"Borrowing a tactic from developers of sports
stadiums," L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan today will announce a
plan to attract $250M in private capital to 15 "key
industrial and retail sites in the city's poorest
neighborhoods, in part by selling naming rights to big
corporate sponsors who invest in the projects," according to
Lee Romney of the L.A. TIMES. The targeted projects are
projected to create 5,000 jobs and range from some of the
"challenged abandoned swatches of the city to other sites
already on the path to recovery." So far, Bank of America,
Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo Bank and the Dept. of Water
and Power have signed on as sponsors, committing up to $10M
each to the projects "that could eventually bear their
names." A mayoral board targeting other sponsors includes
Magic Johnson (L.A. TIMES, 3/17). The projects will range
"from high tech and new media to commercial and retail
development in other projects" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 3/17).
Eventually, city officials hope that each redevelopment site
will be named for the sponsor (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/17).
