Las Vegas 51s get 10-year lease extension at Cashman Field

Bill Hughes

The Las Vegas 51s take on the Tucson Padres at Cashman Field, June 8, 2011.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s board of directors went extra innings today to approve a 10-year lease at Cashman Field for the city’s minor league baseball franchise.

The board spent more than hour before voting 10-3 to extend the lease, which leads the way for the Howard Hughes Corp. to purchase the Las Vegas 51s from downtown businessman Derek Stevens.

The Pacific Coast League has pushed for Stevens, operator of the D hotel-casino, to sell the team because of his gaming interests.

The Hughes Corp. and businessman Steven Mack are partners in the Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club LLC.

The board had delayed action on the lease agreement in September when two members, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Councilman Steve Ross, said they wanted additional information about the transaction and Summerlin’s plans.

The city of Las Vegas owns the 57-acre Cashman Center campus, while the LVCVA owns and operates the stadium, theater and convention facilities on the land.

The team had two years left on the current lease and could have exercised a four-year extension option. The team rents the stadium from the LVCVA for $308,700 a year, with the amount increasing annually based on the consumer price index.

City officials were interested in learning more about Summerlin’s plans because they called for proposals to upgrade Cashman Center.

The lease agreement with the baseball team would require the city to develop a new facility for the 51s if the Cashman upgrade includes elimination of the existing stadium.

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