With a key city council vote expected next week, Anaheim is releasing details on a proposed Angel Stadium land sale to a group that includes Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno.
After discussions with the Los Angeles Angels over their long-term facility plans, Anaheim released the broad strokes of a proposal last week that is intended to help facilitate new development at the Angel Stadium site. Under those terms, the city would sell 153 acres–including Angel Stadium and surrounding parking–to the private partnership SRB Management (made up of Moreno and as-yet-unannounced investors). The Angels would agree to stay in Anaheim through at least 2050, while private financing would cover redevelopment of the site along with any ballpark construction. Left unaddressed for the time being is the future of Angel Stadium itself, as the Angels are working with HKS Architects to explore potential solutions that could include a new or renovated ballpark.
The city council is expected to vote on the land sale portion of the proposal December 20, and Anaheim officials are disclosing more information ahead of that date. SRB Management would pay for the property through a series of deposits that would be made over the next few years, with an outside deadline in 2025. Until the sale closes, Anaheim would continue to own Angel Stadium under the terms of its existing lease with the Angels. Meanwhile, the final sale price could be reduced from the $325-million figure based upon the value of yet-to-be-determined community benefits that would be provided in the project. While the December 20 vote is an important early step in the process, the overall deal will require multiple city council votes and technically not be finalized until all components have been approved. More from OC Register:
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the sale agreement on Dec. 20. But city spokesman Mike Lyster noted that the overall deal is contingent on council approval of two other parts, a development agreement and a community benefits agreement, which likely won’t be drafted and made public until the spring.
If the sale goes forward, the buyer – a partnership known as SRB Management – would make a series of deposits totaling $70 million (plus possible extension payments) over the next several years; the remainder would be due upon closing of the sale, which is given an outside deadline of Sept. 30, 2025.
But council members won’t know when they vote Dec. 20 what that remaining balance will be because the city would reduce the final bill by a yet-to-be-determined amount for benefits it has requested, including affordable housing, additional public park facilities and a workforce agreement to encourage local hiring and the like.
The deal won’t become final without all three parts, the last of which is the city receiving tract maps for development on the property, Lyster said, so “it’s not like they’re being asked to vote on something today and they don’t have all the details.”
As it stands, the proposal gives a general sense of what the Angels and Anaheim officials envision for the Angel Stadium site’s future, though there are some yet-to-be-defined areas that will have to become clearer over time, including any community benefits package and a development agreement. While there have been questions about whether Anaheim would receive enough money for the property under this proposal, proponents have argued that future tax revenue generated by development at the site and the eventual shedding of annual maintenance obligations on Angel Stadium will be a benefit to the city.
The proposal reflects what had been expected as part of any discussion for the team to remain Anaheim, as it would help facilitate mixed-use development surrounding a new or renovated ballpark at the Angel Stadium site. Angel Stadium is the fourth-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, having originally opened in 1966. It did undergo a major renovation prior to the 1998 season, but those improvements have not aged particularly well, and the Angels have been looking for a long-term solution that would involve an upgraded or replaced ballpark.