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Unnngh.
Posted on 01/31/2014 7:24:47 AM PST by Uncle Chip
ST. LOUIS -- According to reports in the Los Angeles Times and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, by way of an affiliated holding company, recently purchased a 60-acre tract of land in Inglewood, Calif.
The reports indicate that the land is located between the Forum and Hollywood Park and could serve as a possible spot for development of a new NFL stadium according to the Times' sources.
Kroenke has made much of his fortune by way of land development and has long owned large amounts of land in California and elsewhere. Whether this move is simply adding to his land or being used for other means related to his football team remains to be seen.
What is known is that a clause in the Rams' lease at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis is set to kick in at the end of the 2014 season. So long as the stadium hasn't been upgraded to one of the eight best venues in the NFL before that time, the Rams' lease will then become a year-to-year proposition beginning in 2015.
Discussions about how to bring the current stadium up to that standard have been ongoing for the past couple of years but no resolution was reached.
In 2012, the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission proposed a $124 million upgrade to help the Edward Jones Dome reach the "first tier" standard.
The Rams countered with a more elaborate proposal which was estimated to cost somewhere in the range of $700 million.
In February of last year, an arbitrator heard both proposals and ruled in favor of the Rams. Soon after, the commission made it clear it does not intend to follow through with the plan, meaning the lease will almost certainly expire after next season.....
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
What is the future of Hollywood Park? It recently ended a long run of hosting thoroughbred racing.
Unnngh.
It’s going to happen, and they should be pretty good by the time they make the move.
My understanding is that Hollywood Park is set to become condominiums and residential.
Madame Ram must be spinning in her grave. That old floozie sure was a piece of work.
Yep —
The Rams will go full circle more than likely to land not far from the Coliseum.
There appears to be no interest in St Louis in meeting the Rams’ demands for upgrading the stadium at the cost of $700M.
Of course they could always move back to Cleveland, they’ve been waiting for an NFL team for the last 17 years. (That’s a joke, son)
The scuttlebut is if the Rams go to LA, then St Louis will try to bring in the Jax Jaguars.
Why? St Louis is a baseball town, always will be.
“The Rams countered with a more elaborate proposal which was estimated to cost somewhere in the range of $700 million” For that price, they ought to be able to demolish the old one and build from scratch. Atlanta’s going to run over a $billion, but that includes buying off a couple of black churches so it could be built in the ‘hood. And Jerryworld went that high because they had to build it big enough to hold his ego.
Good for St. Louis!
Here in Indiana we got suckered into a $750m deal for the Irsays.
And we’re still paying on the bonds from the stadium they tore down to build the new one....
Putting a team in LA does take away the big threat the NFL always uses on other cities...not sure if they will be willing to give it up.
...has a nice ring to it...
...don't you think?
I thought the Jags were going to London. Although Jacksonville taxpayers are building a new swimming pool for the team owner.
What’s interesting is that businesses, hotels, restaurants down around the stadium say that they make more money from events they hold at the stadium when the Rams are out of town.
They won’t miss them.
I think I saw somewhere that the this proposed development straddles a major fault line.
I think it takes about 40 acres for a modern stadium foot print with circulation drives. Parking is another matter.
Unless the site is in a blighted area where the stadium developer could get the local government to condemn and purchase another 300 to 500 acres for parking for 40,000 cars and 3000 employees, this is not enough land in my opinion. Even adding five story parking garages would result in another 100 acres on top of the twenty left over in the original 60.
What strange leases do these teams have? The lease in St. Louis requires them to be an upper tier facility, based on whatever criteria are listed to keep it a top facility? For the numbers listed, they may as well build a new stadium.
Can someone explain how it is that the public is expected to build billion dollar stadiums for profitable NFL franchises? Is the prestige of having an NFL franchise that great, that public officials negotiate agreements to subsidize NFL teams to such a degree?????
Is it possible that Kroenke has an option to buy a large part of Hollywood Park to supplement this purchase.
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