Hahn Partnership Sues Cooper Over $2 Million Arena Loan : Transaction: Esquinas says Sports Arena owners to pursue new deal for new facility.

Signs continue to mount that the sale of San Diego Sports Arena to developers Ron Hahn and Samuel Marasco--and their interconnected plan to build a downtown amphitheater--is in jeopardy.

Hahn and Marasco filed suit Monday against Arena lease-holder Harry Cooper to protect a $2 million loan that developers made to Cooper as part of the purchase agreement in May, 1991. The sale, reportedly valued at about $15 million, originally was to have been completed in July 1991. The deadline since has been extended several times.

The Hahn-Marasco filing follows a complaint that Cooper filed July 2 in San Diego County Superior Court seeking a ruling that the sports arena sale agreement had been terminated because Hahn and Marasco failed to complete the deal by the “final deadline” of July 1, 1992, according to Cooper associate Richard Esquinas.

Hahn spokesman Barry Lorge said Monday that while the developers still hope to conclude their purchase of the Sports Arena and build the new downtown facility, they filed the action as means of “protecting their investment” in case the transaction falls apart.

In addition to the $2 million loan, Lorge said the developers have financially supported the arena’s day-to-day operations.

In a prepared statement, Marasco said he and Hahn had offered Cooper a new proposal for closing the agreement and that it was in the “best interests of the buyers, sellers and the City to preserve the progress that has been made on the new arena development.”

Speaking on behalf of Cooper, Esquinas said Hahn and Marasco have been granted five extensions to complete the deal and that Cooper’s patience had worn thin.

As far as Cooper is concerned, the sale to Hahn and Marasco is off, and Cooper is now resigned to operating the arena. Cooper also plans to pursue partners to finance the building of a new arena, Esquinas said.

“When a group comes forward that can shoulder financially a new arena project, we will entertain their proposition and pursue a new facility,” Esquinas said. “But I want to make a special note that our real focus will be the running of this facility.”

Lorge maintained Monday that the deadlines on completing the sale have been moved back by “mutual agreement” of the Hahn-Marasco team and Cooper.

The legal turmoil surrounding the Sports Arena is only part of the facility’s problems. The arena probably will lose two major tenants. Last week, the Major Soccer League folded, and Sockers chairman Oscar Ancira said the Sockers probably would also cease operations.

Also, San Diego State University has said it intends to move its varsity basketball home games back to Peterson Gym on the SDSU campus. Those two defections will cause a 35% to 40% reduction in arena bookings, Esquinas said. Last year, the Sockers played 25 games at the arena and SDSU played 16 games.

The decline in dates, however, might not be so dramatic. Esquinas said he is negotiating to bring the Arena Football League to town and has been told by Ancira that indoor soccer could be resuscitated, albeit on a lower level than the MSL.

“I just talked to Oscar (on Monday), and he’s still trying to do something,” Esquinas said. “He’s trying to keep in the soccer mix, whether it’s the summer league (the proposed Continental Indoor Soccer League), or whether it’s something in the winter. Oscar doesn’t know what form it’s going to take, but he’s still going to pursue some form of soccer for San Diego.”

Esquinas also said he is working with investors for an Arena Football team and that he hopes to petition the 12-team league by August.

Lorge said the core of Hahn’s dispute with Cooper is the outstanding loans that are secured by the sports arena and whether the buyers should assume responsibility for paying them.

Hahn’s financial strength was placed in question last month with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of a major office building partnership in which he and his father, shopping mall magnate Ernest Hahn, were prime figures.

In March, Hahn signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of San Diego giving him an exclusive 18-month right to develop a downtown arena.