An effort to build a new $80 million amphitheater on a 50-acre site roughly a dozen miles to the northeast of downtown El Paso is being challenged by numbers.
Announced earlier this year, the project is set to go up in the 9700 block of Gateway Boulevard at the former site of the much-used Cohen Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 2019.
Plans for what is being called the Sunset Amphitheater, as revealed this spring, envision a 12,000-seat facility looking out on the Franklin Mountains and surrounded by a 50-acre entertainment district.
Winning the support of city officials, the project has been described by Mayor Oscar Leeser as an “iconic venture that will not only attract renowned artists but will also provide an unforgettable experience for music enthusiasts from across the region.”
The developer of the project was announced as the Colorado Springs-based Notes Lives company, which has been involved this year in completing a similar facility in its home city.
But challenges to securing funding for the building of the Sunset project have since been identified, which include the fact that the City of El Paso has not yet come up with an earlier promised $31 million in incentives to get the project going.
Meanwhile, the Notes Lives company, which has since been renamed Venu, is tasked with coming up with the $80 million to build the project, a goal that according to the newspaper El Paso Matters has not yet been realized.
“The company’s financing model includes looking to private investors to buy fire pit suites and selling various owner membership levels to accredited investors,” notes the paper in quoting from information provided on Venu’s website.
Investors are expected to have annual incomes at or above $200,000 or have an individual net worth of more than $1 million.
Besides its current project in Colorado Springs, Venu has announced plans for similar large amphitheater entertainment districts in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and the city of McKinney, in northeastern Texas.
In announcing the construction of the $220 million McKinney project in March, JW Roth, chief executive officer of Venu, said in a statement: “I didn’t set out to build cheap venues. I set out to build the best, the most premium venues that will deliver the best fan base experience possible.”
By Garry Boulard
