LosAngelesSportsFan
February 12th, 2005, 01:39 AM
New Details Emerge on LA Live Plan
Developers Explore Selling Convention Center Hotel's Naming Rights
by Jon Regardie
Top executives of the LA Live project last week unveiled intriguing new details about the $1 billion development that will change the southern portion of Downtown. Among the most notable elements set to occur in the so-called "sports and entertainment district" are a 15-screen movie theater complex, a cluster of condominiums atop the Convention Center headquarters hotel, and a plan to possibly name the hotel after a shoe company, a furniture store, or another business that pays millions for naming rights.
LA Live developers are talking to about 12 restaurants. Outdoor dining will be a priority. Rendering courtesy of AEG.
The announcements came from Ted Tanner, senior vice president of real estate for Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the developer of Staples Center and LA Live, and Lew Wolff, the chair and CEO of Wolff Urban Development, which is a partner in the headquarters hotel. The two spoke to about 300 Downtown business leaders at a Tuesday luncheon sponsored by the Los Angeles Headquarters Association.
Even before Staples Center opened in 1999, AEG was exploring plans to create a massive district mixing restaurants, retail, housing and entertainment venues along six blocks north of the arena. Tanner reiterated on Tuesday that AEG aims to break ground on the initial phase of construction by May or June. The first major piece to go up, he said, will be the Nokia Theatre, an $85 million-$90 million, 7,100-seat venue that will host approximately 110 events a year; about two-thirds will be concerts, with the remainder comprised of award shows, short-run productions and similar events. Also part of the first phase is the Nokia Plaza and some underground parking. The project would ultimately include about 4,000 underground parking spaces.
Plans call for the entire LA Live to encompass around 4 million square feet of development space. The centerpiece continues to be the Convention Center headquarters hotel, a proposed 55-story structure that would house 1,200 rooms. Its price has been pegged at about $350 million, though Wolff said that is still being perfected. City incentives include a loan of about $20 million, infrastructure improvements, fee waivers and a proposal to exempt the hotel owners from a 14% bed tax that other hotels pay. The exemption would last 20 years and could be worth around $100 million.
Area officials have long claimed that such a structure is necessary to save the city's ailing convention industry, which repeatedly loses major business gatherings to other cities that have thousands of hotel rooms within a few minutes walk of their convention centers. The situation has turned the Los Angeles Convention Center into a money loser.
"The lynchpin for this has always been the hotel. We want to make that absolutely clear," said Tanner.
Wolff announced that the hotel would also have about 100 condominiums on the upper floors, probably between levels 45 and 55. "I'm told they're going to sell like hotcakes," he said.
Red Carpet Premieres
Although the hotel will be operated by Hilton, Wolff said he and AEG are exploring branding partnerships for the 1.5 million-square-foot structure. "We might have the Nike Hilton," he said by way of example. "We might, hypothetically again, go to Ikea. We might say here is the Hilton specifications for their hotel. If you want to give us a really knockout discount, or gift if you will, we're not opposed to having Ikea's name sketched into the wood frame of every bed."
Wolff said such a partnership could be worth up to $5 million for the hotel developers. It follows a nearby precedent: Before the Downtown arena opened, AEG and Staples signed a 20-year, $100 million naming rights deal.
Tanner delivered additional information on the long-anticipated megaplex, saying that it will be operated by the Regal Entertainment Group and will include 15 state-of-the-art theaters with thousands of seats. The biggest single theater will hold 700 seats, he said.
As part of the movie push, he said AEG will seek to host 10 to 15 red carpet premieres a year, with the films screened in the theater and large after-parties taking place in spacious ballrooms within walking distance.
Tanner said AEG is holding discussions with about 12 restaurants. He said an important element of the eateries will be outdoor and terrace dining, which could help activate the street. "Our whole goal here is to create a pedestrianized environment," he said.
Another element would be built around ESPN. Tanner said AEG is talking with the Bristol, Conn.-based sports behemoth about creating an entire broadcasting facility in LA Live as part of the Nokia Plaza.
"This would represent an extraordinary commitment on the part of ESPN, to actually build a second major TV broadcast studio production facility," he said. "So instead of having the 11 o'clock sports report emanating from Bristol, Conn., it will be live from Nokia Plaza."
