Plan Seeks to Acquire Parcels Near Coliseum

Supporters of the campaign to bring a professional football team back to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum are pushing a plan to have the city acquire property near the stadium, relocating the parcel’s residents to clear space for a retail complex and parking, officials said Thursday.

The plan, sources said, would have a public agency, possibly the Coliseum Commission, purchase or condemn 10 to 16 acres across Figueroa Street from Exposition Park, site of the Coliseum. Once in public hands, the land probably would be offered to a private developer, who would design and build a retail center, as well as expand the number of parking spaces close to the stadium.

“I think this would be positive for making a deal with the NFL and would be positive for the community,” said Mayor Richard Riordan, who initiated the idea.

Most of that land today is home to parking lots and a few small commercial enterprises, but Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area, said about 50 families live there, too. He added that their interests are important to him, though he believes all sides could be accommodated.

“I think we need to proceed with caution at the point of condemnation,” he said. “What we should be looking for is a win-win situation for everyone involved. It may not be necessary to condemn the property. . . . What is most important is that the owners be treated fairly.”

In interviews this week, Riordan said he is trying to help pull together a deal to bring a football team to Los Angeles, which he believes would help the local economy and would be good for the city’s poor.

Other officials, however, are skeptical. Though some are impressed with the idea of economically improving the area around Exposition Park, they warn of a possible community backlash if officials resort to condemnation. Decades after property in Chavez Ravine was condemned to make way for Dodger Stadium, feelings in the surrounding community remain bruised.

The situation near Exposition Park is different: The residents there rent their apartments; the Chavez Ravine residents owned their homes in a historic neighborhood. But displacing families is never a politically popular task, and even those who like the idea of a new retail or restaurant area near Exposition Park would prefer to see the matter handled without the government forcibly taking the land.

Bill Chadwick, the investment banker who is representing the state in the fast-moving talks, confirmed that the idea of condemnation has been suggested, but stressed that it was not introduced by him.

“The issue was raised recently,” he said. “My view is that my role as a state representative lies inside the footprint of Exposition Park. Anything outside that is the responsibility of the city and county.”

Roger Goodell, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, also confirmed the talks and expressed support for the concept.

“The NFL has been very supportive of such discussions,” Goodell said. “We want this project to be as beneficial to the community as possible.”

Supporters of the idea say that after the city acquired the land, it would be offered to private developers to create a proposal for a retail or hotel area that would benefit from the new football team’s games and other events the renovated Coliseum would host.

A similar approach has been taken in the area around the soon-to-be completed Staples Center, which will be the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Kings. In that case, the Community Redevelopment Agency is condemning properties near the arena to turn them into parking lots that can accommodate the crowds expected to use the center. That process has worked relatively smoothly, say officials involved in it, adding that the experience there could bode well for condemnations near Exposition Park.

The property acquisition issue is one of many being hastily discussed as a potentially important set of NFL owners meetings are slated for next week.

Leaders of the two groups vying for a Los Angeles team agreed this week to endorse a single design and site plan for Exposition Park. But the two groups still intend to compete for the right to own the new team.

As the state’s representative in the talks, Chadwick has been drafting a proposed agreement between the NFL and the state government.