http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hollywood-park-land-company-announces-plan-to-build-world-class-sports-complex-in-inglewood-300015442.html
"Hollywood Park Land Company Announces Plan To Build World-Class Sports Complex In Inglewood"
Growing up in Texas, I have been raised to eat, live and breathe football. In my much younger years, in addition to watching Texas A&M football, I loved watching the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome. When the team left for Nashville (now the Tennessee Titans), I had no NFL team to root for for almost six years until professional football returned to Houston in the form of my now favorite team, the Houston Texans.
As the years have passed, I have recognized the economic and cultural impact that professional sports teams can have on a city, and how these large metropolitan cities thrive on serving as the home for these franchises. Because of this, I had always wondered why Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, hadn't had a professional football team since 1994 when the Rams (now the St. Louis Rams) played in Anaheim Stadium. The cities of San Diego, San Francisco and Oakland were home to the Chargers, 49ers and Raiders, respectively, so why would the world-famous city of Los Angeles not be worthy? Well, after over 20 years of waiting, it looks like the citizens of the city of Angels have their answer.
On January 5, 2015, Hollywood Park Land Company (HPLC) in Inglewood, California released an expanded plan to develop 298 acres by adding a world-class football stadium along with 4 million square feet of retail, office, hotel and residential space. The project is said to be built by no cost to taxpayers and provide thousands of jobs during and after construction. HPLC is a joint venture between Stockbridge Capital Group, a real estate investment management firm, and the Kroenke Group, a leader in commercial real estate and development.
In 2005, Stockbridge purchased 238 acres in Hollywood Park for future development and the Kroenke Group purchased an adjacent 60-acre parcel in 2013. The project, which has been named "City of Champions Revitalization Project", will include the following:
- an 80,000-seat, state of the art football stadium
- a 6,000 seat performance venue
- 890,000 sq. ft. of retail
- 780,000 sq. ft. of office space
- 2,500 new residential units and a 300-room hotel
- 25 acres of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle access
Also, 60 acres of undeveloped land surround the village that is ideal for building a central district that will aim to successfully blend entertainment and residential life in Hollywood Park. The development is expected to create long-term revenue growth for the city of Inglewood and the Greater Los Angeles area and is slated to be completed in time to host an NFL team for the 2018 season.
This news was extremely intriguing to me not only because of my deep love for sports and football but also due to my increasing knowledge and curiosity of commercial real estate. In my opinion, this is one of the best investments I have seen in a long time, and I'm not sure why it took so long for someone to step forward and fund it. Granted, the development plans and architecture of the village were most likely very complex and the idea couldn't be formulated until the possibility of an NFL team moving to L.A. was at least a strong possibility. Recently, the St. Louis Rams moved to a year-to-year lease at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, giving them the flexibility to move so things are moving quickly to say the least.
At this point, all signs point towards either the Rams returning to Los Angeles or possibly the Raiders relocating from Oakland, as the city still refuses to build the franchise a new stadium (circa the late 1990's when the Oilers decide to up and leave for Nashville). With this massive, diverse, football-starving megacity, this development couldn't come at a better time and the people of the Greater Los Angeles area will be flocking to the new "City of Champions" in no time. It appears that Stockbridge and Kroenke just struck oil out west, and NFL fans alike couldn't be more excited.
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