TODAY: The Angels appear to be moving on without any legal disputes, announcing in a statement that “given that the City Council unanimously voted to cancel the stadium land agreement, we believe it is the best interest of our fans, Angels Baseball, and the community to accept the City’s cancellation.” As per the terms of the deal, since the arrangement fell through, the city of Anaheim will return a $50MM escrow payment made by Moreno.
MAY 25: In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the Anaheim City Council ruled against selling the 150-acre Angel Stadium site to a management company created by Angels owner Arte Moreno. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times and Alicia Robinson of the Orange County Register each had details of last night’s ruling, as well as a summary of what has become a major political story in southern California.
It was almost two and a half years ago that the city of Anaheim reached tentative agreement on a deal that would have sold the Angel Stadium property to Moreno’s SRB Management group for $320MM. Beyond just the ballpark itself, Moreno’s group was looking to heavily develop the area surrounding the stadium, building everything from commercial and retail space to housing and restaurants.
However, the agreement has long been the target of criticism from Anaheim residents and civic officials, and a federal investigation is currently being conducted into alleged corruption, violations of state laws, and insider information being shared as part of the stadium deal. Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu was personally cited in the investigation, and he resigned his position earlier this week.
Moreno (or representatives from the Angels or SRB) have yet to comment on the council’s ruling. It isn’t clear what the immediate next step could be, though as Shaikin writes, “a long and nasty legal battle” could take place between Moreno and the city of Anaheim over the collapsed deal.
As the situation relates to the Angels, their lease at Angel Stadium runs through the end of the 2029 season, with a club option to extend that lease through 2038. (The land deal included a clause that would have kept the Angels in Anaheim until at least the 2050 season.) Given the issues at play and the chance that Moreno’s group could be battling the city in court for years to come, it remains to be seen if Anaheim will remain the Angels’ long-term home, or if Moreno will start exploring new sites elsewhere in SoCal or the greater Los Angeles area.
Well from the looks of it . It was a shady deal so some other people can get money from it . I’m not surprised they would go against it
I hope the moment the Angels threaten to leave, Anaheim immediately starts negotiating with teams like Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and any other small market team to take over the lease starting in 2030. No team owner in their right mind would walk away from one of the largest markets in the US. Let the Angels try to find a similar market to move to!
Yes… a similar market was mentioned literally at the end of article.
They would need the Dodger’s approval as they own the LA county territory.
@Big Brad—No, they don’t need the Dodgers’ permission. The Angels have rights to LA County for AL, the Dodgers for NL. Much like Mets/Yankees, Cubs/White Sox. The Angels could build a stadium next to Staples/Crypto/whatever it is called now, if they wanted to and there was land available. The Dodgers have no right to veto anything.
This is almost as funny as the Angels owning the first no-hitter home game in Dodger stadium.
That’s not true, just ask the A’s and Nationals. It doesn’t matter what league you’re in, teams have territorial rights period.
LAS VEGAS NEVADA
Ahh yes, the Las Vegas Criss Angel’s…..
Las Vegas isn’t anywhere near the market of SoCal. Moreno will devalue his team if he moved.
They would attract more free agents if it was moved to Vegas because of no state tax. California has a 12-13% state tax. It won’t devalue the team if it was moved there.
Or would it increase the value of his team? They would build a new stadium and have access to an international audience.
Angels already have an international audience thanks to Ohtani and being in LA. But if the new stadium is THAT important. Best to move on.
Stymedone, are you serious? Rays or Orioles. You gotta be kidding me.
I know the Angels have been given territorial rights by MLB, but if the stadium deal falls thru, that leaves the city on the hook, and yes, if you were the Orioles, wouldn’t you prefer to move to one of the largest markets in the country? They were forced into giving half their market to the Nationals, and haven’t been a factor since. It would be nice to see Major league cities be given the same opportunities the minor league cities have had in the past. Shop their cities to different teams if the current one walks away.
I feel like the only person who feels for the Orioles. Becoming second fiddle to the Nationals. But then again, the Washington Football Team is second fiddle to the Baltimore Ravens so go figure.
Tampa bay has a large market and growing larger everyday. St, Pete is the small summer market.
You think an owner who made his money in advertising is going to give away the SoCal market? Stop posting stupid stuff
“It was almost two and a half years ago that the city of Anaheim reached tentative agreement on a deal that would have sold the Angel Stadium property to Moreno’s SRB Management group for $320MM.”
Maybe I am missing something here, but how does the City of Anaheim go from reaching a tentative deal for the sale to a unanimous vote AGAINST the deal?
maybe because it was approved by corrupt people?
I suspect there’s an answer in the article…. Just a hunch
The Mayor of Anaheim resigned a few days ago amid suspicions of corruption.
