AEG repeats assurances about proposed L.A. stadium

A panel appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that is looking at plans for a football stadium downtown held its first subcommittee meeting Friday amid assurances from the developer and some skepticism from the public.

Officials from the Anshutz Entertainment Group, the conglomerate that wants to construct the National Football League facility on city-owned land, repeated pledges that no taxpayer funds would be expended on the $1-billion project.

Ted Fikre, AEG's chief legal and development officer, also estimated that the stadium would generate millions of dollars in sales taxes and other revenue for the city’s beleaguered general fund.

Fikre and other AEG representatives could not, however, provide a more specific figure during their presentation before the fiscal impact subcommittee of Villaraigosa’s blue-ribbon commission examining the project.

Several questioners in the audience voiced doubts that the project would bolster the city’s coffers. Afterward, the two joint commission chairmen called the session informative, but said many more details were needed.

"Until we see the documentation and how the covenants are written, I don't think you can be truly satisfied to know that the city won’t be responsible," said Michael Lynton, the Sony Pictures chairman and chief executive who serves as a panel co-chairman along with First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner.

Lynton and others said they were keen for specific projections about how much extra funding the project would generate for Los Angeles, which is mired in deficits and has laid off employees, imposed furloughs and slashed services.

"It’s all well and good that the city may not be on the hook for any of the money," Lynton said in an interview after the meeting. "We also need to make certain that the taxpayers, the citizens, have a gain in all of this."

Friday’s public session was held at Galpin Ford in North Hills. During the session, business leaders praised the proposal as a potential economic boon for the region.

The AEG contingent pledged to hire locally. AEG also said it would pay the city a "fair market rent," though the fee has yet to be determined.

As part of the proposal, the city would be required to issue bonds of $300 million to $350 million to construct a new hall for its Convention Center. The planned stadium would be built on land now occupied by part of the Convention Center.

AEG officials said that that new revenues from the stadium project should cover most of the city's estimated annual debt service payments of about $25 million.

AEG has pledged to make up the $6 million to $8 million annual projected shortfall -- the developer’s estimate of the difference between the city's new receipts from the stadium project and L.A.'s annual debt service bills on the bonds.

In the coming weeks, officials said, other subcommittees would be looking at issues such as job creation, the potential affect on the Convention Center and environmental concerns, including traffic, noise and pollution.

An AEG representative said an environmental review probably would take a year. The blue-ribbon panel plans to issue a report on the project once its research is complete.

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-- Patrick J. McDonnell in North Hills

Comments

[California Rush]

Talk is cheap, and this play pen for the rich isn't. put up or shut up!

Football fans wake up! This is a small stadium built for the rich, with little room for the average Joe. The coliseum can hold over 110,000 people and is in great shape (built in the 20's). This gladiator pit AEG wants to build only holds 64,000 with half the stadium being luxury boxes. Has LA shrunk in population since the 20"s? Do you really think there will be cheap tickets, and (incredibly) why should the taxpayer pay for it? Are you so hard up you are ready to believe all the lies? Do one simple Google search, and type in AEG Sprint Center.

"The freest government, if it could exist, would not be long acceptable, if the tendency of the laws were to create a rapid accumulation of property in few hands, and to render the great mass of population dependent and penniless."
Daniel Webster, December 22, 1820 Speech at Plymouth, Massachusetts on the 200th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims.

Build this stadium, and I can assure you there will be no thanksgiving!

[Zizibug]

I didn't see any announcement ahead of time about the hearing. If they invited the general public I'm sure AEG would get an earful about how messed up their plan is. We'd hear the concerns about traffic, the lack of nearby parking and hotels, the lack of tailgating, the taxpayer being on the hook...

[Toluca Lake Observer]

The fix is in. What Anschutz wants, Anschutz gets. LA City leaders roll over when Leiweki tells them to. A little grease here and a little grease there, AEG wins again. Only the public loses. And I find it humorous, in a very dark way, that this meeting was held with virtually no publicity at Galpin Ford. Look into that one if you want to understand how the game is played. Tim says "dance" and the Mayor hits the boards!

[LA5]

There was indeed no notice to the public of this meeting. I called the Mayor's office and it took several minutes of asking around until the press officer was able to give me the location -- a car dealer? In the middle of the day? I guess that this is not an official agency and requires no public notification, and that's the way they want it.

[StanL]

Anytime a so called blue ribbon committee is mentioned, you can be sure it is made up of political hacks and vested business interests.
Did AEG present plans for parking, traffic to the committee at this love fest?
It could be these details will be presented after the stadium is approved. I would think that a big time outfit like AEG would have all the nuts and bolts in place before presenting any plan.
The Times doesn't know anything about these plans the same way they didn't know about the meeting, otherwise the Times would of mentioned it. Right?
Oh, full details aren't required beforehand when working with city government, only if working with a private business.

[JoshS]

Yeah, nothing will happen with this LA stadium until the COI stadium idea either progresses or collapses. That stadium makes WAY more sense anyway (this coming from someone who lives 20 minutes away from the proposed location). While it's going to make for terrible traffic (although not nearly as bad as downtown LA) the amount of space surrounding the City of Industry stadium makes for a perfect location...We're talking hiking trails, numerous practice fields, shopping centers...etc. How would they be able to squeeze even a stadium parking lot into an already developed downtown LA?

Until I hear more about the first proposed stadium, I'm not going to get my hopes up one bit...

[anon]

The fact that Austin Beutner is part of this team is reason enough not to trust the outcome. Beutner, who claims that he got 12 to 2 back on tract, when he doesn't even understand its implications or the permitting process, is reason enough to distrust the whole process. The fireman's death in Hollywood is the result of Beutner kind of thinking, of expediting projects to a developers benefit where basic safety requirements are ignored.

[AER]

I'm against this simply because of traffic and parking. You think traffic's bad now...
I mean really why not just renovate the Coliseum? You have parking, the traffic is some-what out of the way and it could go nicely with USC's recent development in that area...