Fisher Brothers, the developer behind the proposal, has put forward a 50-acre tract adjacent to AREA15 as a site where an NBA expansion franchise could eventually play, with Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley offering her formal endorsement of the concept. The vision centres on an arena anchoring a mixed-use corridor of entertainment and retail development stretching along the western edge of Interstate 15.
Positioned beside the 30-acre AREA15 development — a venue that has logged upward of 17 million visits since its 2020 debut — the property neighbours a sprawling entertainment and retail footprint totalling more than 600,000 square feet of immersive space.
According to a television news outlet that first reported her position, Berkley viewed the project as well-suited to attract an NBA franchise and justified the financial outlay it would require. Ward 3's representative on the Las Vegas council, Olivia Diaz — who holds the Mayor Pro Tem title — added her backing to the proposed arena and surrounding sports district, that same report noted.
The two officials have made clear that any final decision on where a franchise plays rests with league officials and a prospective ownership group, though both have voiced support for putting the Fisher Brothers proposal forward for review.
Three ownership groups have been identified as finalists in the NBA's Las Vegas expansion process: a pairing of Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; a consortium led by Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and a third group bringing together Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley alongside Jerry Colangelo, per media reports.
According to Winston Fisher, whose company holds roughly 80 acres across that corridor, the planned venue — designed to seat between 18,000 and 20,000 people — would occupy a parcel of land running between AREA15 and Palace Station. A site proposal has been formally lodged with the NBA, the company disclosed, alongside early-stage conversations with prospective ownership groups about taking on a development role, with the arena footprint left open to adjustment based on whatever a future owner ultimately requires.
In positioning itself for the opportunity, Fisher Brothers has described its role as that of a real estate collaborator rather than a traditional franchise applicant, adding that the location already has infrastructure in place. According to the proposal deck, the site falls within both a designated redevelopment zone and a federal opportunity zone, has municipal backing, and comes with existing economic incentives already in place.
Totalling $18 million, the infrastructure upgrades Fisher Brothers put in place encompass a 16-inch water main built to Las Vegas Valley Water District specifications and a 21-inch sewer line running along the frontage with a daily throughput capacity reaching 3.3 million gallons. Under the umbrella arrangement, 40.5 megavolt-amperes of dedicated electrical capacity have been set aside for the development, while the tourism improvement district programme has channelled $140 million in economic incentives toward the surrounding area.
Positioned near the intersections of Rancho Drive, Sahara Avenue, Desert Inn Road, and Spring Mountain Road, the location would place visitors roughly seven minutes from approximately 150,000 Strip hotel rooms, with around 2.4 million area residents falling within a 20-minute drive — figures the proposal puts forward as evidence of the site's accessibility.
Established in 1915, Fisher Brothers oversees a portfolio spanning more than 8 million square feet of commercial and residential holdings across New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami — with $6.1 billion in assets under management — and the firm has indicated a willingness to adjust deal structures and work alongside prospective franchise operators.
The franchise fee is pegged somewhere between $12 billion and $13 billion, while a purpose-built arena carries a separate projected price tag in the range of $2 billion to $3 billion.
Television coverage of remarks by Commissioner Adam Silver indicated that T-Mobile Arena — the Las Vegas facility where the Golden Knights play, originally championed by expansion bidder Bill Foley — would require infrastructure work before it could serve as a long-term NBA home. Plans drawn up by the NBA pointed toward a 2028-29 launch window for new franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle.
Resorts World Las Vegas has appeared on the list of venues under consideration as well. A 66-acre sports and entertainment development south of the Strip — positioned along Las Vegas Boulevard near Blue Diamond Road and carrying a projected price tag of $10 billion — was outlined by Oak View Group as far back as June 2023, with the centrepiece being a 20,000-seat arena built to NBA specifications. A joint arena proposal from Caesars and VICI targets a plot of land sitting behind three of the company's Las Vegas properties.
Among the venues under consideration for a new Las Vegas arena, the World Market Center has drawn attention as one possible location. A meeting between Magic Johnson and Governor Joe Lombardo centred on bringing an NBA franchise to Las Vegas.
Venue decisions for any eventual NBA franchise in the area — spanning candidate sites from the downtown corridor through the North Strip — remain unresolved, with the league and prospective ownership holding authority over where a team would play rather than municipal government.