A corrupt politician? I am absolutely flabbergasted. Wake me when you find a politician that ISN’T corrupt.
There are literally millions of office holders in the U.S. 99.99% of them are honest people who want to serve their communities. Don’t paint with a steam roller.
Anaheim’s mayor is currently under fire for bribery/extortion in relation to Moreno and the Angels, so this falling through comes as no surprise.
So not only is he crooked but a wussy too.
They just want a clean slate free from corruption?
@Dunedin
Might have have something to do with the next paragraph.
Thanks A’sfaninLondonUK. I guess I underestimated the implied content of that next paragraph, since any associated investigation is apparently not complete. The whole “innocent until proven guilty” thing makes me give the group the benefit of the doubt for the time being, but it makes sense to put the deal on hold due to the circumstances…
If the major of Anaheim had to resign, and information was illegally shared, that might indicate the Angels, and specifically Moreno, participated in shady and potentially illegal activities around this attempted deal. Hopefully MLB investigates and Manfred takes action, because as we all know, Manfred will take punitive action against owners. Sorry, just returned from an alternative universe.
ooooh was the Snyderverse restored/completed in that universe?? how do i get there???
#restorethesnyderverse
Yes the Synderverse was restored and it’s just as bad as his entire filmography suggests. Don’t worry though, no one else thinks an obsession with a director you’ve never met is creepy and sad at all.
Imagine, if you will, a MLB commish who actually holds all team owners accountable….next time, on the Twilight Zone….
FBI didn’t mention any wrong doing by the Angels
Actually they did. They mentioned more than $1 million in campaign contributions from Angel’s execs in exchange for inside negotiating info and a whole lot more.
At this point they mentioned the politicians asking for the money. They haven’t said the Angels actually paid it.
Not yet, anyway.
If/when that shoe drops, our news will feature people in handcuffs.
“Federal officials allege that Sidhu tried ramming the deal through so he could get his reelection campaign financed by the Angels.”
voiceofoc.org/2022/05/has-the-fbi-stadium-corrupti…
Among many articles. Didn’t link to LA Times because most don’t have ea subscription. They have multiple articles about it. So does the Register.
It already has. Ament was arrested. Part of the charges against him are public corruption stemming from this and other incidents.
He’s arrested on a litany of charges including some related to this scam. I still haven’t seen a “the Angels paid…..” line in any piece.
I did see the arrest, I saw the big time dem resign on Sunday, the mayor on Monday (proof corruption is about the only bipartisan thing we have left).
The one thing I’ve yet to see is “the Angels paid….”
Not saying we won’t. But as of now, I haven’t seen it.
@Pads Fans—Facts still matter. The FBI pointedly has not accused the Angels of anything, at least at this point. And Sidhu told the person who was the informant that he was going to hit the Angels up for $1M in contributions *once the project was underway*. Nothing said money had changed hands.
And worth noting the FBI has had undercover investigation of Sidhu active for years. They’ve suspected him of being dirty for a long time.
They all say “allegedly” in front of the sentence “Angels execs paid $1 million in campaign contributions”.
We do know that Sidhu and other local politicians did receive the contributions. Just not for sure who they came from.
The FBI is the source of the sentence “allegedly received $1 million in campaign contributions from Angels executives”. It is directly quoted in articles in the LA Times, Voice of OC, and OC Register. The word used was ” received”.
Sidhu was up for reelection in November this year. If he won, the term starting in December 2022 would be his second and final term as mayor. He would not be soliciting campaign contributions for his mayoral campaign in the future because he could not run again according to Anaheim City Charter section 503.5.
NO WHERE does it say the campaign contributions were “once the project was underway”. That would make absolutely no sense.
Sidhu took office in December 2018. According to all the local media, the investigation started in 2019. I guess that can be construed as a long time.
Don’t hold your breath. MLB Commish’s Office is also at fault/responsible for the Oakland A’s lack of a New Stadium in the SF Bay Area.
Seemed the former A’s ownership saved SF Giants from moving to Tampa Bay
in the middle of the night.
Yes, the SF Giants trucks were all loaded and ready to roll to Tampa.
The former A’s Ownership stepped up, stepped in and helped line up a well funded ownership group to keep the Giants in SF Bay Area.
Part of the deal was to allow the Giants to move to Santa Clara County/Silicon Valley/San Jose area.(like the 49ers moved to Santa Clara County).
The A’s conceded the shared Santa Clara County MLB San Jose territory to the Giants contingent on the Giants building a New Stadium in Santa Clara County San Jose area.
But wait, the SF Giants reneged on that deal and built their New Stadium in downtown SF.
And, the Giants stabbed the A’s in in their backs by getting MLB Commish’s office and some other MLB owners who hated some past A’s owners, like Charlie Finley,
to support the SF Giants power play to keep the Santa Clara County San Jose territory all to themselves
instead of letting the territory revert back to a “shared status” with the A’s(and give the A’s financial relief and more revenues).
