Group Makes Offer of $60 Million for Los Alamitos Track

A group of investors Friday offered to pay $60 million for the Los Alamitos Race Course under a plan that would improve track operations and expand an existing golf course while developing a low-density office complex on the surrounding land.

If the purchase goes through, officials say it could end a 5-year controversy between track owners, Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises and Cypress residents who opposed previous plans for high-density office development on the site.

The purchase offer is being made by two prominent men in the quarter-horse racing industry and SDC Developers in Newport Beach.

Focus of Fierce Debate

The 305-acre facility has been the focus of fierce debate since it was purchased for $57 million in 1984 by Hollywood Park. The City Council and residents have fought with Hollywood Park owners ever since the owners decided to replace the adjacent Los Alamitos Country Club with a business park. Hollywood Park has even sued the city over a related zoning issue.

“It’s a tough situation and it’s been made tougher by the way it has been handled,” said Edward Allred, one of the investors making the purchase offer. “We feel we can solve those problems.”

Allred is the majority shareholder of the Horsemen’s Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Horse-owner and breeder R.D. Hubbard--president of AFG Industries, one of the top producers of glass in the country--joined Allred and SDC in fashioning the proposal over the past 2 weeks.

Allred and Hubbard, who would own the track and all the land if the offer is accepted, also own a quarter-horse track called Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

Representatives for Hollywood Park Realty Enterprises were not available for comment Friday.

SDC had made an offer of $100 million for the track and surrounding land, contingent on Cypress voters’ approval of a zoning change for a planned business and recreational complex. However, voters defeated the measure by a 2-to-1 margin in the Feb. 27 special election.

Most of the opposition came from the Concerned Citizens of Cypress for Greenbelt and Open Spaces Preservation. They argued that the proposed SDC plan would create traffic congestion and lower property values.

With all the past political turmoil, Allred said he and Hubbard decided that if they wanted to purchase the track they would have to bow to the concerns of residents, even if it was not the best deal financially.

“I am not sure if we are going to make too much money on the golf course,” Allred said. “One acre of the golf course would make more money doing something else so it’s almost a giveaway. But this is the only way to resolve the political problems. I would hate to face them (the city) again. You can’t force anything down their throats.”

Allred said no permanent plans have been drawn up yet, but the idea is to redesign the golf course, put in a clubhouse and restaurant and another recreational facility, such as a miniature golf course or batting cages.

“I would love to come to the citizens and say, ‘Here is something we can all support,’ ” said Joyce Nicholson, president of preservation group.

On the 70 acres along Walker Street, SDC would be the developer for a mixed-use area, according to the corporate president, Gary Hamilton. He said the plan would call for low-density and low-rise office or light industrial buildings.

“When we came away from the election we were discouraged,” Hamilton said. “But we cooled off and came back because we knew there was a Plan B out there.”

Along with the development around the track, Allred said, anywhere from $5 million to $10 million worth of improvements will have to be made to the track, which was completed in 1960. Allred also hopes to develop more off-track betting to help turn the track around.

According to Brad McKinzie, editor and publisher of “Quarter Week,” Los Alamitos is the premiere quarter-horse race track in the country and 38% of all quarter-horse betting for 1988 was made at Los Alamitos.