The real estate executive behind a plan to bring a football team to City of Industry is reaching out to onetime NFL hopeful Anaheim and the rest of Orange County.
The building of a stadium and the luring of a team to City of Industry,just beyond the county line from Brea,stands to benefit hotels in Anaheim and the rest of OC, billionaire developer Ed Roski Jr. said.
Roski is chief executive of City of Industry-based Majestic Realty Co., which owns 600 acres in the city.
He’s proposed building an $800 million stadium there, if he can lure a football team from another city.
The proposal is seen as the best hope to bring football back to Southern California after bids from Anaheim, Los Angeles, Carson, Pasadena and others have fizzled.
Roski owns the land needed to build the stadium, training facilities and related developments.
Luring a team would be a big boost for him and Majestic Realty, a developer of industrial parks. Building a stadium on the land Roski already owns stands to raise its value.
Majestic also owns 27 acres of retail space in City of Industry that also could benefit.
But the proposal stands to help the entire region, according to Roski. The 75,000-seat stadium would be where the 57 and 60 freeways meet. The Los Angeles County site would put it in reach of 12 million people in a 25-mile radius, including in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
A football stadium in City of Industry could mean as much as $400 million in yearly revenue to businesses and bring more than 3,000 jobs to the area, according to John Semcken, a vice president with Majestic.
With only one hotel now in City of Industry,Majestic’s 300-room Pacific Palms Resort,a stadium could send visitors 15 miles down the road to hotels in Anaheim, according to Roski.
Anaheim is big in sports circles for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball team and hockey’s Anaheim Ducks. Last week, the city was officially awarded baseball’s 2010 All-Star game.
In the early 1990s, Anaheim was home to the Los Angeles Rams football team, now in St. Louis.
Anaheim Effort
Anaheim had vied to bring back a football team, but the high cost of land and limited parking hurt the city’s bid, according to Roski.
The city of Anaheim is in talks to sell 53 acres of a parking lot it owns at Angel Stadium of Anaheim to Archstone-Smith for commercial development, throwing out chances of building a stadium at the site.
A couple of years ago the NFL estimated it would cost more than $1 billion to build a stadium in Anaheim, which turned away some potential teams.
Roski calls his plan less expensive than previous ones. A central location with ample parking will be an attractive draw, he said.
“There’s no other location where you can do it,” he said.
Roski said his plan costs $400 million to $500 million less than other proposals because a large portion of the stadium would be built into a hillside, cutting down on steel costs.
In New Jersey, the New York Jets and Giants are spending $1.6 billion for their stadium scheduled to open in 2010.
L.A. Name
If Roski lures a team, it’s likely to be tagged with an L.A. name, he said.
The goal is to reach as much of Southern California as possible, even with an L.A. name, Roski said.
“What’s in the name?” he said. “Other teams like Dallas and the Giants don’t play in their home cities.”
Roski also is part owner of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and Los Angeles Lakers.
Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $2.3 billion for its 2008 list of the world’s wealthiest, where he ranked No. 524.
Along with Philip Anschutz, Roski also helped develop Staples Center where the Kings and Lakers play.
The Southland has been without a team since 1995 when Anaheim lost the Rams and the Raiders left the Coliseum in downtown Los Angeles for Oakland.
Roski spent 12 years fighting to rebuild the Coliseum to bring in a team.
High costs and political wrangling kept plans at bay. Last year all hopes were lost when the league said the site never would measure up.
That opened the door for Roski’s City of Industry proposal, which he couldn’t have pursued while fighting for the Coliseum.
“It re-energized interest,” he said.
If all goes well, Roski expects to get all of his approvals by September, and could have it built as early as 2011. A team could play at the Coliseum or Rose Bowl until it’s completed, he said.
At least five NFL teams with short-term stadium contracts could move here, according to Roski.
The San Diego Chargers end their lease after next season and the Minnesota Vikings end their lease in 2011. The Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints also have short-term contracts.
