Los Angeles Stadium
Encyclopedia
Los Angeles Football Stadium is the working title for a proposed 75,000-seat football stadium
, the centerpiece of a 600-acre
entertainment district in Industry
, California
. Upon construction, the district will be named Grand Crossing, California. Edward P. Roski
, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers
of the NBA
and Los Angeles Kings
of the NHL
, has announced plans for the stadium on the northern side of the interchange of state routes 57
and 60
, 22 miles (35.4 km) east of Downtown Los Angeles
with the purpose of attracting an NFL team to the Los Angeles region. The Greater Los Angeles Area
, the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States, has been the nation's largest media market without an NFL team since 1995.
, stated that the new 75,000-seat stadium would be privately financed and would be the centerpiece of a new 600-acre
entertainment and retail complex in Industry which would include 25,000 ample on-site parking spaces. The stadium and mixed-use development has been designed by Dan Meis, FAIA
, and Aedas Sport
out of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County
site would put it in reach of 12 million people in a 25 miles (40.2 km) radius, including in Orange
, Riverside
, and San Bernardino
Counties and the San Fernando Valley
. Roski and his spokesman have asserted that a football stadium in the city could mean as much as $400 million in yearly revenue to businesses and bring more than 18,000 jobs to the area. Project supporters have asserted that aspects of the stadium design, such as the use of hilly terrain to vastly reduce the cost of construction and the multi-use capabilities of the planned surrounding development, as well as Roski's success in gaining support from local elected officials in the City of Industry, where the proposed stadium site is located, give the plan a strong possibility of success. Project critics have asserted that it requires more public funding than has been stated, and have questioned the costs and benefits of the project.
Roski has said he will not break ground on the stadium until he has a commitment from an NFL team to move to Los Angeles. In exchange for footing the bill to construct the stadium, Roski wants at least a 30 percent ownership stake in any team that moves to Los Angeles to play there.
The National Football League is not planning on expanding and the developers of the new stadium stated on their website that their tenant will be an existing team "that needs to move because they cannot build a new stadium or financially they are not successful in their current market. We can not disclose which teams we are talking with." The three teams which used to play in Los Angeles but moved elsewhere (the San Diego Chargers
, St. Louis Rams
and Oakland Raiders
) have all been rumored to be open to moving back. The Jacksonville Jaguars
and the Minnesota Vikings
, have also been identified by Roski and others as possible prime tenants of the new stadium. However, the city of Santa Clara, California
has since approved a ballot measure that will allow the 49ers to build a new stadium in Santa Clara, and the Raiders could be allowed to occupy that stadium as well.
On February 28, 2009 the City of Industry city council approved the environmental impact report 5 to 0. The neighboring cities of Diamond Bar
and Walnut
both expressed concerns about the noise, traffic, and environmental impacts of the proposed stadium. Walnut and a Walnut-based citizens group comprising eight homeowners filed lawsuits to block the project, but were unsuccessful.
On April 8, 2009 the city of Diamond Bar unanimously approved a legal settlement that grants it more than $21 million in exchange for dropping objections to the stadium. Diamond Bar City Council members approved the agreement with the City of Industry. The settlement includes $20 million to deal with increased traffic from the stadium and $1 million for a middle school athletic field. Diamond Bar also would receive at least $700,000 per year from Industry for community facilities as long as the stadium remains in operation.
On September 23, 2009 the city of Walnut reached a settlement with the City of Industry and the stadium developer. A group of Walnut citizens refused to settle its lawsuit. The group insisted that the stadium have a domed roof and special freeway exits. On October 14, 2009 the state Senate approved a bill to exempt the proposed stadium from state environmental law, effectively killing the lawsuit filed by the citizen group. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill shortly thereafter. This apparently clears the last regulatory hurdle for the project: the only remaining barrier (aside from the financing) is the "small" (where others have failed previously) detail of finding an NFL team to fill the stadium.
