Casden Sees New Home For Dodgers, New Homes At Chavez Ravine

Dodgers Would Move To Downtown Digs Under Casden’s Plan

Casden Properties Chair & CEO Alan Casden, who is "not even the front-runner in the bidding for the Dodgers," yesterday "laid out a blueprint" for moving the Dodgers downtown near Staples Center, according to Roger Vincent of the L.A. TIMES. Casden contends that the proposal "could offer a markedly better experience for fans — and at the same time provide thousands of new housing units in Chavez Ravine," and "amounts to 'a $1[B] commitment to the city.'" Casden said that the project could be "achieved without public subsidy," with the exception of tax credits from the city available for construction of low-income housing. Casden added that "the money he could make from developing housing in the neighborhood would be enough to finance a new stadium." Casden: "They knock down stadiums all the time. Dodger Stadium is not an antique. It's not Frank Lloyd Wright. It's a nice place to play baseball, but there are far better." Casden cited "convoluted parking lots; a poor seating plan; and a location inconvenient for both fans and long-suffering Chavez Ravine residents who complain about the traffic, noise and litter in their neighborhood" as "drawbacks" to Dodger Stadium. Vincent reports that while his offer to buy the Dodgers "is not contingent on being able to relocate" to a downtown ballpark, Casden has "quietly broached the idea with public officials." L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky: "If he is able to self-finance it, I think the idea of a back-to-the-future kind of stadium like those that have popped up all over the country would be intriguing. It could work." Central City Association President Carl Schatz: "Having a baseball stadium in the heart of downtown makes infinite good sense from an urban planning point of view." AEG controls the land Casden has suggested for the ballpark, and AEG spokesperson Michael Roth said, "There is clearly the infrastructure surrounding Staples Center to support additional development such as a baseball stadium" (L.A. TIMES, 7/11).