Leiweke Discusses AEG, Anschutz In L.A. Times Q&A
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| Leiweke Discusses AEG, Kings In L.A. Times Q&A |
In a Q&A with the L.A. TIMES, AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke talked about his company's $2.5B L.A. Live complex and his new Nokia Theater, which opens tomorrow with a concert featuring the Eagles and Dixie Chicks. Leiweke calls his Figueroa Corridor, a new affordable housing platform, "revolutionary," and said, "We committed to affordable housing, we committed to a 20% commitment toward affordable housing on all of our units that we were building before we ever went to City Council. We did it with the community. And then all the other developers got ticked off at us." He added that AEG is "all union," so "when you go onsite and you see every worker on downtown Los Angeles and L.A. Live . . . [and] behind out stands of all our Levy concessions stands at Staples [Center] or Nokia Theatre, we're all union." Leiweke acknowledges that paying a premium for union work puts the company "at a competitive disadvantage. ... We lose events to the Honda Center. And I at times have trouble competing with them."
WHERE'S PHIL? Leiweke said AEG "is not about" AEG Chair Phil Anschutz and "it never has been." Leiweke: "Phil doesn't work at AEG, Phil doesn't have an office at AEG, Phil's not going to have a new office in our corporate headquarters. He happens to be the money that built this company, and now as we've grown we've gone away from Phil money, and gone to traditional forms of money that we go out and borrow." He added Anschutz is "the lifeblood of our company," but AEG "is being built by the people here, and we're more and more independent every day from Denver."
SLEEPLESS IN L.A.: When asked what is "keeping you up at night," Leiweke said,, "My hockey team [the Kings] ... I wish we were better. I hope we do get better." He added L.A. is "a high-profile city for [AEG] ... We have well over $2, $2 and half billion invested in this community now" (L.A. TIMES, 10/15).
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