What’s going on with the Angels and the stadium?

The city and the ownership of Angels Baseball have an agreement to keep Angels Baseball in Anaheim, sell the Angel Stadium of Anaheim site and see development around it with community benefits.

Here’s an overview: 

• 2050: The Angels are committed to playing in Anaheim for the next 30 years with options through 2075
• $320 million: SRB Management LLC, made up of Angels owner Arte Moreno and family, is paying $320 million to buy 151 acres of city land, including Angel Stadium of Anaheim. At $2.1 million an acre, the sale is at market value and at the high end of Anaheim’s commissioned appraisal, reflecting potential development and parking for baseball and events.
• Development: stadium land would see apartments, homes, hotels and entertainment uses in coming years as part of Anaheim’s planning for the Platinum Triangle. As land gives way to new uses, Anaheim is projected to see $652 million in new net yearly city revenue from hotel, property and sales taxes through 2050.
• Stadium: Development could also include a renovated or new stadium, led by Angels ownership. There would be no city funding of a renovated or new stadium.
• Community benefits: The agreement requires affordable housing, a flagship city park and union construction jobs with priority hiring for Anaheim residents. The agreement for the final cash payment for the stadium and land calls for a $170 million worth of affordable housing and a flagship park.

The city is selling Angel Stadium of Anaheim? 

The city is selling the stadium and 151 acres of land for $320 million. 

Anaheim is proud to have built and owned Orange County’s only Major League Baseball stadium since the 1960s.

But the agreement reflects a trend toward private ownership, as with Dodger Stadium, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and Chase Center in San Francisco, home of the Golden State Warriors.

Selling the Big A, as the stadium is known, would relieve the city of yearly payments toward stadium improvements, currently at $700,000 and totaling $15 million through 2038, the ultimate end date of the current lease. Anaheim would also save annual administrative costs to oversee a stadium lease and agreements with neighboring businesses.

At the same time, the city would forego revenue sharing on ticket sales and parking, which was $1.3 million, and $581,200 after expenses, for the 12 months through June 2019 (the last full year before the coronavirus pandemic). Any revenue lost stands to be offset by savings Anaheim would see from no longer owning and leasing the stadium.

Selling the stadium also clears up questions about renovating Angel Stadium or building a new stadium. Under the agreement, that will fall to the team’s ownership. Anaheim taxpayers aren’t being asked to pay for anything.

How would development be part of the proposal? 

SRB Management has a development plan for the land as part of Anaheim’s planning for the Platinum Triangle, the 820-acre area including Angel Stadium, Honda Center, apartments, condominiums and other businesses.

This would help Anaheim realize the Platinum Triangle vision as a downtown for Orange County with sports, homes, restaurants, shopping, entertainment, offices and transit.

As seen around California and the nation, stadiums and arenas in conjunction with development is the new standard.

What plays out in the Platinum Triangle will be distinctly Anaheim. But there is inspiration to be found across California and the country.

A good example is Golden 1 Center, home to the Sacramento Kings basketball team, which has revitalized California’s capital city with the surrounding Downtown Commons and its dining, shopping, entertainment and a boutique hotel.

There’s also San Diego’s Petco Park with its skyline views, a hotel connected by its own entry bridge and the restaurants and entertainment of the Gaslamp Quarter next door.

Will there be a new stadium?  

A master site plan submitted for the stadium site includes the option for both renovating the current Angel Stadium of Anaheim or building a new stadium just to the east alongside the Santa Ana River. That will be determined later.

Where will people park?

The agreement requires that the same number of spaces provided now, 12,500, be provided in the future as well. Rather than all as surface parking, the spaces will be split among surface parking and parking structures.

Maintaining the Big A's easy in and out will be a priority as the site is developed.

What is the community benefits portion of the agreement?  

In addition to selling the stadium and land, Anaheim is including affordable housing and a flagship city park, above and beyond what we’d normally see, as part of any future development.