Now, the SF Bay Area is the only large MLB TV market that does not have a fully “shared baseball” territory like Chicago (Cubs/White Sox)
like LA (Dodgers/Angels),
like New York (Yankees/Mets).
The SF Giants have worked with MLB and a few other owners
to starve the Oakland A;s out of the SF Bay Area so the SF Giants can have a monopoly
on the SF Bay Area fans and TV market place.
Otherwise, the A’s would be thriving with a New Stadium and boatloads of
rich high tech company sponsorships in Santa Clara County
like the 49ers.
This soap opera has been going on for decades.
Congress should repeal MLB’s antitrust exemption to let markets compete for business and to stop these kinds of monopolies.
See song “The Snake” dedicated to the SF Giants Ownership and MLB Commissioner’s office.
(Cue the song “The Snake” Edwin Wilson)
youtube.com/watch?v=ULx9k2QkL94
You have part of your story right, the Giants NEVER reneged on any deal to build a new ball park in San Jose or the South Bay Area. The Giants lost a vote of San Jose residents to let them build a ball park in San Jose. After that they focused back on San Francisco.
As far as the A’s ownership the best owners were the Haas Family and the rest of them including the money monger Fisher is the worst owner in MLB. He pockets yearly revenue sharing checks he gets from MLB, He hasn’t spent a dime to make his stadium or ball club any better. All he does is complain. If he wants fans to go to the games put a winning product on the field every year or sell to someone that will. What they do is trade away all there great players right before they start to make the big bucks.
You are wrong on your “facts”. The Giants blew up that San Jose deal.
California Taxpayers and home owners won’t support “corporate welfare for billionaires” in California.
If the Giants had presented a privately funded deal like they did for their downtown SF ballpark, then it would have passed with flying colors.in San Jose/Santa Clara County.
The fact is that the Giants reneged on that deal.
The Giants did not build their new stadium in Santa Clara County/ San Jose.
The Giants presented an inferior plan rejected by Voters.
Therefore, the whole reason for the changing the Santa Clara County/San Jose part of the MLB territory, for the Giants to build their stadium in San Jose/Santa Clara County NEVER HAPPENED.
Meaning: The Santa Clara County San Jose MLB territory
should have REVERTED BACK to 50/50 equally shared MLB territory status
for both the A’s and the Giants.
MLB and the Giants have been blocking the A’s move to San Jose/Santa Clara County for decades.
By the way , the 49ers lost many bad ballot initiatives in San Francisco
because of excessive corporate welfare subsidies.
If I was a SF Bay Area resident and Baseball fan, then I would
BOYCOTT ALL GIANTS GAMES UNTIL THE A’S ARE SAVED FOR
THE SF BAY AREA.
The SF Giants should not be allowed an MLB monopoly in the SF Bay Area.
The A’s Ownership is at a significant financial disadvantage by the monopoly created by the SF Giants and MLB in the SF Bay Area.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Long Beach.
California Angels was always the superior name
Almost happened. When the LA Angels were playing in LA, the city of Long Beach tried to lure them with a ballpark. Autry didn’t want to go by Long Beach and Anaheim didn’t care what he called the team.
Glad you know this. I don’t think most Angel fans do.
Should have gone to Long Beach when they had the chance
Stadiums hideous anyways and Ana-Crime is a pit
You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about Captain Soggy
Lived in the area for 30 years
Besides Oak name a uglier stadium than Ana?
What’s ugly about it?
Dodger stadium for one. Just about as plain as the come.
Tropicana Field is like the gold standard in this argument.
The stadium itself isn’t bad and the Angels have done some renovations over the years. Its much better than the cookie cutter stadium it originally was. The worst part is the homeless encampment that seemed to take over the parking lot for a while, which seems to have disappeared since teams were allowed to have full capacity again last year
Tropicana, Fenway, Dodger, Minute Maid, the list goes on. Angel Stadium is one of the nicer “older” stadiums in MLB, but don’t worry, we get you don’t get out much though. Although that parking lot is fairly similarly crappy as Dodger
I’ve been to 22/30 stadiums
“Besides Oak name a uglier stadium than Ana?”
Compared to Tropicana Field, Angel Stadium is a palace.
I’ve never set foot inside Angel Stadium, but on TV it looks like one of the nicer ballparks.
Yet that so called ugly Dodger Stadium gets almost 4 million fans a year to come
I’ve been to plenty of bad ball parks and the only one that remains is Fenway. Fenway is like a camping trip, there are some conveniences you have to do without, but it’s a wonderful experience.
With the exception of Tampa Bay and Oakland, every ballpark is a great place to see a game.
