Executives behind the Athletics Las Vegas ballpark project said they are prepared to absorb potential effects that tariffs could have on construction of the $1.75 billion project.
A’s President Marc Badain and CAA Icon vice president Todd Bishop, whose firm was hired by the MLB team to be the owner’s representative on development of the stadium, said a plan is in place to handle potential cost issues created by tariffs enacted on imported goods by President Donald Trump.
Badain and Bishop addressed the topic Thursday during a breakfast event held by commercial real estate industry provider NAIOP at The Orleans.
Bishop said it’s unclear what effects, if any, tariffs will have on the project. He noted a three-pronged approach is in place to handle any such issues.
“The first leg of the strategy is to source as much domestically as we can,” Bishop said Thursday. “Where we’re not able to do that, we’re trying to lock up procurement as soon as possible and then we hit the ‘easy button’ and say we have contingency in place for what may come.”
Crews began early work on the A’s ballpark site in April, kicking off grading work to ready the site for construction, Bishop said. The next step in the construction process is expected to begin next month.
“We anticipate our foundation permit in the middle of next month and we’re primed and ready to start putting deep foundations in,” Bishop said.
Having a contingency plan in place ensures that once a project begins and issues arise, they can be handled without affecting the project’s timeline, Badain said. The longtime professional sports business executive said he has full confidence in A’s owner John Fisher’s ability to weather any storm.
“For our types of projects, it really starts and stops with the owner,” Badain said. “With John and his group… they run so many companies in so many different industries. The family has a lot of different holdings. They’ve always been prepared for the unexpected and that’s no different on this project. He’s committed to building this no matter what it takes.”
Weathering a different issue, the COVID-19 pandemic, Badain and Bishop helped successfully lead Allegiant Stadium to finish on time during a period of uncertainty. It’s not if something will go wrong during the ballpark building process, it’s when and how do you deal with that, Badain said.
“Things are going to go wrong; they just are,” he said. “We’ve got 32 months of construction build in an uncertain environment. But the owner (Fisher) has been working on that… The team has prepared for it and I’m very confident. I know that it adds some uncertainty. Those shots aren’t great to deal with for a day or two, but it’s a very prepared and intelligent group that has so much experience in this field. I don’t think it’s going to be a concern.”
Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
