 1, 2103, letter to the county the proposed off-site parking at Excalibur “will be used primarily by arena staff, vendors, and support activities, not intended to be a significant location for public parking.”

The MGM-AEG partnership hopes to break ground this year and open the arena in 2016.