The Oakland Coliseum was a much nicer venue before all the seats were added when the Raiders moved back to Oakland blocking the views and ruining its ambience.
When it was built, the Coliseum was on par with many of the better stadiums around the league.
It reminded me of old Jack Murphy stadium that hosted the Padres for decades in San Diego and the Chargers.
There was really nothing wrong with either stadium that 40-50M in upgrades to the plumbing, electrical, bathrooms and concessions could have easily fixed.
Its location is convenient by many freeways and a BART rapid transit station.
A’s, Raiders Ownership let the long term maintenance go for the bathrooms, locker rooms, dugouts etc.
It could have been upgraded and made into a very good venue.
MLB’s new stadium building trend and aggressive moves to jack up revenues and some, unfair, bad publicity sunk the reputation of the Oakland Coliseum (and very cheap ownership/,mismanagement of the facility.
The Oakland Coliseum has much better sight lines than Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.
(a baseball blasphemy for Cubs and Red Sox fans).
The intentional discrediting of some of these classic baseball venues
to build shiny new stadiums and squeeze every last dollar out of fans
has contributed to these problems.
Not a pit compared to 95% of Socal but sure
Says the fan from Buffalo who knows nothing about Southern California.
Angel Stadium is beautiful, very enjoyable place to watch a ballgame.
Angels Stadium is a great place to watch a game.
Let Arte Moreno finance his own new stadium if that is what he wants.
Pro Sports ownership groups are never satisfied and will always try to make the taxpayers pay to inflate their revenues and profits.
Taxpayer groups in many parts of the country have been “pushing back” on that trend.
I smell Montreal Expos all over again. *fades into the shadows*
The Angels draw way more fans per game than the Expos ever did
The Angels need to drop LA part of their name or go back to California Angels. I have been living in LA for five years now and Anaheim and LA are not just one big city. Very different and not that close by each other as I thought before I moved here. The next time I see someone wear an Angels jersey in LA would be the first time.
It’s Marketing 101. If you owned the team you would be broke. Think with your head. And I have seen tons people wearing Angels gear all over SoCal. Even at a Dodger game in PA on TV. Take your blinders off.
Associate with and market to 10-12M people in the LA Region.
OR restrict your market to 3-4M in Orange County/Anaheime?!
Financially, it is a no brainer.
You’ve only been here 5 years? Im an LA native, been an Angels fan for forty years. Regardless, Ive seen plenty of Angels jerseys and such floating around LA. People upset about the Angels calling themselves LA need to relax. Its a dumb marketing tactic, nothing more or less. In any case, I’d rather associate myself with LA than OC
LABeachguy
Get over it stop sniffling and crying about it At least we didn’t uproot any Spanic families from Chavez Ravine when the Dodgers uprooted all those families in Chavez Ravine Pennies to the dollar for their homes now that you got a few nickels to rub together now you think you’re a big shot
The Angels didn’t uproot any families from Chavez Ravine, but isn’t Angel Stadium literally built on an Indian burial ground?
Yes That’s what I heard
They’re pretty close despite being in different counties. To an outsider, and many locals, the differences aren’t noticeable and the borders of the counties is quite difficult to remember. For all intents and purposes, yes they are part of the same larger metro area/city and you could easily visit both stadiums in a single evening if you so wish (Angel to Dodger is easier traffic wise than the reverse). That’s fairly difficult in most scenarios across MLB. There’s not even much of a natural/landscape change between the two areas either as you go between them.
It’s phony and corrupted like everything else in LA (Hollyweird).
Good thing it isn’t in LA (Anaheim)
Wow! That is laughable coming from a Chicago fan.
The legendary Daley corrupt machine.
3-4 recent, former Illinois Governors sent to Federal Prison for corruption.
Al Capone.
Chicago and Illinois put the “C” in corruption.
All they did was go back to their original name which was LA
They will after the Jets and Giants stop calling themselves New York, the Cowboys stop going by Dallas, etc.
The primary difference here is the Angels actually were in LA first. In fact he Dodgers wear the original Angels logo on their hats. If there’s one fan base out there who shouldn’t complain, it should be the Dodgers.
That said, Anaheim is definitely not LA. As evidenced by the fact I feel safe walking in the parking lot.
LABeachguy – maybe you need to get out more. I’m an Angels fan and live in LA. Always wear my Angels caps and regularly find fellow Angels fans in LA. Plus, Angels Stadium and Dodger Stadium are literally 30 miles apart on the same freeway—that’s not far.
LABeach guy, the Angels are the original Los Angeles professional baseball team. Not the Dodgers, the Angels. To me it is fitting to keep the LA as part of their name. And there are many instances of pro teams being several miles outside of the actual team locale…SF 49ers (42 miles) (NY Giants 14 miles and another state) just to name a couple.