There's also a labor agreement for major parts of the project, ensuring good paying union jobs and placing a priority on hiring Anaheim residents. The labor agreement is not part of the purchase price.

Why a community benefits payment?  

Anaheim is taking part of the $320 million in payment for the stadium and land in affordable housing and a flagship park.

With nearly 700 acres of city park space and more than 3,500 affordable apartments, Anaheim already does a great job. But we can’t add either fast enough.

The biggest hurdles are land and getting developers to build. With this proposal, Anaheim is asking the Angels ownership to do more and include affordable housing and extra park space from the start as an integral part of the project.

Here's how the $320 million payment, or $319.8 million to be exact, breaks down, including community benefits:

• $148.7 million in cash to city
• $95.9 million in new cash to city for affordable housing fund
• $46.2 million: for 7-acre city park at $25 million in building costs, $14.7 million for land, $6.3 million in maintenance costs
• $27.7 million: for affordable apartments developed on stadium site
• $1.2 million: for assumption of common area maintenance around Stadium Gateway offices now overseen by Anaheim

Affordable housing will be spread across Anaheim to make it available soon than it could be built on the stadium site. 

The stadium site itself will see a minimum of $27.7 million in affordable housing made up of 84 to 104 units, based on whether all are for what are considered very low income households making 50 percent of the county's median income or they are a mix of very low and lower income households at 80 percent of the median.

In all, we estimate about 1,000 new affordable homes across Anaheim and onsite as part of the stadium plan.

The stadium site park will go well beyond an everyday park with extensive landscaping, mature trees, fountains, experience spaces, art, play areas, open spaces and free public parking. 

The idea is for an iconic park like, while smaller in size, San Diego's Balboa Park or Griffith in Los Angeles. The best example of similar size and cost is Santa Monica's Tongva Park, a 6.2-acre, $42 million park opened in 2013 and considered one of Southern California's best parks.

Anaheim has sought a large, central park for the Platinum Triangle for years. Along with affordable housing, Anaheim will have to pay one way or another for these valuable community benefits.

Including these in the agreement ensures affordable housing and a park in a stadium land master site plan, while still keeping ample land sale proceeds to invest in our community.

What about the city’s land appraisal?  

You can find a fact sheet summary and the full appraisal above. The only change: We're selling nearly 151 acres for $320 million, instead of 153 acres for $325 million. Anaheim is keeping roughly 2 acres for an existing water well and a future fire station for the Platinum Triangle.

The $320 million sale value is at the high end of the appraisal’s range for keeping baseball with 12,500 parking spots for games and events and potential development. 

Is the city selling the land for less than it’s worth?   

No. The city is selling at market value for land used for baseball, with 12,500 parking spots and potential development.

The only way to see a higher price would be without baseball, and the city's goal was to keep baseball in Anaheim. 

Will the team be called the Anaheim Angels?   

The agreement does not address the team name.

As a city, we always want to see the Anaheim name as prominent as possible. We brought up the issue during negotiations, and it was clear it wasn’t up for discussion.

The city earlier fought the name issue in court, without success. In the mid-2000s, the city sued over the team’s name, spending $7 million and three years in litigation.

A jury decided in 2006 that the official team name meets the technical terms of the stadium lease and that the team has discretion in how it markets itself.

That decision was upheld on appeal in 2007.

What is the Surplus Land Act issue?

In December 2021, Anaheim received a deemed notice of violation of the Surplus Land Act from the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Anaheim disagrees with the notice and contends stadium site sale falls under state law allowing for economic opportunity, among other points.

Both sides have reached agreement to bring more affordable housing to Anaheim and allow the stadium site plan to move forward.

You can see more under Housing and Community Development above.

What’s next?  

With an agreement in place resolving the Surplus Land Act issue, the stadium site plan is set to undergo the final the phases of city approvals in mid-2022 with a possible sale close in the second half of 2022.