LOS ANGELES-Several industry sources are reporting that the Los Angeles City Council has approved plans for an NFL football stadium and convention site to be built downtown next to Staples Center and the L.A. Live entertainment district. In a 12-0 vote late last week, with three members absent, Anschutz Entertainment Group received approval to build the $1-billion stadium, named Farmers Field, with the convention site slated to cost an extra $314.6 million. The backers must recruit at least one team to play at the stadium.
As GlobeSt.com previously reported, the Anschutz Co. put AEG up for sale for an undisclosed asking price last month, complicating the approval process since the contract between the city and AEG features more than 1,000 pages of protections should the company be sold, according to Miguel A. Santana, L.A.’s chief administrative officer. AEG’s president and CEO Tim Lieweke said during the hearing that the general fund will not be at risk and that AEG’s plans to sell the company were revealed before the council’s vote last week.
The proposed 78,000-square-foot stadium and convention center is expected to create jobs and revenue for the city, Lieweke added, and will be paid for with private funds.
Complicating matters further are members of Play Fair Farmers Field, a group of neighborhood residents who are suing the state for advancing the stadium project. The group expressed concern during the hearing over how the project will impact traffic and pollution in the area.
In addition, sources say Majestic Realty Co. has proposed building a stadium 18 miles east of L.A. in the City of Industry, which could also provide competition for the proposal.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