The Angels and Dodgers unlike the A’s and Giants can move their respective teams anywhere in LA/OC Counties without the other teams approval.
But before The Angels reached the deal with the City of Anaheim, the Dodgers wanted to put a minor league team in the San Fernando Valley which is about 50 miles North West of Anaheim.
But Arte blocked it from happening. Which begs the question, Why would the Angels care about a minor league team playing 50 miles away? There are minor league teams in Rancho Cucamonga and Lake Elsinore which are closer?
My guess Arte ( The Angels) were looking to move in that direction if the Anaheim deal didn’t go thru.
Doesn’t make sense. There’s no room in the San Fernando Valley for a stadium of any kind. Balboa Park? Plenty of people would be upset if that happened.
Also, with Long Beach re-instating their interest in having Angels moving there, that would cross into LA county
Mellon- Like I stated earlier, Angels and Dodgers don’t have boundries or territorial rights. They move just about anywhere in those 2 Counties.
Bigger than the two counties, it is the whole metro area: Ventura, LA, OC, Riverside, San Bernadino counties are fair game to both teams.
Padres get SD and Imperial counties, as I recall.
Kelvin- Where they wanted to build is where the old Westfield Plaza at the old Topanga Plaza Mall just north of the 101 freeway. Woodland Hills area. The mall is shuttered.
Because Arte is corrupt and he undoubtedly has dirty money in those areas that would be exposed by putting minor league teams there, that’s why.
?????
Facts that prove your bogus allegations about Arte Moreno?!
Arte has a clean record as an honest business man
until someone proves otherwise to me with hard evidence and indictments
of Arte (It will never happen).
There’s a spot in Tustin, another in Irvine, and plenty in the Inland Empire that all fall under the Angels territory.
And, of course, there’s always the chance of a fair market deal for the existing site, which is perfect.
I’d put the odds of Long Beach at next to zero. No infrastructure, horrible traffic, and the Ca Coastal Commission won’t approve anything.
Hopefully Arte can still put a “stop payment” on that check he wrote to Sidhu
It was actually Disney Co. who should stop the money order.
Angel stadium is a facade.
The guts of the building are so run down. The place is not worth what the city council thinks. The land….ok, its $o Cal. The council should tour the stadium maybe even the state Gov….
For example…the toilets have huge paper towel rolls behind them to soak up the leaks and must be changed regularly. Good thing California is not stricken by drought or anything…
Just one ask an employee what they think of thier locker rooms. And the smell down in the tunnels…oh man…what a joke.
M. C. Hammer- I went to last nights game. Didn’t see or smell anything what you described. You might be confused with the A’s ballpark. You know the one that has raw sewage on tap. And league rules state it must be in both dugouts.
MC Hammer?
All facts Winslow. The public areas other than the toilet thing are kept up ok.
Have you ever been to the areas of ANGEL stadium that only employees can go? Have you ever been in the tunnels?
Judging by your reply to me, I don’t think so.
How would I know what the employees have to deal with? How else would I know what the non public areas are like? Think about that….
I bet M.C. Hammer knows A’s stadium way better than me
No way is there a comparison of the Oakland Coliseum and Angels Stadium. If you are, then you haven’t been to both stadiums. Oak Col is an arm pit in an arm pit area. They’re dying to get out. Cmon now.
Oakland hasn’t won a World Series in the 21st century. I saw a sign a few years back at an Angels – As game. “1989. The last World Series ring or your average attendance. Can’t decide.” Loved it.
The exterior improvements definitely hide a lot of the aging infrastructure. And there’s really nothing that can be done about that.
I’ve been in both the visiting and home clubhouses, down those tunnels, and both are perfectly fine and smell as good as a clubhouse can.
The plan was for Arte to either strip this stadium down the girders and rebuild or, more likely, build a new ballpark in the parking lot then tear down this one. The goal is clearly the development opportunities. There’s not much land here to build a new development.
Thanks, JJ, you saved me writing the same thing. Moreno would have taken on the financial responsibility from the city for maintaining an aging structure.
No real estate is worth the price in California.
and worth even less in texas and floriduh.
Market economics and capitalism.
It is worth it because people will pay a premium to live and work there.
Complete BS.
Have been to Angels games.
Nice stadium.
Family Friendly.
Clean as a Whistle.
Great environment for a baseball game.
I have never seen, heard or smelled anything to the contrary.
Your bogus comments typed up in your basement in Nebraska
don’t add up.
This is a great opportunity for Moreno to allow other cities to present a plan for a new stadium complex. My second favorite would be a Long Beach water front complex. My first favorite would be a river front complex in Nashville. All of my friends have moved here. Why not my baseball team? It’s easier to find a Californian here than a native Tennessean. The fan base is already here.
100% with you on L.B. waterfront. How awesome would that be?
