April 18, 2008

Developer pitches NFL stadium east of L.A.

Los Angeles developer Ed Roski officially announced plans to build a 75,000-seat football stadium in the City of Industry, a small town east of Los Angeles heretofore best known as the place where Michael J. Fox revved up his DeLorean in "Back to the Future." Roski said he hoped the $800 million stadium, to be surrounded - stop me if you've heard this before - by shops and restaurants, would be enough to lure an NFL team to the L.A. area. (In fact, he won't begin construction until a team is in place, a reasonable requirement that some cities could have learned from.)

And how exactly does Roski plan pay for this? He didn't exactly say, beyond indicating that the surrounding development would somehow offset the stadium cost. (Again, stop me if you've heard this.) One method he won't be using is tax increment financing: A plan to redirect property taxes from the L.A. County treasury to pay for redevelopment in the City of Industry was killed by the state legislature on Wednesday, after county supervisors screamed bloody murder. Reports the L.A. Times:

A spokesman for Roski said the site of the proposed NFL stadium is not within a redevelopment project area, and there is no plan to ask for public funds for the project.

That the bill is being supported at the same time the NFL stadium is being proposed is "coincidental in timing and unrelated in purpose," said John Semcken, a vice president of Roski's Majestic Realty.

The Times did not report on whether Semcken was able to keep a straight face.