Anaheim Observer Civic affairs in OC's largest city.
This morning, Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu announced the city and the Angels have reached an agreement in principle under which the team will stay in Anaheim for at least another 30 years, and a partnership led by team owner Arte Moreno will buy the stadium and surrounding property at fair-market value for $325 million.
According to the city-commissioned appraisal released earlier today, the 153-acre site is valued at $300 to $320 million.
The Angels-led partnership will pay $2.1 million per-acre for the city-owned site. The Ducks paid $600,000 per acre for the city-owned land surrounding the Honda Center.
Under the proposed agreement, the Angels will be solely responsible for all stadium repairs, renovations and maintenance. Once the sale is complete, the City of Anaheim will be out of the stadium business.
Development possibilities for the site include residential, retail, offices and entertainment. It’s estimated development of the site would yield in the neighborhood of $7 million annually.
The Angels have not disclosed whether they intend to build a new stadium, but knowledgeable observers consider it likely. The team has hired HKS Architects, who designed the new Minnesota Vikings stadium and a currently designing a new ballpark for the Texas Rangers – to help figure that out. Either way, the team, and not Anaheim taxpayers, will pay for it.
“For every fan who told us to keep the Angels, this proposal would do exactly that,” Mayor Harry Sidhu said in a statement. “This proposal reflects what we’ve heard from the community – keep the Angels, a fair land price, money for neighborhoods, ongoing revenue, affordable housing, parks and jobs for Anaheim.”
“It will also bring ongoing revenue to our city for years to come,” said Sidhu. “Best of all, there would be no taxpayer stadium funding and no impact to Anaheim’s budget — except to add to it.”
“We appreciate the mayor’s leadership in working to keep the Angels here in Anaheim, which has been our home for over 50 years,” Moreno said in a statement. “Today is the first step in enabling us to invest in our future by building a winning team and delivering a high-quality fan experience.”
Mayor Sidhu is calling a special city council meeting for December 20 to vote on the purchase and sale agreement. If approved, a Disposition and Development Agreement spelling out the details of development and community benefits would be hammered out during the early months of 2020.
The Basics of the Deal
- SRB Management will purchase the 153-acre site for $325 million. That includes the stadium itself and city-owned Grove Theater.
- The stadium purchase agreement is between the City of Anaheim and SRB Management LLC, of which Angels owner Arte Moreno is a partner
- The Angels agree to stay until 2050, with three five-year extension options.
- No taxpayer-funding or subsidies for stadium renovations or building a new stadium.
- The current lease would remain in effect until close of sale – potentially around 2025.
- The Angels would be required to maintain at least the current 12,500 parking spaces. This will almost certainly require the team to build a parking structure in order to develop the land.
What Changes After The Sales Closes
- Angel Stadium would, for the first time, be privately-owned.
- Anaheim taxpayers no longer on the hook: the Angels would be solely responsible for financing the maintenance and renovation of this existing stadium, or construction of a new stadium.
- The City of Anaheim will be out of the stadium business.
- It will cease administering the stadium
- It will no longer pay annual capital expense agreements, currently $700,000 annually.
- It will forgo annual ticket and parking revenue sharing – which netted the city $581,200 in 2018-2019. But anticipated development will yield an estimated $7 million in annual tax revenues.
there would be no taxpayer stadium funding and no impact to Anaheim’s budget — except to add to it.
What Will The Disposition and Development Agreement (DDA) Do?
The purchase and sale agreement (PSA) the city council will vote on this December 20 pertains to the ownership of the stadium site.
- The DDA that will be hammered out in early 2020 will govern how the land is developed. Among the things it covers:
- Development timelines
- Schedule for plan submittal
- Community benefits such as affordable housing, additional park and public amenities, local hiring and other labor agreements.
- A fair-market value will be assigned to city-requested community benefits and applied against the sale price.
Yields Revenue To 2030 Neighborhood Investment Program
At his State of the City speech earlier this year, Mayor Sidhu announced his 2030 Neighborhood Investment Program to invest $250 million in additional revenue into neighborhood improvements during the next decade. The newly-formed non-profit Anaheim First partnered with the city to conduct a series of district-based town halls and online community survey as part of creating an Anaheim Community Assessment. The assessment would serve as a resident-driven blueprint to help guide council decisions on prioritizing the $250 million.
Sidhu is expected to push for using the bulk of stadium sales revenues to fund the Neighborhood Investment Program. Naysayers such as Councilman Jose F. Moreno claimed the mayor would not be able to finance this plan to improve neighborhoods. Once again, they were wrong.
This is a great deal. Congrats to Sidhu for making the critics and partisan shills look like chumps.
It’s sweet reading the coverage on the Voice of Moreno and the OJ Blog. It’s taken them about 24 hours to recover and find the spinning legs. Spencer Custodio is sulking because he got scooped by the OCR. Maybe if he decides to be a reporter instead of Jose Moreno’s press agent, he’ll get better access.
Ryan Cantor is losing his mind. We all know that if this deal had been negotiated by Mayor TAIT instead of Mayor Sidhu, he’d be singing its praises.
Ryan is a keyboard cowboy. His claim to fame at the OJ Blog is that he’s employed.
And we learn the publisher there may have violated his restraining order by entering a Disney property. Maybe he can ask DA Spitzer for a recusal, when he does Greg’s busy work..