The City of Industry is appropriately named.
The small stretch of land directly east of Los Angeles was designed as a sanctuary for big business, a place created to circumvent heavy taxation and protect corporate interests.
It's a city where hundreds live but tens of thousands work, where the primary goal is to help businesses conduct their business.
"The idea was to allow industry to grow almost in a vacuum, without interference from residential complaints about noise, pollution and the like," said City of Industry mayor David Perez, who has just 830 constituents in a 12-square-mile area zoned exclusively for industrial use. "We have a small population because it was designed that way. Not too many people want to live next to a railroad track or an industrial park. Because of that, we have the advantage of being able to move very quickly on projects."
That's a rarity in a state known for being litigious ---- especially in regard to its strict environmental regulations ---- where major construction projects proceed at a glacial pace.
Billionaire developer Ed Roski, Jr., however, plans to build a stadium in this corporate oasis. His proposal, designed to bring an NFL team back to the nation's second-largest media market, outlines the construction of a 75,000-seat stadium surrounded by businesses, hotels and tourist attractions in a town with an estimated 7-8 million people living within a 30-mile radius.
The proposed entertainment complex would cost an estimated $800 million, with an additional $150 million in approved public money for infrastructure costs.
Outside of Industry, projects of this magnitude (i.e. Petco Park) have historically been a magnet for lawsuits. But within these business-friendly confines, red tape is disappearing at a rapid rate.
The process offers a stark contrast to the Chargers' search for a new stadium in San Diego County, a seven-year quest that has yet to result in a site.
The City of Industry project, which would be built by Roski-owned Majestic Realty, was unanimously approved by the city council in February.
While there are complaints from neighboring communities, nothing is expected to stop a project backed by Majestic's virtually unlimited resources.
Majestic Realty ---- which says it does not grant interview requests to reporters covering a team possibly looking to relocate ---- could complete the complex by 2012, but won't break ground without a tenant.
"(Roski) clearly has a very interesting project," Chargers general counsel Mark Fabiani said. "He's clearly made a lot of progress on it, but the bottom line is that he still needs a team. No one anywhere is going to build a stadium without a team. I don't know that he's any closer to getting one than he was when he started."
While the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars all have been linked to Los Angeles ---- a market that the NFL wants to reclaim ---- the Chargers could also be a viable candidate should their local stadium search turn sour. The team can exercise an escape clause in its Qualcomm Stadium lease beginning on Feb. 1 of each year starting in 2009, with a buyout that decreases annually. The current $56 million buyout is pricey, but the payment decreases to an relatively affordable $26 million in 2011.
Chargers president Dean Spanos is friends with Roski and spoke with him last summer about the project, but remains committed to staying in San Diego.
"I know Ed Roski, and I can go on his Web site like everyone else and read all about the proposed stadium, Spanos said. "But I haven't had any specific dealings with him, nor have I spoken with him in a long time. Our focus right now is on Chula Vista. That's where we're looking."
The team admits that it won't look forever. Industry might make for an easy move, with a stadium plan in place and the legal hurdles already cleared. That might be attractive to a team that has dealt with stadium issues for years, with no end in sight.
"He (Spanos) didn't want to move seven years ago and he doesn't today," Fabiani said. "He's shown a tremendous amount of patience, but having said that, you can't do this forever. From that standpoint, it's different now. You have seven years gone by and $10 million out the door, and you do have a lot more activity in Los Angeles than you've had in the last 10 or 15 years."
There is activity in some surrounding communities as well. The city of Diamond Bar objected to the stadium proposal, and Walnut took legal action March 25 against the project based on environmental impact concerns.
"This type of litigation will not stop a project," Walnut city manager Rob Wishner said. "Essentially, it will delay the project, and in many cases that will cancel the project out. I don't see that happening here. Under these circumstances, the hope is that the negative impact to our community can be mitigated in some way."
Diamond Bar dropped its objection after approving a $20 million settlement from the City of Industry last week, and Perez believes Walnut eventually will follow suit. A local citizens group in Walnut also has taken legal action, but Majestic has the financial wherewithal to fight legal battles and keep pushing the stadium forward in a little town at the intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways.
"I'm still awed when I see the models, and realize how close this is to becoming reality," Perez said. "In my opinion, this stadium project is the biggest, most important construction project since railroads came to Southern California at the turn of the century. It will be an economic engine for the San Gabriel Valley and the entire Los Angeles area."
City of Industry
Location: The San Gabriel Valley, approximately 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles
Founded: 1957, as a pro-business community
Size: 12 square miles
Population: 831
Registered voters: 82
Estimated number of private workers: 70,000
Proposed development
What: NFL stadium, office buildings and an entertainment complex
Site: 592 acres near the intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways
Stadium capacity: 75,000 seats, with 11,000 club seats
Estimated construction time: Two years
Estimated construction cost: $800 million
Estimated infrastructure cost (from public funds): $150 million
http://www.footballhangout.com/news.html
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/14...5940065e857.txt
The small stretch of land directly east of Los Angeles was designed as a sanctuary for big business, a place created to circumvent heavy taxation and protect corporate interests.
