Owner of St. Louis Rams plans to build NFL stadium in Inglewood

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The owner of the St. Louis Rams plans to build an NFL stadium in Inglewood, which could pave the way for the league's return to Los Angeles.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke, who bought 60 acres adjacent to the Forum a year ago, has joined forces with the owners of the 238-acre Hollywood Park site, Stockbridge Capital Group. They plan to add an 80,000-seat NFL stadium and 6,000-seat performance venue to the already-massive development of retail, office, hotel and residential space, Stockbridge and the Kroenke Group told The Times.
The announcement is the latest in more than a dozen stadium proposals that have come and gone in the meandering, two-decade effort to bring an NFL franchise back to the nation's second-largest media market. But Kroenke's move marks the first time an existing team owner has controlled a local site large enough for a stadium and parking.
<aside class="trb_embed " data-content-id="82455001" data-content-size="jumbo" data-content-type="image" data-content-subtype="photo" data-role="socialshare_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer lightbox_container " data-state=" " data-embed-id="82455001"> <figure data-role="imgsize_item" class="trb_embed_imageContainer_figure"> </figure> An artist's rendering shows the planned City of Champions Revitalization Project in Inglewood, where the owner of the St. Louis Rams plans to build an NFL stadium. (HKS Inc.)



</aside>What's more, Kroenke, a billionaire who built his fortune in real estate, has the ability to move quickly. The Rams can choose later this month to convert their lease in St. Louis to year-to-year. The Rams declined comment on any plans to move, but it's no secret that the team is unhappy in the Edward Jones Dome, which is outdated by current NFL standards.
Kroenke's Inglewood plans ratchet up pressure on St. Louis to either strike a deal for a new stadium or watch the team return to Southern California, where it played from 1946 to 1994.
Under their current deal, the Rams can end their 30-year lease a decade early because they have not reached an agreement with St. Louis officials on improvements to the stadium. The sides remain about $575 million apart. St. Louis is expected to offer the team a new proposal by month's end.
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</aside> The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are similarly unhappy in old stadiums that don't offer updated amenities. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league would not be accepting relocation applications for the 2015 season. So the earliest any team could move would be 2016. Any team that moves could play in a temporary venue, such as the Coliseum or Rose Bowl, until a new stadium is constructed.
The Inglewood site Kroenke bought last year is too small for a stadium and parking, but the deal with Stockbridge, the neighboring developer, provides ample space.
"We are excited to unveil an expanded plan that will bring a world-class sports and entertainment district to Hollywood Park," Terry Fancher, founder of Stockbridge, said in a statement. "We are committed to working with [the Kroenke Group] to build a project that will put Inglewood back on the map as home of the truly great sports and entertainment venues."

The developers said no tax dollars would be used for the construction project, including the stadium. The group plans to begin gathering signatures soon for an initiative that would place the entire project on the Inglewood municipal ballot in 2015.

Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. said he was "extremely supportive" of the ballot initiative that would add the sports and entertainment complex to the already-approved Hollywood Park development and speed construction. The stadium could be completed by 2018, the developers said.
"This will hasten the time for the citizens of Inglewood to get the project they deserve," Butts said. "This is something they have waited for for a long time."
The owners are calling the combined Kroenke and Hollywood Park projects the City of Champions Revitalization Project. Wilson Meany, a San Francisco firm, is heading development of the site. Wilson Meany is also developing Bay Meadows, a former horse racing track in San Mateo.
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</aside>The developers want to restore Inglewood to prominence as a sports and entertainment hub. Before Staples Center was built in 1999, Inglewood's Forum was home to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and Kings hockey team. The Forum was recently renovated to be a pure music venue.
Since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season, the threat of moving to Los Angeles has been used as leverage by NFL teams looking to get stadium deals done in their current cities. In that sense, the region has been more valuable to the league without a team than with one.
Because stadiums are so expensive, now routinely topping $1 billion — and because there is no appetite in Los Angeles for public funding — the NFL has a great deal of influence on which team or teams ultimately move into the market. The league can issue loans to help pay for a stadium and award Super Bowls, which are used as a financing mechanism. Any relocation must be approved by a three-quarters majority of team owners.
<aside class="trb_embed " data-content-id="82455063" data-content-size="large" data-content-type="image" data-content-subtype="photo" data-role="socialshare_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer lightbox_container" data-state=" " data-embed-id="82455063" data-load-type="comment" data-load-method="innerHtml"> <figure data-role="imgsize_item" class="trb_embed_imageContainer_figure"> </figure> Artist rendering of Ed Roski's potential City of Industry NFL stadium. (Hammes Company Sports Development)



