The biggest question surrounding the development of Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle over the past decade—the long-term status of its best-known occupant, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim—has, after years of uncertainty, a resolution.
Angels team owner Arte Moreno and the city of Anaheim last week signed off on the framework of a deal to keep Orange County’s baseball team in the city through 2050.
A newly created Arizona-based firm affiliated with Moreno called SRB Management LLC will buy the 153-acre site that holds the stadium and the parking lots that surround it from the city for a reported $325 million.
By price it’s among the largest infill land deals in OC’s history, and equates to about $2.1 million an acre, in line with other area land sales where residential, retail and other commercial projects have been proposed.
The long-awaited deal brings an end to threats of a potential relocation of the Angels—to other possible sites both in and out of OC—but brings a bevy of new queries that will take years to be answered.
Foremost might be the size, composition and timeline of Moreno’s development plans; potential business partners on the project; and the future of the existing stadium. Numerous sources tell the Business Journal they expect a new ballpark to replace Angel Stadium, the fourth-oldest in Major League Baseball.
Stadium Club
In the short-term, the deal marks the latest sign of momentum for the 820-acre Platinum Triangle submarket, whose development over the past dozen years has largely been confined to mid-rise apartment projects.
Moreno joins Anaheim real estate investor and Ducks owner Henry Samueli in this effort, which could transform two currently disparate but neighboring sporting complexes into a cohesive commerce center comparable to other sports-anchored entertainment hubs across the country.
The two local billionaires, whose combined net worth the Business Journal estimates to be near $8 billion, will now own or control north of 225 acres on either side of the Orange (57) Freeway.
Plans for Samueli’s land near Honda Center and Moreno’s surrounding Angel Stadium, though separate, are expected to be complementary and “add to the great vision for the Platinum Triangle,” which is expected to ultimately be home to 30,000 residents, according to city spokesman Mike Lyster.
30 More Years
Moreno and the city have been in often contentious negotiations for years over terms of a new deal for the site.
Last week’s agreement, to go before Anaheim’s City Council Dec. 20, would keep the baseball team in Anaheim for another 30 years, with lease extensions for 15 more.
The team has called the stadium home since it opened in 1966, but opted out of its lease early last year.
Several other options emerged for the team, including a bid by Long Beach to develop a new $1 billion stadium. The Angels’ decision to stay in Anaheim marks “the first step in enabling us to invest in our future by building a winning team and delivering a high-quality fan experience,” Moreno said in a statement last week.
2020 will be the 55th season for the team in the city.
Renovation Required
Moreno’s $2.1 million per acre price for the site, on East Gene Autry Way, west of the 57 Freeway, is in line with the recent sale of the former LT Platinum property next door. That 14-acre parcel at the northeast corner of State College Boulevard and Orangewood Avenue sold a few months ago for $32 million, or nearly $2.3 million an acre. Mixed-use development plans there are being revised.
Plans for Moreno’s 153 acres will see tinkering until a final deal is made between 2023 and 2025, Lyster said.
The meeting later this month is for a sale agreement, while future meetings scheduled for next spring would consider the development agreement and community benefits.
“The team is looking at either renovating or rebuilding the stadium,” said Lyster.
A major renovation would cost at least $150 million, based on 2014 projections; that pales in comparison with the cost to build a new facility. The under-construction future home for the Texas Rangers, for instance, Globe Life Field, is reported to cost close to $1 billion.
HKS Architects worked on the Texas project, and will advise the Angels as well.
Community Benefits
The city has a few requirements and requests for the overall parcel: keep at least 12,500 parking spaces and develop with affordable housing and parks in mind.
The latter, though not a formal requirement, could lower the final sale price.
“Building affordable housing and adding parks has been a long-standing priority for the Platinum Triangle, and the biggest hurdle is getting land and a developer to build them,” said Lyster. If Moreno included those components, the city would “provide an adjustment on the final purchase price.”
The site is also expected to include hotels, restaurants and entertainment, with no city funding in the redevelopment.
While development specifics aren’t available, one thing seems certain: the team will remain the Los Angeles Angels.
“Of course we want to see the name prominent and visible, but our biggest priority was to keep the team here and make a deal that benefits everyone,” Lyster said.
The deal is expected to generate $7 million in net annual tax revenue.
Across the 57
Additional details should come after those proposed by Broadcom co-founder Samueli, who owns or controls more than 75 acres immediately east of the freeway, running north from the city’s ARTIC transit station to Ball Road.
The Angels deal has some similarities to that of the Ducks, which last year agreed to stay in the city through at least 2048 with five-year extensions up to 2073.
Samueli’s Anaheim Arena Management has run the city-owned 650,000-square-foot Honda Center since 2003, two years before he purchased the team. He and his family, which often does business through their Corona del Mar-based H&S Ventures, is expected to provide a development plan next year for the land it controls.
While it’s not clear how these plans relate to those of Moreno, the city has said there is strong potential for a unified redevelopment of the area that’s in line with larger goals for Platinum Triangle.
The area, when built out, could hold about 17,500 residential units, 9.2 million square feet of office development and another 4.8 million square feet of other commercial property types.
“The ultimate goal is tremendous connectivity,” said Lyster, pointing to several other sports-anchored mixed-use complexes as inspiration, such as Petco Park and L.A. Live.
Following Samueli’s development plans next year, plans from Moreno’s SRB Management are expected in 2021, the city said.
