The L.A. Times had bad news about Hollywood Park this week. I was surprised it didn’t turn up on DRF. Let’s hope the economy will tank the plans-- the overly ambitious mayor of the city certainly won’t.
We are in trouble everywhere here. Tough times.
Paulick Report and Equidaily have reported in the last couple of weeks news of the likely loss of Hollywood Park. It’s no secret that the owners are likely to opt to sell and develop the site. However just look at Bay Meadows for how that’s turned out.
Add one more sucker punch:
LA Business Journal March 16, 2009 “Caruso Mulls Taking a Run At Santa Anita”
Developer Rick Caruso is considering buying Santa Anita Park, the iconic horse-race track owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy and plans to put the facility up for sale.
Caruso told the Business Journal that he would prefer that a horse-racing operator buy the Arcadia track, but he might step in to protect his $500 million shopping mall planned for the track’s vast parking lot.
“My preference would be to just do the development, because we’re in the development business, not the horse-racing business,” said Caruso of Caruso Affiliated Holdings LLC. “(However), we’re taking a look at the numbers. If the deal looks right, we might do it ourselves.”
We’re very concerned,” said Marsha Naify, chair of the Thoroughbred Owners of California’s board, which is exploring the acquisition. “Santa Anita is the crown jewel of racing in California. We’re looking to see how we can keep it within the racing industry.”
Here’s a website to sign a protest against closure of Hollywood Park. Malls are in trouble and an outmoded shopping form for the future. Why do they think we need more?
[QUOTE=justalittlex;3953930]
Here’s a website to sign a protest against closure of Hollywood Park. Malls are in trouble and an outmoded shopping form for the future. Why do they think we need more?[/QUOTE]
It makes no sense to be sure.
Bay Meadows as cited by now being closed is not generating a dime for the city of San Mateo, CA where as it used to contribute over $250,000 annual in taxes plus additional money that went into the community with payrolls, et al.
And as for lost revenue while the project is stalled, Forsell said, the developer may be required to pay the city $300,000 if it hasn’t made any moves toward a development by 2012, but is otherwise under no pressure from the city to meet a timeline.
Let’s see: San Mateo could’ve received $250k in 2009, $250k in 2010, $250k in 2011, and $250k in 2012 had it continued to operate as a track. So roughly $1M. Or they might get to go to court to force the new owners to pay out $300k by 2012.
Ah I just love that AIG math 
That is why LA should be steadfastly against Hollywood Park being acquired as a “maybe” development.
[QUOTE=Blinkers On;3948568]
We are in trouble everywhere here. Tough times.[/QUOTE]
As such I will give props to JetBlue Airways for their new ads to use this for humour 
Equidaily pointed out this potential black-eye to California racing.
Union-Tribune May 14, 2009 “Governor wants to sell Del Mar Fairgrounds”
Other well-known properties on the governor’s list: San Quentin State Prison on San Francisco Bay; Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a National Historic Landmark, home to the University of Southern California Trojans and site of the 1984 Olympics; the historic Cow Palace in Daly City next to San Francisco; and the Cal Expo fairgrounds in Sacramento.
This is not the first time the idea has surfaced to sell surplus state properties, including Del Mar. In 2004, Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review board listed the Del Mar Fairgrounds’ market potential at $1.4 billion, calling the property “perhaps the state’s most valuable commercially used property.”
“We don’t own the property. We’re a tenant, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to speculate about what it means,” Craig Fravel, executive vice president of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, said last night.
So let’s see:
Hollywood Park is owned by developers and the track going away is almost a forgone conclusion
Golden Gate Fields is on the market to be auctioned off
Santa Anita is on the market to be auction off
Del Mar (per the above) is a possible for being sold off
Cal Expo (per the above) is a possible for being sold off
If I’m not mistaken that means every TB racing venue in the State of California is either for-sale, potentially at risk of being developed, or at the very least possibly to be sold in the next couple of years.
Rather remarkable to say the least.
That story was front page on L.A. Times today too, but it may be a ploy by Arnold to get people to vote in his propositions next week.
Just the tracks of the fair circuit (Pleasanton, Fresno, etc.) and Los Alamitos (multi-breed but mainly QHs and TBs) appear safe. Not clear what’s going on with Fairplex as a year round training center either, since SA and HOL basically support it, and San Luis Rey Downs, the other major training center, is MEC owned I believe.
There had been talk of Hollywood Closing for a few years now. They also stated if Hollywood were to close then Pamona would be constructed into the new “Hollywood park” with an added mile track. I guess we will just have to wait and see!
As has been voiced before - in particular with the disgrace at Bay Meadows - you’d think the local governments would see the need to encourage keeping these tracks in place.