Jon Semcken III, a representative of Majestic Realty Group of Los Angeles, claimed in December 2009 that the company had a 50% chance of luring at least one existing NFL team to Los Angeles in time for the 2010 season, and that they were certain to have one by 2011. However, no teams moved to L.A. in 2010, nor have any teams agreed to move for 2011. A tenant would have to find a temporary home for at least one season while the stadium is built (Roski will not build the stadium until a team agrees to his deal); possible temporary homes that meet the NFL's seating capacity standards include the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
and the Rose Bowl.
, headed by Tim Leiweke
, is leading a group which proposes building Farmers Field near the Staples Center
in downtown L.A. Los Angeles Dodgers
owner Frank McCourt
has expressed interest in building a new football stadium next to Dodger Stadium
(which is also near downtown L.A.) Angel Stadium of Anaheim
was reconfigured as a baseball-only park in the mid-1990s, but there have been proposals to build a new football stadium next to it. The City of Carson
has been seriously considered in the past as a NFL stadium location; and, the Home Depot Center soccer stadium is already located in Carson. Finally, there are plans to modernize the existing Rose Bowl Stadium and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
, the centerpiece of a 600-acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
entertainment district in Industry
Industry, California
Industry is an industrial suburb of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County. Home to over 2,500 businesses and 80,000 jobs, but only 219 residents at the 2010 census - down from 777 residents as of the 2000 United States census - the city is almost entirely industrial...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Upon construction, the district will be named Grand Crossing, California. Edward P. Roski
Edward P. Roski
Edward P. Roski, Jr. is an American real estate businessman in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:Roski was born in Oklahoma and raised in Southern California. He is a graduate of Loyola High School and the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, where in 1962 he earned a...
, a part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
of the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
and Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
of the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, has announced plans for the stadium on the northern side of the interchange of state routes 57
California State Route 57
State Route 57 , also known as the Orange Freeway, is a north–south state highway in the Greater Los Angeles Area of the U.S. state of California. It connects the interchange of Interstate 5 and State Route 22 near downtown Orange, locally known as the Orange Crush, with the Glendora Curve...
and 60
California State Route 60
State Route 60 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from Interstate 10 near the Los Angeles River in Los Angeles east to I-10 in Riverside County, with overlaps at State Route 57 and Interstate 215.-Route description:...
, 22 miles (35.4 km) east of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
with the purpose of attracting an NFL team to the Los Angeles region. The Greater Los Angeles Area
Greater Los Angeles Area
The Greater Los Angeles Area, or the Southland, is a term used for the Combined Statistical Area sprawled over five counties in the southern part of California, namely Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, Riverside County and Ventura County...
, the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States, has been the nation's largest media market without an NFL team since 1995.
History
Roski, who helped build Staples CenterStaples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
, stated that the new 75,000-seat stadium would be privately financed and would be the centerpiece of a new 600-acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
entertainment and retail complex in Industry which would include 25,000 ample on-site parking spaces. The stadium and mixed-use development has been designed by Dan Meis, FAIA
Dan Meis
Dan Meis is an American architect best known for designing Sports, Entertainment, and Exhibition centers. Earlier in his career, Meis worked for NBBJ, before founding his own company, MEIS Architects. MEIS Architects later merged with design company Aedas. On September 22, 2010, it was announced...
, and Aedas Sport
Aedas
Aedas is an international architectural firm operating in 31 offices in 20 countries. The practice provides Architecture, Interior Design, Building Consultancy, Research & Development, Imaging, Urban Design and Landscape Design services...
out of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
site would put it in reach of 12 million people in a 25 miles (40.2 km) radius, including in Orange
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, Riverside
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
, and San Bernardino
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
Counties and the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. Roski and his spokesman have asserted that a football stadium in the city could mean as much as $400 million in yearly revenue to businesses and bring more than 18,000 jobs to the area. Project supporters have asserted that aspects of the stadium design, such as the use of hilly terrain to vastly reduce the cost of construction and the multi-use capabilities of the planned surrounding development, as well as Roski's success in gaining support from local elected officials in the City of Industry, where the proposed stadium site is located, give the plan a strong possibility of success. Project critics have asserted that it requires more public funding than has been stated, and have questioned the costs and benefits of the project.
