LOS ANGELES-Plans to build a $450 million, 64,000 seat stadium on 20 acres in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles were announced last week. A business group headed by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, including supermarket mogul Ron Burkle and developers Tim Leiweke, Casey Wasserman and Ed Roski have Mayor Hahn's endorsement to build the pro-football stadium close to the successful Staples Center.
Last Thursday Mayor James K. Hahn held a news conference at the Staples Center with the three private developers and expressed his support. Los Angeles has no National Football League presence after losing both the Rams and the Raiders. The mayor says he is “excited about bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles,” but added that he does not want the city to foot the bill for the development.
To acquire the 20 acres of Downtown Los Angeles land to develop the stadium, officials of the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) will ask the city to issue bonds of up to $100. The owners would repay the bonds over time, according to AEG, responsible for developing Staples Center on a similar financial plan.
The National Football League is expected to help with the finances. AEG has stated it will seek a $150 million loan and promises to bring three Super Bowls games to Los Angeles. The city, for its part, will get at least one and possibly two NFL franchises. The NFL wants to gain a foothold in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest media market, according to AEG. The group expects no financial strain on taxpayers.
The proposal is one more feather in the cap of Downtown Los Angeles continuing revival. The Staples Center set the stage for a realistic renewal of the depressed zone of the city. Only two weeks ago the City Council of Los Angeles approved the proposed 879 acre City Center Redevelopment Project, which plans to provide 6.7 million sf of new commercial and industrial development, as well as creating up to 12,900 units of new housing, including a quarter of which is to be for affordable to low and very low income households.
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