It really is a no-brainer to have an income generating business remaining in place vs. the pie-in-the-sky glossy dreams of a developer. From the track you have: 1 - an entertainment outlet for your residents, 2 - some degree of green space, 3 - sales tax revenue, 4 - salaried employees, 5 - off-site businesses providing (and deriving) sales to the track [hay, transport, housing, etc]; 6 - Some local firm likely prints up the daily programs, the track likely buys some degree of local media ad space, and so forth.
What do you get with yet another mega-mall or more speculative housing? One time construction jobs by workers who likely aren’t from that city, maybe a bump in property taxes (if it gets built), increased urban congestion, and an increase in city-infrastructure costs - from traffic lights to building sidewalks - paid for my the tax payers.
If this adds more families then you’ll now have to add more school buses and maybe build another school.
Read: developments drain money from the local community either by increasing taxes or increasing the debt load to accommodate the influx of new residents and/or commercial space.
Plus watching horses on any given afternoon isn’t a bad thing either 
:lol::lol::lol::D:D:D:DROFLMAO…and I work for a competitor:eek:.
Anyway, thing about Hollypark, they have been talking about closing it for about 35 or 40 years. Possibly one of the worst locations for a track in the country. An asphalt surrounded track under the last mile approach for a major international airport with jumby gumbies shooting overhead at 2500 feet flaps and gear a hanging.
Awful, never even like watching or betting there…and the surrounding neighborhood:no:. I even showed a horse at the then adjacent Forum arena (City of Hope International Horse show, long defunct). One of the worst ever locations for us.
Can’t imagine having a string there.
If they put the dates elsewhere, it would really not be that big a loss. Even Pomona. With some updates of course.
Santa Anita goes it will make me sick, Del Mar too. But Hollypark? Not so much if the dates move.
As a fan, I actually enjoyed going there very much, back when I lived in S. Cal. I think I preferred in to SA. It was a bit odd to drive through a depressed LA suburb to get there, but once we arrived it was quite nice! Of course, that was 7 or 8 years ago. But I will be very sad to see it go.
Dear Arnold,
How to create a mass exodus 101. Keep doing what you are doing. From a hiring freeze of police and firemen (kudos genius it is barely fire season)
Arnold should have stuck to acting. What a buffoon. He wants to sell the Colosseum, which they don’t own. Hollywood will be developed eventually. It was my understanding that DM was to pick up some extra dates as a result. Wasn’t solid or written in stone, but there has been talk. Santa Anita is the safest track but then I thought that of DM too… Most seem to think that SA is safe regardless of who buys it. Killing racing in CA would be a big hit for the state when you consider that with all facets included they do raise a lot of money and a lot of tax payer dollars are paid out from breeding to the gambler.
I wonder who was worse for Cal Racing. Arnold or Shapiro?
Tracks are closing nationwide. Economy. Lack of help getting slots at the tracks in Ky and a few other states. Kind of a black eye due to the breakdowns an increasingly less prime time coverage in the media-except the breakdowns.
Not just the elected village idiots.
Fact just about everything is operating with an outdated business model that assumes income from sources that have dried up.
And yet economic crisis slots not being passed, tracks loosing dates, stock, facilities do all trickle down to elected village idiots from federal to state on down.
I see just another Bay Meadows mess in the future … developers unable to follow through with grandplans and in the process a vibrant track, suffering some decline at the moment, is lost forever.
BloodHorse June 4, 2009 “Inglewood Clears Way for Hollywood Demolition”
During the five-hour meeting, many residents and racetrack supporters spoke against the project, which would mean the destruction of Hollywood Park, an Inglewood institution since 1938. The redevelopment project calls for nearly 3,000 dwelling units, 620,000 square feet of retail development, 75,000 square feet of office and commercial space, a 300-room hotel and 25 acres of open or recreational space.
By separate 4-0-1 votes, with councilwoman Judy Dunlap abstaining in each case, the city council certified a final EIR and approved a general plan amendment to re-designate the Hollywood Park site from “commercial/recreational” and “commercial/residential” to “major mixed use.”
As said best by Joni Mitchell - don’t know what you got till its gone
It is one fiasco after another!
No one has money to claim, to "develop, etc. What do we do? I guess all we can do is pray for economic re growth??
Who in their right mind would go dining and/or shopping in Inglewood?? The only reason to drive into Inglewood is H’wood Park and, in ye olden days, to see the Lakers or Kings.
It isn’t the safest neighborhood…I don’t know if they still do it but during the H’wood Park meet, they used to hire a bus so the the parimutuel workers could park at Santa Anita and then all ride the bus to Hollywood Park. The bus got robbed during the commute on several occasions…
Exactly!! The drive down Machester then Pioncay is a little scary… I have my doors locked always! I guess it’s not Compton…