It's a city where hundreds live but tens of thousands work, where the primary goal is to help businesses conduct their business.
"The idea was to allow industry to grow almost in a vacuum, without interference from residential complaints about noise, pollution and the like," said City of Industry mayor David Perez, who has just 830 constituents in a 12-square-mile area zoned exclusively for industrial use. "We have a small population because it was designed that way. Not too many people want to live next to a railroad track or an industrial park. Because of that, we have the advantage of being able to move very quickly on projects."
That's a rarity in a state known for being litigious ---- especially in regard to its strict environmental regulations ---- where major construction projects proceed at a glacial pace.
Billionaire developer Ed Roski, Jr., however, plans to build a stadium in this corporate oasis. His proposal, designed to bring an NFL team back to the nation's second-largest media market, outlines the construction of a 75,000-seat stadium surrounded by businesses, hotels and tourist attractions in a town with an estimated 7-8 million people living within a 30-mile radius.
The proposed entertainment complex would cost an estimated $800 million, with an additional $150 million in approved public money for infrastructure costs.
Outside of Industry, projects of this magnitude (i.e. Petco Park) have historically been a magnet for lawsuits. But within these business-friendly confines, red tape is disappearing at a rapid rate.
The process offers a stark contrast to the Chargers' search for a new stadium in San Diego County, a seven-year quest that has yet to result in a site.
The City of Industry project, which would be built by Roski-owned Majestic Realty, was unanimously approved by the city council in February.
While there are complaints from neighboring communities, nothing is expected to stop a project backed by Majestic's virtually unlimited resources.
Majestic Realty ---- which says it does not grant interview requests to reporters covering a team possibly looking to relocate ---- could complete the complex by 2012, but won't break ground without a tenant.
"(Roski) clearly has a very interesting project," Chargers general counsel Mark Fabiani said. "He's clearly made a lot of progress on it, but the bottom line is that he still needs a team. No one anywhere is going to build a stadium without a team. I don't know that he's any closer to getting one than he was when he started."
While the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars all have been linked to Los Angeles ---- a market that the NFL wants to reclaim ---- the Chargers could also be a viable candidate should their local stadium search turn sour. The team can exercise an escape clause in its Qualcomm Stadium lease beginning on Feb. 1 of each year starting in 2009, with a buyout that decreases annually. The current $56 million buyout is pricey, but the payment decreases to an relatively affordable $26 million in 2011.
Chargers president Dean Spanos is friends with Roski and spoke with him last summer about the project, but remains committed to staying in San Diego.
"I know Ed Roski, and I can go on his Web site like everyone else and read all about the proposed stadium, Spanos said. "But I haven't had any specific dealings with him, nor have I spoken with him in a long time. Our focus right now is on Chula Vista. That's where we're looking."
The team admits that it won't look forever. Industry might make for an easy move, with a stadium plan in place and the legal hurdles already cleared. That might be attractive to a team that has dealt with stadium issues for years, with no end in sight.
"He (Spanos) didn't want to move seven years ago and he doesn't today," Fabiani said. "He's shown a tremendous amount of patience, but having said that, you can't do this forever. From that standpoint, it's different now. You have seven years gone by and $10 million out the door, and you do have a lot more activity in Los Angeles than you've had in the last 10 or 15 years."
There is activity in some surrounding communities as well. The city of Diamond Bar objected to the stadium proposal, and Walnut took legal action March 25 against the project based on environmental impact concerns.
"This type of litigation will not stop a project," Walnut city manager Rob Wishner said. "Essentially, it will delay the project, and in many cases that will cancel the project out. I don't see that happening here. Under these circumstances, the hope is that the negative impact to our community can be mitigated in some way."
Diamond Bar dropped its objection after approving a $20 million settlement from the City of Industry last week, and Perez believes Walnut eventually will follow suit. A local citizens group in Walnut also has taken legal action, but Majestic has the financial wherewithal to fight legal battles and keep pushing the stadium forward in a little town at the intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways.
"I'm still awed when I see the models, and realize how close this is to becoming reality," Perez said. "In my opinion, this stadium project is the biggest, most important construction project since railroads came to Southern California at the turn of the century. It will be an economic engine for the San Gabriel Valley and the entire Los Angeles area."
City of Industry
Location: The San Gabriel Valley, approximately 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles
Founded: 1957, as a pro-business community
Size: 12 square miles
Population: 831
Registered voters: 82
Estimated number of private workers: 70,000
Proposed development
What: NFL stadium, office buildings and an entertainment complex
Site: 592 acres near the intersection of the 57 and 60 freeways
Stadium capacity: 75,000 seats, with 11,000 club seats
Estimated construction time: Two years
Estimated construction cost: $800 million
Estimated infrastructure cost (from public funds): $150 million
http://www.footballhangout.com/news.html
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/04/14...5940065e857.txt
