Community Corner
Downtown Stadium Inches Forward
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday that would allow a downtown L.A. football stadium access to $275 million in public funds. A competing project in the City of Industry continues to fight to acquire a team.
It may come down to a coin toss between football downtown and in Diamond Bar's backyard.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council approved plans for a downtown football stadium in a unanimous 12-0 vote.
The Associated Press reported that the vote would allow the project by Anschutz Entertainment Group access to $275 million in tax-free public bonds to relocate a convention center hall for the $1.2 billion project.
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The agreement stipulates that 49 percent of new revenue generated by taxes and lease costs will go toward paying back that debt, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Both projects are still fighting for the biggest piece of the puzzle: a team.
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But Tuesday's vote gives more hope to downtown supporters after a was reached at the end of July between Los Angeles and AEG.
As part of the agreement, AEG agreed to pay for the cost of building the stadium and two parking garages.
On Aug. 2, local discussion of the competing Majestic Realty project in the City of Industry started up again after the company's vice president, John Semcken, earned the support of a regional coalition of cities, including Diamond Bar.
The Four Corners Coalition, made up of cities near the border of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, issued its support for the Industry project just last week.
Diamond Bar councilwoman Carol Herrera — chair of the separate Four Corners Transportation Coalition — said the next step for the group will be to hire public relations professionals to support the effort to bring a team to the stadium in Industry.
Clarification: Councilwoman Herrera is chair of the Four Corners Transportation Policy Committee, not the coalition that drafted the letter of support for the NFL stadium in Industry. The chair of the coalition that supported the Industry stadium is Chino Hills councilwoman Gwenn Norton-Perry.
In a statement issued after the L.A. Council vote, Semcken said that Majestic is "more active than ever" to try and court the NFL and team owners to bring a team to their stadium.
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