Should have went all in a few years ago when the proposal was being kicked around.
Americans are very mobile.
California has 40M+ people.
And, it has tens of millions of people who at one time or another lived
in California.
There are always 10-20 people waiting to take the place
of each person who moves out and move to CA.
It is what it is.
El Segundo Angels
Has a nice ring to it…
The Montreal Angels sounds nice.
To who?
Another case of socialism for rich oligarchs and why baseball teams should be owned by cities/regions/fans like the Packers and countless soccer teams are instead of corrupt white guys.
First Mexican-American professional sports owner who’s also a veteran. Do your homework
Great success story!
And the corruption stemmed from Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu (who is Indian btw) and was brought down by operatives who were also being tracked by the FBI (who were of Persian descent). I know these people personally and have met Harry.
Snowflakes need to come out of their COVID cocoons and realize the world is way more difficult than you think and it has very little to do with big bad white people.
and yet, covid has killed way more of you types than actual people.
funny how listening to science instead of facebook keeps people alive.
say, how did listening to the gqp about everything work out for q?
oh yeah, yet another series of mass shooting caused by your cult.
Science says the lockdown did no good. Science says there are only two sexes. Neither side believes in science, both sides believe in agenda.
Anyone who throws around stupid, childish words like snowflakes when they are not talking about the weather, deserves the respect of no one.
This whole thing has been fraught with corruption from the beginning. Bribery, witness tampering, destroying evidence, closed hearings, and so much more.
From the former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu that had to resign this week in the midst of a corruption investigation by the FBI, to allegations of illegal campaign contributions from Angel’s executives, to the Moreno who tried to get a fast one over on the taxpayers of OC.
The lot the stadium is on and the 150 acres of land surrounding it that were to be part of the sale to Moreno has a market value of over $1 billion (a 1.33 acre lot in the area recently sold for $6.85 million) and Sidhu and Moreno were trying to ramrod a sale through for $320 million. Allegedly in exchange for over $1 million in campaign contributions from Angel’s execs.
This whole thing stinks so bad. I am glad it was halted.
You think a developer paying a billion would be building “affordable” housing?
As someone who works in Commercial Real Estate Finance your comp was about as useful as telling me the strip mall across across the street from my house sold for 15 million.
Completely irrelevant. Comps have to be comparable in size, location and use.
That land is not worth $1bn and it’s worth a whole lot less without the Angels as the anchor of the development. This deal was shady, wrong, and a nice fat deal for Moreno— but to suggest it was a discount to that level is hilariously wrong.
The lot was off E. Katella 3 blocks from the stadium. Look it up since you are in “Commercial Real Estate Finance”. It was listed by CBRE if that makes it easier and its being developed as a hotel and restaurant.
And since you are in “Commercial Real Estate Financing”, you would know that ANYTHING in the Platinum Triangle is selling at more than $5 million per acre. The land they built Aloe Greens park on was valued at $6.8 million by the city and I think that was just one acre.
Buying the land for the ARTIC site cost the city $32.5 million for the 11.5 acres they didn’t own in 2006 and land in the area has more than doubled in value in the 16 years since then.
This deal was for the stadium, the parking lot, and 150 acres that surround it. Do the math. At 2006 prices that land was worth close to a half billion. Do you REALLY think you could get it for less than that today?
I just got $6.5 million a few months ago for a 20k sq ft (less than a half acre) industrial warehouse I bought for $2.1 million in 2004 just across the Santa Ana River from the stadium.
SOMEONE will develop any land that comes available in that area and if you are really in “Commercial Real Estate Finance” you already know that.
So please, try that on someone who doesn’t know the market.
Nice. I do home loans. Commercial real estate is an entirely different animal.
I’m not going to my own full scale valuation that would be reliant on different assumptions. How much of that land is buildable, what’s the highest and best use, and what’s the demand in that area without a ball club etc. It’s 150 acres of raw land with demo cost of a baseball stadium.
The appraisal valued it at $500MM in 2019 and agreed to sell it to Moreno for $320 MM in cash and considerations. That’s an absolute coup (plus the gigantic tax savings) even if you think their valuation is on the light side there’s no way the appraiser could halve a valuation.
That 1.33 acre hotel site that’s 3 blocks off Angels stadium is instantly worth less per SQft if the Angels stadium disappears. That purchase price was likely influenced by an expectation that this area will be built up sooner rather than later.
@jlittlez44 That hotel will do better if Angels Stadium is gone and Disney goes forward with a new park on the site the stadium is on now. The tax revenue for the city will triple. There is a reason so many new hotels are being built in the area and none of it is because of the Angels. The appraisal price was for based on the cost of the $2.1 million per acre acquisition of the ARTIC site in 2006. Read it. Its public. 13 year old valuations don’t make any sense in a market that saw my office and warehouses that are a half mile away double in value since 2019.
