City of Industry stadium plans go ahead
FOOTBALL
John Semcken, Ed Roski's top aide, says environmental impact report should be finished around Christmas, but they aren't in negotiations with any teams yet.
John Semcken, the right-hand man to billionaire developer Ed Roski, is confident that his boss will be successful at bringing an NFL team back to Los Angeles, a team that will play in a proposed state-of-the art stadium in the City of Industry. Semcken spoke to The Times on Friday about where the project is and where it's headed.
Question: So where are you now on the project?
Answer: We're partially through the [environmental impact report] process. The EIR, which is called a supplemental EIR in this process, and it's in review right now. That process will continue probably through the end of the year until the EIR is certified. Once that happens, then we're done. The current plan is probably the EIR will be finished around Christmas.
Ed has already paid for the design of the project, and so it's actually out to bid with four contractors right now. So by the end of this year we'll have a completely entitled, environmentally approved, priced and schematically designed enough [proposal] to price the building. We'll be able to show the league: Here you go, it's all wrapped up with a bow and you can go.
At that point, if we were to buy a team . . . then we'd be able to say to a team, "We're done. You can move here. Here's the building. You can start construction." So then the element that was then stated in the papers before, which was inaccurately quoted was, "We'll be ready for a team." If we then were able to go out and buy a team, or if a team were to say they were going to move into this stadium, they would obviously have to move right away. They wouldn't be able to sell tickets in their existing marketplace.
So that if we had the entitlements finished, and if we signed a team, or if Ed bought a team, then they would move right away. So I said, "We could have one as early as next year, and then they would have to play on a temporary basis either in the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum."
Q: One thing that has repeatedly come up when I've talked to my league sources about a deal involving Ed Roski, is they say he'd have to completely divest himself of any gambling interests if were to buy even a part of a team. Is he ready to do that?
A: Ed completely understands what the requirements are for league ownership. And he wants to own a team.
Q: He owns the Silverton casino in Las Vegas. Are the wheels in motion to sell that now?
A: Not that I know of.
