Billionaire developer Ed Roski Jr., who hopes to build a football stadium in the City of Industry in a competition with one proposed by AEG in downtown Los Angeles, has dropped his team of lobbyists and public relations consultants.
Senior Vice President John Semcken said work on their project has moved to a new stage and they no longer need the help they required.
"We decided a couple of months ago that we would be hiring some local people to make sure message and benefits of our project are understood by the L.A. City Council when they are making their deliberations," Semcken said.
"We hired someone to help us with meeting members of the council and that part is done. We also hired someone to help get our message out to the general public and we think we have done that."
Semcken said the contracts with John Ek and Maureen Kindel in Los Angeles and Donna Lukas in Sacramento have ended.
Efforts to contact the three were unsuccessful.
"They were very successful for us and now we are moving on to the next aspects of this," Semcken said. "We have been talking to teams and are waiting for the NFL to complete its collective bargaining agreement so we can move forward."
Semcken said Roski still retains a number of lobbyists in Sacramento, working on other projects being developed by Roski's Majestic Realty Co.
"We are now at the point where we are ready to break ground tomorrow," Semcken said. "All we
need is a team."Semcken would not identify the teams he's been talking to about a move to Los Angeles. However, speculation has centered around the San Diego Charters, Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings.
Roski, who partnered with AEG to build Staples Center, has been working on his own plans for a stadium to host professional football for several years and won an exemption to the state environmental laws that allow lawsuits once the environmental impact reports are completed.
As part of that, Roski had hired a team of four lobbyists in Sacramento and one in Los Angeles to help him through the bureaucratic process.
AEG last year developed its own plan, which is making its way through City Hall, to build a stadium-event center on the site of the West Hall of the Convention Center.
The stadium, with a retractable roof, could seat between 64,000 and 72,000 people and also serve as an addition to the Convention Center.
AEG President Tim Leiwecke has said AEG will pay the $1 billion construction cost for the stadium, but would need the city to issue $350million in bonds to replace the West Hall. Leiwecke said said AEG will pay off the bond with a surplus charge or tax on tickets to be sold.
Roski has developed plans for a 75,000-seat stadium, with an estimated cost of $800 million. It would be at the junction of the 57 and 80 freeways in Industry.
A working group of city officials has been meeting with AEG to work out details of a contract before it is considered by the City Council. Also, a blue ribbon panel of business and civic leaders has been meeting and will report to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on their recommendations.
Kate Groombridge Erica Leerhsen Carla Campbell Autumn Reeser Vanessa Hudgens
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