Iger says affordable housing is good, just not near Disneyland
Walt Disney Co. believes Anaheim should have more affordable housing -- but not as close to Disneyland as some local officials and developers propose, Chief Executive Robert Iger said Monday.
Speaking before a group of journalists at Disneyland Hotel, Iger called the theme park the “best neighbor Anaheim has ever had.”
Iger noted that the city’s resort area occupied less than 5% of the land in Anaheim but generated 50% of the city’s revenue. He added that Disney’s position was supported by “a number of unions” in the area.
Iger’s statements to the Society of American Business Editors and Writers were his first public comments about the Burbank-based company’s battles with Orange County’s second-largest city over proposals to build 1,275 condos and 225 lower-income apartments on land Disney has long eyed as the possible location of a third theme park to supplement Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure.
“We don’t believe that the property being talked about ... is as recreation- or business-friendly as the businesses that could go there,” Iger said.
But Iger declined to talk about Disney’s plans for the area, other than to say that the company “continues to look at the opportunities” there.
“As Walt [Disney] said, Disneyland will never be completed. We will continue to build and grow,” Iger said.
The 2.2-square-mile tourist zone anchored by Disneyland and California Adventure was protected from residential development by the City Council in 1994 to maximize its tax-generating potential, Iger said.
Iger did say that there were no plans for a fifth Disney property in Florida. He touted the 25th anniversary of its Tokyo park, the 15th anniversary of Disney’s park in Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland, which has had disappointing attendance numbers since opening in 2005.
Those properties are important not just for the revenue potential but also for their ability to introduce Disney products and entertainment to the global marketplace.
“These parks are about as good as it gets ... when it comes to growing a brand in a market.”
During the question-and-answer period, Iger joked that the company’s ill-fated ESPN phone was a great idea -- except for its high price, poor marketing and “flawed retail strategy.”
“I’m proud of the fact that we tried it, even though we lost money,” Iger said. “Sometimes you learn more through failure.”
The $499 phone promised access to sports scores, statistics and video highlights but failed to attract customers despite heavy promotion during the powerful ESPN’s shows.
Merrill Lynch & Co. estimated Disney’s costs for the phone at $100 million and projected just 30,000 subscribers by the end of 2006. The company had hoped to sign 3 million customers but dropped the product in September.
Iger also said Disney had decided it would be counterproductive, and probably ineffective, for the company to publicly denounce a militant video clip airing in the Middle East on a Hamas-controlled TV station that used a Mickey Mouse-like character to criticize Israel and the U.S.
“We weren’t going to rail against the theft of our intellectual property; that seemed to be absurd in light of the message,” Iger said. “We simply made the decision that we would not either create or prolong a public discourse on the subject by making a loud public statement.”
