Staples Center / An Update

The morning haze hadn’t lifted yet, but still the windows of Tim Leiweke’s 23rd-floor office afforded a stunning view.

A few blocks away, in what about a month ago was little more than a hole in the ground at 11th and Figueroa, steel girders reached toward the sky in four quadrants. Concrete mixers, reduced by distance and perspective to the size of toys, scurried to deliver the material that will form the walls and concourses of the Staples Center. Already, the shape of the arena floor and the outline of the lower bowl were discernible.

From his desk in the project office at 865 South Figueroa, Leiweke has a splendid vantage point from which to watch his dream spring up. It’s not his preferred vantage point, but the tribulations of building a 1-million-square-foot arena on a tight schedule usually prevent him from getting closer than a cloudy distance.

“It’s wonderful and, quite frankly, awe-inspiring to sit here and look out the window and see the progress we’ve made on site, but I don’t get over there to touch it and feel it as much as I’d like,” said Leiweke, president of the Kings and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Arena Co. “That’s part of being a corporation that’s expanding on a rapid basis. We just don’t get the opportunity to go out and, well, I wouldn’t say enjoy ourselves. Maybe a better way of saying that is smelling the roses.”

It will take tons of concrete, plaster and steel to make the arena that will house the Kings, Lakers and Clippers and is expected to infuse life into Los Angeles’ somnolent downtown. It will also take $350 million, making it the most expensive arena ever built and putting it $100 million over the original estimate.

The increase is partly because of delays resulting when the City Council pressured developers Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski--who also own the Kings--into minimizing the city’s financial risk by agreeing to repay $58 million in municipal bonds without using sales, property or utility taxes generated by the project. However, Leiweke said $350 million has held steady as the target figure for the last six months.

“Like any project similar to this, whether an arena or a baseball stadium, the reality is that when you get into the design phase, you think of things you want to incorporate,” he said. “Certainly, the political process had an immense impact on the increase in cost, but we don’t make a big deal about it. We are, I wouldn’t say comfortable, but it is what it is, so we go on.”

Construction costs are being borne by Anschutz, Majestic Realty--the company Roski heads--and by the Fox Group, which bought a 40% interest in the center and has options to buy minority shares of the Kings and Lakers. The arena, which will seat 20,000 for basketball and 18,500 for hockey, was designed by NBBJ Sports and Entertainment and is being built by PCL Construction Services, a general contractor whose North American headquarters are in Denver.

“We have looked at every other new arena that has been opened in the United States, and we like to tell people we’re not necessarily creative, but real good thieves, because we like to steal ideas from the other buildings,” Leiweke said. “We have learned a lot by going into a lot of new facilities out there, as to what we should be doing here to make this a better arena.”

Ground was broken on March 26. Leiweke anticipates getting a certificate of occupancy on Sept. 30, 1999, and conducting events a few weeks later. Although the community redevelopment agency still is trying to buy parcels of land surrounding the arena to use for parking and eventually part of a planned entertainment complex, those properties aren’t essential to the arena’s opening.

The Kings are scheduled to play their first regular-season game at the Staples Center on Oct. 23, 1999, followed soon after by Laker and Clipper exhibition games. Leiweke recently mentioned a possible delay in the opening until November 1999, “because I’m learning to be cautious. I think the realistic approach is that October 1999, is going to happen. . . .

“We need a lot of things to go right to make that work. We need not only the general contractor and architect to stay on schedule, but we need some miracles out of our crew, and I’m a big believer in our crew. They’ve been angels and they’ve provided some miracles to date, so I believe they will pull off what they need to pull off. We also need cooperation from the city, and a lot of people out there tell us we’re naive and insane to count on that cooperation, but I have a great deal of faith in the city, based on our experiences to date.”

PCL will receive a sizable bonus for every day the project is completed before Sept. 30--or will pay a hefty penalty for every day it’s late. Sources said the bonus-penalty is $1 million a day. Leiweke called that figure inaccurate but wouldn’t specify a sum, saying only that it’s significant.

The Lakers and Kings each signed 25-year leases at the Staples Center. The Clippers’ lease is for six years, but Andy Roeser, their executive vice president, said in April the club expects to be there forever. Although the Lakers and Clippers weren’t involved in the arena negotiations, they have been consulted on the designs of the areas they will use.

Each team will have its own expansive locker room. Blueprints show a 946-square-foot room for the Kings, a 910-square-foot space for the Lakers and 901 for the Clippers. The arena will also have player lounges, which the Forum lacks. Separate locker rooms will be built for visiting NBA and NHL teams, a necessity for quickly moving equipment in and out of what will be the only arena to house three major professional teams whose seasons run concurrently.

“They’ve done a wonderful job, as far as trying to visualize every contingency, and they have involved us quite heavily,” said Jerry West, the Lakers’ executive vice president. “You leave an awful lot of memories, but there’s a wonderful excitement generated in moving to a new building, not only among players but among fans, too. . . .

“I don’t think we view ourselves as secondary tenants. And I don’t think they view us as anything but equals because we view everyone as equally important in driving the success of the building.”

The Clippers say they also feel involved.

“I think [the developers] are doing everything in their power to build the best building they can and on the timetable they established,” Roeser said. “It’s a very big undertaking and they really are doing everything they can to keep it moving. It’s absolutely incredible, the issues and details they’re balancing every day, and they’re doing a good job at it.”

The marketing of the arena is proceeding as briskly as the construction.

Of 160 suites, 103 have been sold, including all the top-of-the-line $300,000 models. The rest sell for $197,500 to $257,500. And in addition to Staples office supplies, which will pay $100 million over 20 years to have its name and logo on the arena, nine other major corporations--among them Pacific Bell, Toyota and Bank of America--will be announced in mid-October as “founding partners” that will provide as much as $50 million for display of their logos.

“I think we have an opportunity to build the Madison Square Garden of the 21st century, with all due respect to Madison Square Garden, because for me, that is the mecca . . . I believe this has been and will be the most important project ever built, period. If you look at what this arena is going to do to this city--here you are in the second-largest market in the United States and the newest facility in the city of Los Angeles is Dodger Stadium,” said Lewieke, who did not include the Forum in Inglewood. “And so fans, the media, the teams are not used to what they’re going to experience in this building.

“I hope. We’d better blow them away for $350 million. If we don’t, we’ve made a big mistake. If we deliver, we’re going to not only be a rallying point for the city, but we’re going to usher in an air of excitement in downtown L.A.”