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While the redevelopment of Hollywood Park presents a rare opportunity, an ensuing fight over what should be built on the parcel is more than likely. Finding a compromise for the high-stakes site won't be easy if the community, historical preservationists, environmentalists and the developer have competing objectives.
Even if a plan gets approved by the City Council and a public referendum, it's likely to be controversial and generate lawsuits by disgruntled groups, which often include nearby homeowners.
Still, most any project at the site is likely to still pencil out, according to Richard Ackerman, a principal at Apollo Real Estate Advisors.
Ackerman is involved in two acrimonious developments--a new 1,200-room convention center hotel in downtown L.A. and Sunset Millennium, a hotel and residential project on West Hollywood's Sunset Strip.
"It's never easy," he said. "But if you're patient and you do the right thing and try to work with as many people as possible, it can be done."
Ackerman should know. West Hollywood approved the Sunset Millennium project earlier this month and the Los Angeles City Council has given conditional approval to a $177 million public financing package to help build the convention center hotel.
As speculation mounts about a development deal, racetracks continue to battle for gamblers with competing Indian casinos.
Baedeker said allowing slots are a must for Hollywood Park and other racetracks in order to raise purses large enough to attract the top horses from around the country.
Los Alamitos in Cypress is also pressuring Hollywood Park. In March the track's owners announced plans for a two-year, $40 million upgrade of the facility that would allow it to race thoroughbred horses in the afternoon and quarter horses at night.
While that would still require approval from the California Horse Racing Board, the track's owners would be available to absorb the 65 races run at Hollywood Park each season. That, Franklin said, could help set the stage for a sale, although he acknowledges that any project on the site is likely to be controversial.
"Realistically, with all the red tape that's involved, it may take several years before the ultimate goal of building the structures comes into existence," he said. "But the possibility of what could be accomplished there is just so exciting."
RELATED ARTICLE: Early glitz.
HOLLYWOOD Park got its start in 1938 when members of the showbiz elite, led by Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner, decided that Santa Anita Park across town could stand some competition. But this was more than a business venture, for at the time horse racing was still the sport of kings--and celebrities.
The day after its opening, one newspaper headline blared: "Film Stars Attend Races: Hollywood Turns Out En Masse for Opening of New Turf Club."
Those early years provided daily star-sightings, with Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Raoul Walsh, Jack Benny, Irene Dunne and Ronald Colman among the regulars. Columnist Hedda Hopper claimed she was visiting the track in search of gossip almost as often as she was going to the studios. In those days, it was just a 20-minute drive from Hollywood.
Warner, a longtime horse racing enthusiast, enlisted his celebrity friends and rival studio chiefs to help bankroll the venture. All told, there were around 600 shareholders who invested in what had been a muddy patch of land in the small community of Inglewood, best known for its commercial chinchilla farms (and Mines Field, which had been turned over to the city of Los Angeles for what would eventually become Los Angeles International Airport).
From the start, there was no question that the track was named Hollywood Park for a reason. "Like motion pictures," Mervyn LeRoy noted, "racing is amusement and in the amusement field the public will patronize only the best."
Beyond being a showbiz hangout, the track also became recognized for its Hollywood Gold Cup, a high-stakes centerpiece race for older horses that was designed to draw talent from other parts of the country. Seabiscuit, the horse immortalized in numerous books and a movie starring Jeff Bridges and Tobey Maguire, won the inaugural Hollywood Gold Cup.
Racing at Hollywood Park was suspended with the outbreak of World War II, except for a brief run to benefit the war effort (the grounds were used as a storage facility). Racing resumed after the war, and Hollywood Park continued to attract top contenders.
Three years later, a fire incinerated the racetrack's grandstand and clubhouse, which pushed the season to rival Santa Anita. The facilities were quickly rebuilt for the following season.
Hollywood Park made headlines in 1951 when the Gold Cup made Citation horse racing's first million-dollar earner. But by the 1970s, track attendance was on the decline and Hollywood Park wasn't immune.
Owners tried to drum up interest with expansions and improvements--doubling the size of the turf club, adding the Winner's Circle Dinning Room and renovating the stables.
As attendance continued to slide, the track focused more on gambling and promotions to draw large crowds. In 1973, it became the first track in the country to begin Sunday racing.
"Going to the races used to be a social event," said Rick Baedeker, president of Hollywood Park. "Honestly, now there is more focus on the gambling part of the sport because you've got our live races but also 30 other races imported into Hollywood Park on any given day."
After decades of being the premier destination for racing, Hollywood Park now draws the third-largest attendance in Southern California, after Santa Anita and Del Mar.
--Andy Fixmer
RELATED ARTICLE: Long odds.
Horse racing is on the skids.
Greater choice among gambling venues, increased popularity of other sports and a decline in the number of horses bred for racing have created a trifecta for declining attendance and profits.
Though overall betting is up, 85 percent of revenues at racetracks nationwide are generated off site. The result is an often lackluster atmosphere at the track and a decline in overall profits.
"Increased competition from other forms of gaming and entertainment is the most important single factor in the decline in attendance at race tracks throughout the United States," said Mike Martin, spokesman for the California Horse Racing Board, the state's regulatory authority. "At the same time, you have a declining number of horses racing. As any bettor will tell you, the smaller the field, the less attractive the race is for wagering."
Hollywood Park is a good example.
Off-site gambling was the major reason why the Inglewood track's pari-mutuel betting revenues jumped to an average of $10.4 million per day in 2004, up from $6.9 million in 1991. But the park must share the revenue with the entity that generated it, and it also loses out on ancillary sales such as hot dogs and beer that come with live attendance.
As a result, Hollywood Park's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped to $7.3 million last year, from $18.9 million in 2000, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings by Louisville, Ky.-based Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the facility.
A three-decade peak for on-site betting at thoroughbred races came to a close in 1991, when state legislation opened the door for Southern California venues--Hollywood Park, Santa Anita Park, Los Alamitos Race Course and Fairplex Park in Pomona--to take bets for each other's races.
Statewide, racetrack attendance fell to 3.8 million in 2004 from 7.6 million in 1991, according to the California Horse Racing Board. Even including customers who bet at off-track venues, attendance fell to 8.9 million statewide from 13.8 million in 1991.
Hollywood Park, which hosts 95 racing days per year in spring, summer and autumn meets, is now open year-round to attract local customers making bets at other tracks using simulcast TV screens. Still, annual attendance on race days fell below 550,000 last year, compared with 1.4 million in 1991.
"Inter-track betting really hurts because it takes people away from the live product, which diminishes the excitement," said Mike Mooney, a spokesman for Hollywood Park. "It's not a positive sign to have a grandstand half empty."
The spread of legalized gambling on Indian reservations and elsewhere--as well as new technology--have also siphoned off attendance.
Off-site betting parlors are open in San Bernardino, Lancaster, El Cajon, Ventura, Victorville and two in Indio. Online gambling outlets such as Woodland Hills-based Youbet.com and L.A.-based Television Games Network allow gamblers to bet at home as well.