Contact Jon Regardie at regardie@downtownnews.com.
Developers Explore Selling Convention Center Hotel's Naming Rights
by Jon Regardie
Top executives of the LA Live project last week unveiled intriguing new details about the $1 billion development that will change the southern portion of Downtown. Among the most notable elements set to occur in the so-called "sports and entertainment district" are a 15-screen movie theater complex, a cluster of condominiums atop the Convention Center headquarters hotel, and a plan to possibly name the hotel after a shoe company, a furniture store, or another business that pays millions for naming rights.
LA Live developers are talking to about 12 restaurants. Outdoor dining will be a priority. Rendering courtesy of AEG.
The announcements came from Ted Tanner, senior vice president of real estate for Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), the developer of Staples Center and LA Live, and Lew Wolff, the chair and CEO of Wolff Urban Development, which is a partner in the headquarters hotel. The two spoke to about 300 Downtown business leaders at a Tuesday luncheon sponsored by the Los Angeles Headquarters Association.
Even before Staples Center opened in 1999, AEG was exploring plans to create a massive district mixing restaurants, retail, housing and entertainment venues along six blocks north of the arena. Tanner reiterated on Tuesday that AEG aims to break ground on the initial phase of construction by May or June. The first major piece to go up, he said, will be the Nokia Theatre, an $85 million-$90 million, 7,100-seat venue that will host approximately 110 events a year; about two-thirds will be concerts, with the remainder comprised of award shows, short-run productions and similar events. Also part of the first phase is the Nokia Plaza and some underground parking. The project would ultimately include about 4,000 underground parking spaces.
Plans call for the entire LA Live to encompass around 4 million square feet of development space. The centerpiece continues to be the Convention Center headquarters hotel, a proposed 55-story structure that would house 1,200 rooms. Its price has been pegged at about $350 million, though Wolff said that is still being perfected. City incentives include a loan of about $20 million, infrastructure improvements, fee waivers and a proposal to exempt the hotel owners from a 14% bed tax that other hotels pay. The exemption would last 20 years and could be worth around $100 million.
Area officials have long claimed that such a structure is necessary to save the city's ailing convention industry, which repeatedly loses major business gatherings to other cities that have thousands of hotel rooms within a few minutes walk of their convention centers. The situation has turned the Los Angeles Convention Center into a money loser.
"The lynchpin for this has always been the hotel. We want to make that absolutely clear," said Tanner.
Wolff announced that the hotel would also have about 100 condominiums on the upper floors, probably between levels 45 and 55. "I'm told they're going to sell like hotcakes," he said.
Red Carpet Premieres
Although the hotel will be operated by Hilton, Wolff said he and AEG are exploring branding partnerships for the 1.5 million-square-foot structure. "We might have the Nike Hilton," he said by way of example. "We might, hypothetically again, go to Ikea. We might say here is the Hilton specifications for their hotel. If you want to give us a really knockout discount, or gift if you will, we're not opposed to having Ikea's name sketched into the wood frame of every bed."
Wolff said such a partnership could be worth up to $5 million for the hotel developers. It follows a nearby precedent: Before the Downtown arena opened, AEG and Staples signed a 20-year, $100 million naming rights deal.
Tanner delivered additional information on the long-anticipated megaplex, saying that it will be operated by the Regal Entertainment Group and will include 15 state-of-the-art theaters with thousands of seats. The biggest single theater will hold 700 seats, he said.
As part of the movie push, he said AEG will seek to host 10 to 15 red carpet premieres a year, with the films screened in the theater and large after-parties taking place in spacious ballrooms within walking distance.
Tanner said AEG is holding discussions with about 12 restaurants. He said an important element of the eateries will be outdoor and terrace dining, which could help activate the street. "Our whole goal here is to create a pedestrianized environment," he said.
Another element would be built around ESPN. Tanner said AEG is talking with the Bristol, Conn.-based sports behemoth about creating an entire broadcasting facility in LA Live as part of the Nokia Plaza.
"This would represent an extraordinary commitment on the part of ESPN, to actually build a second major TV broadcast studio production facility," he said. "So instead of having the 11 o'clock sports report emanating from Bristol, Conn., it will be live from Nokia Plaza."
Contact Jon Regardie at regardie@downtownnews.com.