The Los Angeles Planning Commission unanimously approved AEG’s downtown stadium plan yesterday, setting up the project for a final city council vote on Sept. 28. If you’re wondering why I’m not making a bigger deal about this, it’s because 1) the council already unanimously approved the project once last year, and 2) even approving it again isn’t going to change the fact that AEG and the NFL remain deadlocked over whether there would be enough filthy lucre left over for an NFL team once AEG took its proposed mammoth cut of the swag.
The main battle right now is over whether AEG will be forced to kick in $2 million a year over 30 years for affordable housing, as a group of community activists wants, in exchange for dropping opposition to a state law limiting lawsuits against the project. (Follow all that? Read it again if you need to — I did.) Given that at this rate Los Angeles will be in Alaska before anything gets built, the community groups might want to hitch their wagon to a more promising horse, but hey, whatever floats their boat.
It’s clear that LA has to wait on the St. Louis decision.
Will the Stl taxpayers pony up $500 mil to $700 mil when they lose the arbitration or will they just say “screw it we’re a baseball town”?