Santa Ana Arena Cost Not to Top $5 Million

The city of Santa Ana would have to spend a maximum of $5 million in public funds to subsidize its proposed $70-million indoor sports arena once it is built, according to a high-ranking city official.

The funds, which could be needed for operational expenses over the life of the project, would not come from general tax revenue. Rather, they would come from extra property taxes generated by the construction, said Cindy Nelson, executive director of the Community Development Agency, at a briefing for city officials on the proposed facility.

At the same briefing, the private developer of the proposed Santa Ana arena said Monday that the Los Angeles Clippers are not one of the NBA professional basketball franchises that his partnership is trying to entice to the new facility.

Nelson and developer Tony Guanci of King-Guanci Development Co. in Newport Beach gave the arena briefing at a joint meeting of the city Planning and Redevelopment commissions Monday on the eve of the expected approval by Anaheim city officials of a land purchase for a competing arena.

Santa Ana commissioners were anxious to know the impact on the Santa Ana project of Anaheim’s pending $8-million purchase of 7.6 acres at Katella Avenue and Douglass Road in Anaheim. The purchase agreement is not on the Anaheim City Council agenda for today, although that does not preclude a vote. The purchase has been discussed by councilmen in closed session in recent weeks.

“Our team still feels as though they have a competitive edge,” Nelson told Santa Ana commissioners. “It gets down to who turns that first shovel of dirt.”

Santa Ana’s proposed arena would be built on about 17 acres at Edinger Avenue and Lyons Street. It would seat about 20,000, as would the facility in Anaheim.

As proposed, the Santa Ana arena would be built on private land now owned by Santa Fe Pacific Realty Co. and managed by the partnership of Spectacor Management Group and MCA Entertainment Group. Nelson said the expertise of the management group gives Santa Ana’s proposal an advantage in the competition.

Spectacor is the world’s largest indoor arena management firm, managing 30 facilities. MCA Entertainment Group manages six amphitheaters.

Negotiations Continue

Guanci told commissioners that negotiations are continuing in an effort to bring an NBA franchise to Santa Ana. However, after Monday’s meeting, Guanci told The Times: “We are not trying to entice the Clippers to come here.”

There have been frequent concerns expressed that arenas in either city would not be financially viable without a National Basketball Assn. or a National Hockey League franchise. Neither the NBA nor the NHL is expected to grant new franchises in the near future.

But Guanci said that even without a professional basketball or hockey franchise, the Santa Ana arena would be in a better position to attract other users, including serving as a concert venue.

“We don’t believe the developers in Anaheim can come nearly as close as we can to getting (an arena) built,” Guanci said.

Spokesmen could not be reached Monday for the city of Anaheim or the Nederlander Organization and Ogden Allied Services, the New York-based firms that propose to build and operate the arena in Anaheim.