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Anaheim to sell Angel Stadium for $150m

The final cash price for the sale of Angel Stadium has been revealed as $150m (£114m/€127m) – considerably less than what had been agreed between the City of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Angels Major League Baseball team.

Last December, the Angels signed a $325m deal to buy the publicly owned stadium to allow the franchise to remain in Anaheim through to 2050.

The agreement includes the 45,050-seat stadium, as well as its surrounding car parks, and gives the team the option to build a new stadium in place of the 53-year-old structure.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper has reported that the final cash price will be a much lower $150m. The newspaper said the city agreed to accept less than half the purchase price in cash to encourage Angels owner Arte Moreno to include affordable housing and a seven-acre park on the stadium site.

According to the report, the city values the housing and park at $170m and views this as development credit as opposed to a discount. Moreno will be required to pay the remaining $175m if the housing and park are not delivered within a specific timeframe.

The Angels brought in HKS Architects to help develop possibilities for renovating or replacing Angel Stadium. Part of the proposal for the future of the stadium will be put before a planning commission on September 9 and it is expected to be heard in its entirety by the City Council at the end of the month.

In June, the City of Anaheim unveiled wide-ranging plans to transform the area around Angel Stadium into a mixed-use development featuring parks, shops, residential spaces and restaurants. The project has been dubbed ‘The Big A: 2050’ and would look to keep the Angels for the next 30-plus years.

The city pointed to the recent trend in private ownership of California venues as a reason for agreeing to the sale of Angel Stadium, citing Dodger Stadium, SoFi Stadium and Chase Center as examples. Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors NBA basketball team, was particularly highlighted as a venue that has “revitalised California’s capital city” with its mixed-use development.

Final agreements and plans will be brought to the council this month, with final approval expected in 2021 or 2022. It is hoped the sale will close as early as 2023 before work can begin in 2025.

Image: The Rambling Man/Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)/Edited for size