Farmers Field

The Los Angeles Event Center is a proposed sports and events stadium in Downtown Los Angeles. The project, spearheaded by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) president Tim Leiweke and former Los Angeles Avengers owner Casey Wasserman, is to be located on the current site of the Los Angeles Convention Center, adjacent to Staples Center.

History

The ICON Venue Group, a project management firm, has been hired by AEG to represent them in the entitlement project process with the City of Los Angeles by February. ICON group president Tim Romani, stated with the projected budget on the proposed site, the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center, would be torn down and replaced at a cost of $350 million. Following this, construction of a 75,000 seat retractable roof stadium would begin over the 15 acre site. AEG would expect to begin construction of the stadium by 2012 and be completed by 2015, hoping to coincide with the 50th edition of the National Football League's (NFL) Superbowl in 2016. Though the stadium itself would be financed by AEG, the company hopes to pay for the replacement of the convention center with city bonds which would be repaid depending on tax revenue generated by the proposed stadium from hosted events. Casey Wasserman and Tim Leiweke have investigated the probability of building a stadium behind Staples Center, where the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center now sits. It is suggested as a possible venue for Super Bowls and NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships. In early December 2010, Magic Johnson announced his partnership with AEG's proposal after selling his minority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Association (NBA) team and multiple Starbucks coffeehouse locations.

The project announced in mid 2010 was initially projected at a cost of $750 million. The feasability of constructing a 75,000 seat retractable roof stadium at the announced cost came into question when compared to the two newest facilities of the NFL, the new Cowboys Stadium and the New Meadowlands Stadium which were built at a cost of $1.3 and $1.6 billion respectivily. Shortly after Leiweke set a formal timeline for the propesed project that now totaled around $1 billion. In December, three architectural renderings from an original field of nine design firms were revealed. During the same month Leiweke set a deadline of March 2011, anticipating a cleared negotiation with Los Angeles over control of the current convention center and ownership of the land and an agreement with the NFL over the likelyhood of a team moving to Los Angeles. The deadline has been met with criticism from media outlets including Yahoo! Sports, which notes that $500 million in bonds would have to be paid off or renegotiated with the city before the project could move forward. Additionally, the NFL is currently in a dispute with the National Football League Players Association over the renegotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The current priority of the NFL is to come to terms with the Players Association as failure to come to an agreement could result in the cancellation of the 2011 NFL season. The deadline is claimed to serve as an exit strategy should the project fail to move forward, as AEG owner Philip Anschutz currently is not in support of the project. In addition to an agreement with the city, Leiweke hopes to receive California state exemption from conducting an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that would be required per the California Environmental Quality Act.

Rival sites

Main article: History of the National Football League in Los Angeles

Competing with AEG's plan is Majestic Realty Chairman and CEO Edward P. Roski's proposal in Industry, California. The currently titled Los Angeles Stadium is part of a 600 acre entertainment and retail development, which will include concert halls, hotels, retail and convention space in addition to 25,000 on-site parking spaces. The project will be privately financed and is currently cleared to begin construction pending the resolution of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement dispute with the Player's Association. Roski had previously partnered with AEG in the development and construction of Staples Center in 1999 and again in 2002 for a proposed NFL Stadium in the current location of AEGs 2010 proposal. That proposal was cancelled following the NFL's demand of ample real estate for parking and tailgating. Roski has spent 10 years assessing many sites, including the one Leiweke is proposing now. Roski decided on the city of Industry site and has industriously worked to get it ready. He has gone so far as to obtain two environmental impact reports and even acquired a rare exemption from nuisance lawsuits from the California state senate.

See also

• History of the National Football League in Los Angeles

External links

• Official site