Stadium Planner Reveals Location

The group behind a drive to bring a National Football League team to Los Angeles pinpointed for the first time Thursday a four-block area near Staples Center where they hope to build a 64,000-seat stadium.

Representatives of Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz told downtown business leaders and civic activists that they hope to build the $450-million stadium on land bounded by 11th Street and Pico Boulevard, and Hope and Olive streets.

At the same time, they issued yet another statement that they will walk away from the deal if their proposal continues to draw strong opposition from government officials and others hoping to attract an NFL team to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“We will not go through a major political battle because we are trying to do something good for Los Angeles,” said Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group. “Two sites competing against one another is an absolute invitation to be used and abused by the NFL.”

Anschutz’s plan to build a downtown stadium--on land in the city’s South Park area, currently occupied primarily by parking lots and warehouses--has been questioned by some city and county officials in recent weeks.

Despite promises from the would-be developers that no public money will be needed for the project, some local leaders worry that taxpayer money ultimately would be used to underwrite it. County officials plan to file a lawsuit next week challenging the city’s redevelopment plan, litigation that could block construction. Others, meanwhile, have suggested that the Coliseum or even the Rose Bowl in Pasadena would be more suitable sites for an NFL team.

“I think there are many in Los Angeles who have a lot of questions about this,” Councilman Jack Weiss said. “People don’t understand why the city should rush headlong into this kind of commitment.”

But Mayor James K. Hahn on Thursday continued to voice strong support for the AEG proposal, calling it “the only game in town.” He also expressed concern that support for the Coliseum--in lieu of the South Park site--could undermine efforts to get a football team.

“I think there really has been a pretty strong signal from the NFL that they have no interest in the Coliseum,” Hahn said. “I hope we are not spinning our wheels and wasting our time by talking about it.”

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, appearing last month at a league owners meeting in Houston, was asked whether the renovation of the Coliseum remains a viable option. He answered, “No.”

On Thursday, Leiweke told members of the Central City Assn., gathered for a breakfast meeting, that he believes the Anschutz plan represents Los Angeles’ best chance for bringing an NFL team back to the city.

“We’re trying to do the right thing here,” he said.

Joined by Casey Wasserman, owner of the Arena League L.A. Avengers, Leiweke released other new details about the proposed stadium.

The plan envisions a tiered facility that would offer a view of downtown Los Angeles. And the stadium’s facade would resemble that of Staples Center.

Leiweke and Wasserman also spoke optimistically about holding Super Bowls, NFL Pro Bowls, soccer’s World Cup and other events at the site.

Leiweke said the Anschutz development group--which includes Wasserman, supermarket mogul Ron Burkle and developer Ed Roski--initially proposed renovating the Coliseum.

At two early meetings with the NFL, “we were begging, pleading, cajoling them into the Coliseum,” Leiweke said. “It didn’t work. Per the NFL, we were directed to other locations.”

Leiweke said the Anschutz group has already spent $5 million on the proposal. In coming weeks, it would have to spend tens of millions more to exercise options on the purchase of the land.

Leiweke warned last week that threats of legal action, public complaints and the possibility of competition from the Coliseum have so frustrated Anschutz and members of the development team that they are “close” to pulling out.

“I think they think we’re bluffing, and I don’t think we’re bluffing,” Leiweke said Thursday.

He also scoffed at recent suggestion by city and county officials that the Coliseum remains a viable location for an NFL team.

Pat Lynch, the Coliseum’s general manager, responded: “Not only are we viable, we were viable in ‘99,” when the Coliseum was in line for an expansion franchise that ultimately went to Houston. “And we’ll be viable into the future.

“If you don’t believe me, talk to our leadership, the historical preservationists, the construction people, the architects and the Community Redevelopment Agency.”

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the city should demand that the NFL take another look at the Coliseum.

“I think the NFL has a warped idea of what the Coliseum is,” Yaroslavsky said. “You’ve got a bunch of owners who remember things from 25 or 30 years ago and don’t think anything has changed.”

Ridley-Thomas said Anschutz “should have never accepted the NFL’s assertion that the Coliseum was unacceptable. They have to stand up for Los Angeles and its assets.”

To make the AEG plan work, the city would have to float up to $100 million in low-interest municipal bonds to pay for land for the stadium. That money would be repaid through taxes on tickets, sales taxes and excess property taxes, with the developers promising to make up any shortfall.

Leiweke said Thursday that current projections peg the annual shortfall at $1.6 million.

Developers also must come up with ways to mitigate traffic in the area, including rerouting Grand Avenue--which would dead-end at 11th Street on the north and Pico Boulevard on the south under the plan unveiled Thursday.

“There are obviously planning issues that need to be dealt with,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the area. “The proposal will evoke strong reactions, pro and con. I am optimistic we can provide a process and a public forum so we can deal with and confront those issues.”

Others remained concerned about the stadium’s impact on housing. Some of the land slated for the stadium was supposed to be turned into homes, said Marie Condron, who runs the www.newdowntown.com online message board. “South Park was supposed to be a residential hub,” she said.

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Times staff writers Alan Abrahamson, Matea Gold and Sam Farmer contributed to this story.