Even with all the potentially great other options for the 15-acre site of the dead Downtown NFL stadium, Mayor Eric Garcetti can't let Farmers Field go. Developer AEG (also behind the adjacent LA Live) killed the stadium off last week—it's been out of favor for years—but Garcetti called the story "overreported" in a radio interview yesterday. And he pretty much put out the call for another developer to step in; the LA Times quotes: "We have a good stadium deal downtown if anybody wants to take us up on it … The environmental work is already done. There's political consensus around it. We're ready to go."
AEG released a 10,000-page state-mandated environmental review for the project in 2012; it covered development of a 72,000-seat stadium with 41 billboards and two parking garages, along with an overhaul of the LA Convention Center (since Farmers Field fizzled out, the city has been considering how to update the convention center without AEG's help and Garcetti says that will continue). The state also came up with a new environmental review fast-track for the stadium that it's now granted to other large developments. The project site is owned by the city of LA. The city itself never gave Farmers Field any trouble—it approved the plan as fast and hard as it could back in late 2012, even though it's kind of weird to build a stadium to be used on only a handful of Sundays in one of the most urban, transit-accessible parts of your city.
Despite all the anointings, the NFL never seemed to take a shine to Farmers Field, first signaling (they only ever signal, never say) that they preferred a site by Dodger Stadium, and lately turning their favors toward a plan in Inglewood backed by St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and a plan in Carson backed by the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders. The NFL reportedly disliked AEG's financing and team ownership proposal, which would have taken too much money and power from the notoriously controlling league; the two proposals now in play already have teams attached.
· L.A. Mayor Garcetti not ready to give up on downtown stadium plan [LAT]
· The Downtown NFL Stadium Plan is Officially Dead [Curbed LA]
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