Los Angeles is the city of dreams. However, one dream has eluded LA: an NFL team. Fortunately for those who dream of LA having its own football team and one day rising to acclaim with a Super Bowl title, this dream is getting closer. For the past several years two major companies AEG and Majestic Realty Co. have been in competition over who would build the proposed stadium. Currently the planning and development of the stadium is up in the air with both competitors Majestic Realty Co. and AEG lobbying city legislators.
If Majestic wins the chance to build the stadium, the Los Angeles stadium will cover more than 600 acres and be placed in the City of Industry, which is in the center of four different counties. The stadium would be within an hour of 15.5 million Angelinos and is being designed by the builders of the STAPLES Center. Majestic is following the successful NFL model by placing the stadium outside of the congestion of cities and in the suburbs. The stadium will be placed geographically the same distance from Hollywood as it is from Newport Beach.
For all the environmental nuts, the stadium is completely LEED certified (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), meaning it abides by all the new green and recycling laws. Best of all, every single citizen of LA will have to contribute exactly $0 to the building of the stadium. Majestic, along with a slew of private investors, has been able to finance the entire project independently.
Currently, Majestic is competing with another real estate firm over rights to build the stadium. Unfortunately for their rival AEG, several environmental issues have slowed down plans for their stadium next to the Los Angeles Convention Center. AEG also owns part of the STAPLES Center and their CEO, Philip Anschutz, is a partial owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. AEG’s planned stadium will cost roughly $1.2 billion and will be attached to the STAPLES Center. However, environmentalists and concerned citizens fear the aftereffects of building the stadium in particular: increased traffic congestion and the loss of natural environments in LA.
Majestic’s early projections predict that the creation of a new stadium in LA will generate more than 18,000 jobs and will be completely tax-free. The project will generate over $330 million in wages annually for the region.
“This is the best kind of action state government can create — action that cuts red tape, generates jobs, is environmentally friendly and brings a continued economic boost to California,” former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said.
Vice President of Majestic John Semcken says, “One out of every 19 people in the United States of America live within an hour drive. It’s a total California experience. One of the things you don’t have to do in Southern California is protect the fan from the weather. ” Pepperdine has already made an important contribution to the project, as one of the leaders on Majestic’s development team is Pepperdine alumnus Josh Wheeler, a 2005 graduate.
