Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Bloomberg News moved a story tonight saying that AEG's financial guarantee to the city on the NFL stadium the company wants to build near L.A. Live "falls short" of the assurances offered on Staples Center 13 years ago. Say L.A. bureau reporters Christopher Palmeri and Andy Fixmer:
The [Phil] Anschutz subsidiary behind the project is providing no letter of credit or additional guarantee for $350 million of municipal bonds related to the development, according to a Feb. 16 proposal, unlike the backing provided for Staples Center.Without such assurance, Los Angeles taxpayers may be on the hook if stadium and convention-center proceeds to the city come up short of what's needed for the bonds. Anschutz Entertainment Group President Tim Leiweke has said the company will make up any shortfall servicing municipal debt needed to finance the convention-center portion of the $1.35 billion project.
"With no bank, corporate or municipal insurance, you are possibly looking at the city having to make the payments," Jeffrey Appelbaum, an attorney who specializes in stadium
finance at Thompson Hine LLP in Cleveland, said in an interview.Michael Roth, a spokesman for Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment, said he couldn't immediately comment.
Related?: Earlier Tuesday, City Council President Eric Garcetti appointed members of the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Proposed Downtown Stadium and Events Center, charged with "thoroughly and aggressively scrutinizing this project to make sure Los Angeles taxpayers are 100 percent protected." Jan Perry chairs, with Bill Rosendahl, Tony Cardenas, Tom LaBonge and Ed Reyes as members.
Previously on LA Observed:
AEG makes it official: Gensler to design stadium
Picking apart the city's stadium panel
Leiweke: 'It’s easy to take shots'