O.C. site gains serious suitors
A developer is offering the city of Anaheim more than $150 million for the right to build an elaborate high-rise retail, office and residential complex near Angel Stadium, three times what a professional football team would pay to build an arena on the site, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The 53-acre parcel, now used mostly for parking, has attracted wide interest from builders who hope to capitalize on the city’s sports venues, the baseball stadium and the Honda Center arena. The land is also one of two Southland sites the National Football League is considering for a return to the Los Angeles market.
But the competition has left the city at a crossroads -- fulfilling its dream of adding a professional football team to its stable of sports franchises, or reaping huge profits by selling off valuable land to a developer.
Five developers have made offers on the land, pushing projects including 40-story office towers and broad promenades clustered with loft-style housing.
One of the projects, known as Five-Seven Centrum, was submitted by Archstone-Smith and Hines, a nationally known builder that wants to erect two or three upscale hotels, housing and a plaza that would have a farmers market, art exhibits, concerts and outdoor movies.
Developers promise up to 11 million visitors a year and the creation of nearly 35,000 jobs, predominantly office and service-oriented. But the proposal’s most striking element is the amount offered for the land -- more than $150 million, far higher than the other four proposals.
The area is desirable not only because of its sports, but also its proximity to Disneyland and the ongoing development in the Platinum Triangle, a planned high-density commercial and residential hub expected to become the city’s downtown.
The other four developers that have submitted proposals are Hicks Holdings, SunCal Cos., Lennar Corp. and Windstar Communities. Some of the proposals are grandiose -- a waterfront district along the Santa Ana River, monorails linking various buildings, a man-made stream meandering past shops and residences and, yes, even an NFL stadium.
Although the proposals have been made public, the financial terms haven’t been publicly disclosed.
“I don’t know who leaked this number out,” Councilman Harry Sidhu said Thursday, referring to the Archstone proposal. “But I think it is very close to reality.”
Sidhu, who has opposed the NFL deal on grounds the proposed sale price does not reflect fair-market value, said the Archstone pitch made the NFL’s reported offer of $50 million less and less appealing. The City Council agreed in May to solicit other offers for the 53 acres, which include the Grove theater and the Anaheim train station.
“We need to move on, instead of waiting for these NFL owners,” he said. “So far, they have yet to show any good-faith offers. They are still studying and studying. In my opinion, two years of studying is enough.”
Councilman Bob Hernandez echoed Sidhu’s comments.
“Obviously these other proposals have upped the ante,” he said. “The NFL has missed their opportunity. When we were dealing with them exclusively, they should have moved.”
Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, an NFL proponent, said he was weighing the proposals more cautiously. He said none of the proposals stayed within the zoning allowed in the city’s general plan.
Although the proposed building plans showed that developers were interested in the land, he said it was far too early to tell what might be approved, or even allowed, on the property.
Keith Ray, Archstone’s senior vice president, would neither confirm nor deny his company’s reported financial bid for the land. Ray compared his project to Union Square in San Francisco or Times Square in New York and said several office and residential towers would rise above 30 stories.