</aside>As it stands, Los Angeles has two sites with the legal, political and environmental clearances for NFL venues: the Farmers Field plan downtown and Ed Roski's proposal in City of Industry. The stadium entitlement process, which invariably involves resolving lawsuits filed by people opposed to a given project, typically requires at least a year, thousands of pages of documents, and millions of dollars in legal and consulting fees.
The developers of the proposed downtown Los Angeles stadium, entertainment giant AEG, have a few more months to find a football team under an agreement with the city. AEG has vowed to build a stadium called Farmers Field along with a new wing for the city's convention center. The center's obsolete West Hall would be demolished to make way for Farmers Field.
AEG, an international sports and music entertainment firm founded by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, owns the Los Angeles Kings and the L.A. Galaxy soccer team.
Hollywood Park, through its sheer size, offers a rare opportunity for large-scale development in an urban area, industry observers said. At neary 300 acres, it is about the size of Boston's financial district and twice as big as Vatican City.
The developers aim to create a new neighborhood in Inglewood, with curving streets and parks. The first phase of construction that began in June includes preparation of the site and demolition of the racetrack and grandstands.
Wal-Mart originally owned the 60 acres adjacent to the Forum but sold it to Kroenke after failing to get public approval for a superstore. Madison Square Garden Co., which owns the Forum, had planned to buy the lot in order to acquire more space for parking and possibly additional development, but Kroenke beat them to it.
Kroenke is a former Wal-Mart board member and husband of Ann Walton Kroenke, daughter of Wal-Mart co-founder Bud Walton. Forbes magazine estimates Kroenke's net worth at $5.8 billion — not counting his wife's $5.6 billion — making him the NFL's second-richest owner to Seattle's Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who is worth an estimated $17.1 billion.
In addition to owning the Rams, Kroenke's family owns the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, and is the largest shareholder of the English soccer club Arsenal.
sam.farmer@latimes.com
roger.vincent@latimes.com

there are deep pockets and then there is this guy
if he wants to do it, move to la, then it will happen

inglewood up to no good!!!!

home of The Truth Paul Pierce

Kroenke is not rich, he is mega rich and married to someone who is also mega rich from a different source. These people need to pay to build the stadiums themselves though. Don't tax the taxpayers and then charge them out the ass to go to a game.

Vlad the Impaler said:

Kroenke is not rich, he is mega rich and married to someone who is also mega rich from a different source. These people need to pay to build the stadiums themselves though. Don't tax the taxpayers and then charge them out the ass to go to a game.

Click to expand...

I don't think stadiums should be publicly funded either. Especially when you got the BS that happened with the Marlins. Getting a stadium built with taxpayer $ at the height of a recession and then the team trades everyone a year later.

Irsay really got 1 over on Indy taxpayers

PatsFan1283 said:

I don't think stadiums should be publicly funded either. Especially when you got the BS that happened with the Marlins. Getting a stadium built with taxpayer $ at the height of a recession and then the team trades everyone a year later.

Irsay really got 1 over on Indy taxpayers

Click to expand...

Really, what exactly was wrong with the RCA or as I prefer to call it "Hoosier Dome"....It seems like it is a pissing match among owners to see who can build the next greatest stadium. Everyone has to have a retractable roof now. One reason I go to very few games and that is just when I am invited by someone. Just because easier to say 'yes" than tell them why I am right and explain my point.

I always said if my tax dollars go to build a stadium, then why can't I use it. Not only can I not use it, you want to charge me out the ass to see to preseason game #2. The Colts are notorious for not even remotley trying in the preseason as well. Prob. lead the league the last 12 years in 0-4 pre-seasons

Odds NFL will flop again in LA?

Move to a new city who deserves a shot... As we discussed in this thread...
http://www.therxforum.com/showthread.php?t=1002386&highlight=Which+cities+deserve+NFL+expansion+team

PatsFan1283 said:

I don't think stadiums should be publicly funded either. Especially when you got the BS that happened with the Marlins. Getting a stadium built with taxpayer $ at the height of a recession and then the team trades everyone a year later.

Irsay really got 1 over on Indy taxpayers

Click to expand...

Paul Allen did the same thing with The Rose Garden and the Blazers.

Hache Man said:

Odds NFL will flop again in LA?

Move to a new city who deserves a shot... As we discussed in this thread...
http://www.therxforum.com/showthread.php?t=1002386&highlight=Which+cities+deserve+NFL+expansion+team

Click to expand...

LA deserves a shot. It's the second largest market in the country. Come on. It's idiotic to leave this metro area out of a league's membership for that reason alone.

No other league in the world would even consider leaving out their second largest market. I rest my case on that point alone.

Why don't the Raiders and their losers move back to LA....Can it get any worse. I would never go to a Raider game unarmed. You already have a Bay area team. The Raiders are about everything that is wrong...The gangs love them, Al Davis was a moron..... who was dumb enough to seriously take Jamarcus Russell period yet #1 overall. Calvin Johnson was only there at #2. But then years later they took whats his face that couldn't catch a turkey sandwich that was on the colts last year. Guy had the worst hands. I can't even think of his name.

This article says the Rams owner is ignoring city leaders who want to talk about keeping the team in St Louis

ST. LOUIS -- City officials said Wednesday that the owner of the [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rams[/FONT] isn't returning their calls, so they plan to work directly with the NFL on efforts to keep a team -- any team -- in St. Louis amid speculation the Rams are headed back to Los Angeles.
...
But city leaders are hedging their bets, saying the plan now is to work directly with the NFL, not the Rams. The change in philosophy is due in part to the fact that Kroenke won't take calls from Mayor Francis Slay or other city leaders, said Maggie Crane, Slay's spokeswoman.
"He hasn't responded, he hasn't called back, he hasn't done anything," Crane said of Kroenke.
"After a while, you sort of get the hint," said Jeff Rainford, the mayor's chief of staff.

get er done! would be great to have a team here in LA...I am so sick of getting my hopes up though

a nice new stadium would help LA possibly get to host an Olympics too which would be sick