Meruelo will build an arena-village in Reno.
Alex Meruelo is getting something from Reno, Nevada that Phoenix politicians would not give him. Money to build an arena-village. Meruelo left Phoenix with a billion dollar check in his pocket after failing to get an arena in the Phoenix metropolitan area for his National Hockey League franchise built. NHL owners basically took his business away and sold the franchise to Ryan Smith who took the business to Salt Lake City. Meruelo was given the opportunity to get a replacement franchise by 2029 if he could get a venue built. Meruelo convinced Reno elected officials to allow him to keep sales tax through a gadget called tax incremental funding from whatever revenues are produced within his arena-village to help pay for the venture.
In September 2023, Meruelo announced his intention to invest $1 billion into building an arena-village in Reno, Nevada within his Grand Sierra Resort property. The arena would seat more than 10,000 people and its main tenant could be the University of Nevada Reno’s men’s college basketball team. Meruelo initially said that he would not seek public funding for his plan. That changed. Tax increment financing allows the developer of a project to keep all tax money generated by businesses inside the property to pay off the project’s debt. Meruelo said his company “put forward a proposal that places all of the risk on the [Grand Sierra], which is why it’s surprising the other local gaming operators are opposing this transformational development.” Meruelo added that downtown Reno “has enjoyed the benefits of TIF funded projects for the past 30 years.” The projects include a 9,100-seat baseball stadium, the home venue of Minor League Baseball’s Triple-A Reno Aces franchise, and the National Bowling Stadium. Meruelo got his Reno TIF. Meanwhile in Phoenix, the NHL abandoned the market because Meruelo could not deliver an arena.
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