Roski has said he will not break ground on the stadium until he has a commitment from an NFL team to move to Los Angeles. In exchange for footing the bill to construct the stadium, Roski wants at least a 30 percent ownership stake in any team that moves to Los Angeles to play there.
The National Football League is not planning on expanding and the developers of the new stadium stated on their website that their tenant will be an existing team "that needs to move because they cannot build a new stadium or financially they are not successful in their current market. We can not disclose which teams we are talking with." The three teams which used to play in Los Angeles but moved elsewhere (the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, St. Louis Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
and Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
) have all been rumored to be open to moving back. The Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, have also been identified by Roski and others as possible prime tenants of the new stadium. However, the city of Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
has since approved a ballot measure that will allow the 49ers to build a new stadium in Santa Clara, and the Raiders could be allowed to occupy that stadium as well.
On February 28, 2009 the City of Industry city council approved the environmental impact report 5 to 0. The neighboring cities of Diamond Bar
Diamond Bar, California
Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 55,544 at the 2010 census, down from 56,287 at the 2000 census. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron registered in 1918 by ranch owner Frederick E...
and Walnut
Walnut, California
Walnut is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 29,172 at the 2010 census and its current mayor is Tom King, a former Detective from the Los Angeles Police Department....
both expressed concerns about the noise, traffic, and environmental impacts of the proposed stadium. Walnut and a Walnut-based citizens group comprising eight homeowners filed lawsuits to block the project, but were unsuccessful.
On April 8, 2009 the city of Diamond Bar unanimously approved a legal settlement that grants it more than $21 million in exchange for dropping objections to the stadium. Diamond Bar City Council members approved the agreement with the City of Industry. The settlement includes $20 million to deal with increased traffic from the stadium and $1 million for a middle school athletic field. Diamond Bar also would receive at least $700,000 per year from Industry for community facilities as long as the stadium remains in operation.
On September 23, 2009 the city of Walnut reached a settlement with the City of Industry and the stadium developer. A group of Walnut citizens refused to settle its lawsuit. The group insisted that the stadium have a domed roof and special freeway exits. On October 14, 2009 the state Senate approved a bill to exempt the proposed stadium from state environmental law, effectively killing the lawsuit filed by the citizen group. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill shortly thereafter. This apparently clears the last regulatory hurdle for the project: the only remaining barrier (aside from the financing) is the "small" (where others have failed previously) detail of finding an NFL team to fill the stadium.
Jon Semcken III, a representative of Majestic Realty Group of Los Angeles, claimed in December 2009 that the company had a 50% chance of luring at least one existing NFL team to Los Angeles in time for the 2010 season, and that they were certain to have one by 2011. However, no teams moved to L.A. in 2010, nor have any teams agreed to move for 2011. A tenant would have to find a temporary home for at least one season while the stadium is built (Roski will not build the stadium until a team agrees to his deal); possible temporary homes that meet the NFL's seating capacity standards include the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
and the Rose Bowl.
Rival sites
Several other sites are being mentioned as possible locations for a new stadium. Roski's former business partner AEGAnschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...
, headed by Tim Leiweke
Tim Leiweke
Timothy Leiweke is President of Anschutz Entertainment Group , which owns the Los Angeles Kings, the Los Angeles Galaxy. part of the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as multiple sporting and entertainment venues around the world-References:...
, is leading a group which proposes building Farmers Field near the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
in downtown L.A. Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
owner Frank McCourt
Frank McCourt (executive)
Frank McCourt is the owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. In , he purchased a controlling interest of the Dodgers from Fox Entertainment Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation...
has expressed interest in building a new football stadium next to Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
(which is also near downtown L.A.) Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim
Angel Stadium of Anaheim is a modern-style ballpark located in Anaheim, California. It is the home ballpark to Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of the American League, and was previously home to the NFL's Los Angeles Rams...
was reconfigured as a baseball-only park in the mid-1990s, but there have been proposals to build a new football stadium next to it. The City of Carson
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
has been seriously considered in the past as a NFL stadium location; and, the Home Depot Center soccer stadium is already located in Carson. Finally, there are plans to modernize the existing Rose Bowl Stadium and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
.