Anaheim City Council Approves Stadium Sale to Angels

ANAHEIM (CNS) – The sale of Angel Stadium to the Los Angeles Angels received initial approval early Wednesday by the Anaheim City Council. The agreement to sell 150 acres of land around Angel Stadium for $320 million was approved by a 5-2 vote, with Councilwoman Denise Barnes and Councilman Jose F. Moreno voting no. The motion to release stadium land was approved by a 6-1 vote. Final approval of both items is expected at next Tuesday’s council meeting. Anaheim will receive $150 million in cash, with $45 million due in October, 466 apartments worth $123.7 million and a 7-acre park worth $46.2 million, according to Mike Lyster, Anaheim’s chief communications officer. The agreement will keep the Angels in Anaheim through at least 2050 with five five-year extensions through 2075. It also provides for renovation of the 45,500-seat stadium with an option to replace it with a new one. The master site plan for the stadium land calls for development of parking lots as homes, hotels, restaurants, shops, parks and public spaces in an effort to create the kind of setting seen around stadiums in San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis and Chicago or Staples Center and arenas in Sacramento and San Francisco. The plan includes 5,175 residential units, 1.75 million square feet of commercial space, including up to 943 hotel rooms, and 2.7 million square feet of office space. "What have been far too many years of uncertainty and inaction in Anaheim are now over," Mayor Harry Sidhu said. "We have secured baseball while freeing our city from the costs of stadium ownership. "Our residents will benefit for years to come as valuable, underutilized land gives way to a stadium area we can all be proud of." The apartments are considered affordable housing and city officials envision the 7-acre park will be much like the one across from Santa Monica City Hall, Lyster said. The future of the City National Grove of Anaheim is uncertain. The Angels will take ownership of the venue and will consider what to do with it going forward, but there’s a possibility it becomes part of the Honda Center’s OC Vibe entertainment venue plans that will be modeled after L.A. Live next to Staples Center, Lyster said. "The future of the Grove will rest with the new ownership," Lyster said. "But we don’t expect to see any change with the Grove. Longer term, the new ownership will evaluate it and take it into consideration with its own development plans."