@Padsfan, I think I tried to buy your warehouse if it was the one that just sold on Eckhoff. Got outbid by $500k and I thought I was making a huge bid at $6 million. Just goes to show how fast real estate is going up in OC.
Sure, Jan.
No. He will be building 900K condos and multi million dollar homes because it is where the profits are,
@Pads Fans—You clearly don’t understand the terms of the deal the city originally approved, so maybe you should step back and let the conversation be driven by folks who know the actual facts of the case.
You can come up with any imaginary number you want for the “value” of the land in the transaction, but until you realize the city has had literal decades to develop it and failed every time, its value to the city was $0. What Moreno was proposing would bring tax revenue (sales tax is more valuable, since California takes much of the property tax revenue from the cities), instead of its share of the $10/car parking fee earned for the 81 home games and occasional monster truck show at the stadium. It takes deep pockets to develop that land, and this is much of what Moreno’s team brought to the deal.
So no, it’s not a swindle, especially if the alternative in the inertia the city has shown for years when it comes to making money from that property.
I do understand them. You apparently don’t. The city has never TRIED to develop it as a whole BECAUSE the stadium is there and the Angels have a long term lease. The city is prohibited from even discussing it with anyone except Moreno until such time as he chooses not to extend the lease.
The tax revenue will come with or without Moreno or the stadium. The land is THAT valuable.
It ONLY takes deep pockets to develop the land as a whole. Parceling it out would bring in MORE money, not less, and you can be sure that any number of deep pocketed hospitality industry businesses would have stepped in to purchase and develop the land if Moreno decided to move the team elsewhere. That you have no clue about that fact points out that you are NOT involved in commercial real estate in southern California.
So please try again with someone that doesn’t understand the market. Its just making you look worse and worse.
Moreno and other MLB owners try to up the ante on every stadium deal to leverage the most profits out of City, County and State officials.
Petco Park for the Padres was a land redevelopment deal that raised the bar for pro Sports owners. Except, that they are comparing apples to pineapples.
At the time, the land for Petco was in a run down area that needed redevelopment. It was a slum/seedy area that badly needed redevelopment.
The City was overly generous in including some of the surrounding land in that stadium deal (or just stupid and bad negotiators).
The area now is a booming area with sky high real estate values.
That could happen with the Oakland A’s Oakland waterfront deal if the City, County and the A’s can come to agreement and close that deal.
Angels Stadium is not far from the original Disneyland. It is a booming tourist area with high land values already.
It is not an area that is slummy and in desperate need of redevelopment like was the case with Petco Park in San Diego.
Anaheim needs the baseball team more than the team needs Anaheim. There’s more to do in Vegas anyway
there have been rumblings about Disney wanting to open a third park. One dedicated to the Star Wars and/or Marvel universes they own. Disney already has employees park at the Big A during the summer and busses them to work.
And, interestingly enough, when Disney owned the Angels they drew up plans to extend the monorail down Katella to the ballpark.
Just throwing that out there. Disney pretty much owns Anaheim and has way deeper pockets than Arte.
No. In terms of tax dollars we would do much better if the Angels left and Disney took over that site and built a new park there.
Atre should see if Vegas wants to build a Stadium on the southern end of the strip. Maybe knock down Excalibur and Luxor. How much in taxes would players save playing 81 games in Nevada?
320 Million for real estate in So Cal? Never mind the stadium the land alone is worth way more than that. Something stinks and it ain’t the sewer.
That figure doesn’t include the $150M to $250M Moreno would have spent remodeling and modernizing Angel Stadium, or the $1B+ to tear it down and build a replacement next to the current stadium, as the Rangers did in Arlington.
And a parking structure would need to be built before you take away surface parking to build a new stadium. The $320M was not the cap on the investment, just the return to the city on the deal. Hundreds of millions more would have been spent, which would be construction jobs for a multi-level parking structure, a new stadium or refurbishing the current stadium, plus any housing/retail development to follow. It would have been very good for the construction trade for a decade or more, and that money flows back into the local economy as well.
What does the money Moreno would have spent after acquiring the land have to do with the sale? If the sale didn’t go through and the Angels had moved Anaheim might have had to spent a lot to tear it down but that would have been good for the construction trade either way so I don’t know how big of a selling point that is for the amount that the land was sold at. Not to mention that the city would be able to continue making money off that land as opposed to having it be in private hands and not bringing in any revenue…
@Angels21 Absolutely nothing. Moreno’s investment in maintaining or upgrading a building that makes him hundreds of millions should not be something that’s takes dollars out of the hands of the taxpayers that own that parcel. Taxpayers like me. I live off Serrano and this deal ticked me off. Glad its been deep sixed..
Absolutely right. The deal was horrible for the city.
Mexico City Angels
Now you’re talking!
Pretty obvious who bribed the Mayor…
Huh? The Mayor was the one who expected kickbacks—that is why the FBI investigated him for years. Do try to keep up.
I knew something was up when I saw Moreno during Ohtani’s MVP award ceremony. He’s always been weird and nerdy at these things, but this time he looked really shook about something. Arte is comfortable with 12 years without a playoff win and cutting scouting and minor league budgets, but when you start messing with his bank account then the greedy little nerd gets all bent out of shape.
I wonder if Arte sold trout on the idea of being kingpin in new grandiose complex , signed long term. Another reason to sign long term. New money for players etc. now it’s dead probably. Will trout look at Arte differently ? Will he want out now ?
Enjoy Nashville.
That Rat infested company Disney, are finally getting what they have been trying to get for the past 10 years. That is the Angels have to move out of Anaheim. So they can buy that property for pennies on the dollar. To build another theme park, that most people can’t afford to take their kids to. Then 99% of people won’t say anything. Because it’s their lord and master, the corrupt Disney coronation. Will fill them will lies. And the sheep will buy it.
Up until recently, there was a massive homeless encampment right next to the stadium parking lot.
That homeless population was there with the blessings of the politicians.
Would you feel safe parking your car that you rely on and need every day to drive to work, your kids to school and go grocery shopping next to a place where people turn down real shelter in favor of camping near a stadium parking lot on one side and the 57 freeway on the other?
Would you feel comfortable walking there?
That is what Anaheim’s counsel was exposing to baseball fans while sheltering Disneyland. Hope the team moves, drops the LA and Anaheim names for “California.” Screw Anaheim.
Turn down WHAT real shelter? I felt safer walking there than in the Dodger’s parking lot at any time.
That was cleaned up long ago. Homelessness is a problem every where in the country and the World,
Dirty corrupt old man!
A Republican cutting a corrupt and illegal deal that puts the best interests of a well connected billionaire over the best interests of his constituents…?
S. H. O. C. K. E. D.
See George Soros
More like the Koch Bros..
And I bet you believed the Russia investigation. And how exactly did the Clinton’s, Obama and Biden get rich?
Adjust your tin foil hat. It is on too tight.
Meanwhile, @forwhomjoshbelltolled, Melahat Rafiei, a prominent Democrat who provided information to the FBI on this shady deal, resigned her position as secretary of the California Democratic Party and as a state representative to the DNC. She was previously arrested for bribery charges, when she promised a cannabis company she would bribe two Anaheim City Councilmembers to pass legislation favorable to the business.
S. H. O. C. K. E. D.
Seriously, stop trusting politicians in either party. They are most narcissistic group of people who break laws, or make new ones exempting themselves from crimes, and don’t care about you at all.
She was Executive Director of the Orange County Democratic Party, not California. All charges against her were dropped and not because she was an informant.. She was never arrested either, just taken in for questioning. Can’t say the same for Ament. Sidhu is the worst of them. Like pretty much every politician in OC, she was a crook.
OC is GOP. Sidhu was GOP. Ament was GOP. Most of the council is GOP.
Seal Beach Leisure World Angels!
Federal investigation into corruption. Funny
If Moreno is alive he’s going to move the team. He’s a very prideful man and he doesn’t take well to people not keeping their word.
Flashback to Hamilton and the Dodgers with the Stripling/Pederson for Rengifo trade
Taylor Ward was also part of that package. Thank God Arte pulled the plug on that deal, although I was pissed off at the time.
Was he really? The same people who cursed Arte for voiding that trade should now be just as vocal about praising him.
Of course, few if any of them will.
No more socialism for oligarchs! If cities/regions are going to give hundreds of millions for baseball teams to build stadiums and than tens of millions more for roads, trains, water, sewage, etc. for teams than cities/regions/fans are going to OWN those teams. No more taxpayer cash for a handful of rich criminals who use that money to buy politicians and English soccer teams! All teams = like the Packers! Fan-owned!
It’s always good for people like you that don’t understand business so they simplify it down to the absurd. The goal is to try to find a win-win position. Something you and AOC will never understand.
The best part about all of this is the delay of parking structures being built. As of now Angel Stadium is a nice drive in and out of their parking lot. Plenty of exits to nearby freeways. The plan was to ruin that by building apartments with shops underneath plus affordable housing (which was never going to happen in the first place) which would just create more traffic without any road improvements for the extra traffic
Anaheim doesn’t have enough money to keep some of their libraries opened except for Tuesday’s – Thursday’s but thank God Arte was getting a great deal on this property. The city really had their priorities straight.
Arte has got to be one of the worst owners ever. His team is falling apart. He can’t commit to a GM or a manager, and then they wonder why they can’t “build” a dynasty.