Hollywood Park Update

[Al Gobbi]

Hollywood Park will apply to run a 49 day spring/summer meet on Thursday at the February CHRB meeting. Racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday basis, including Memorial Day.

First post time will be 1:00 (pacific) daily, except for the Triple Crown race days (11am).

[so.cal.fan]

Have they committed to the Fall meet yet?

[Al Gobbi]

Originally Posted by so.cal.fan

Have they committed to the Fall meet yet?

They plan to run the fall meet, but its becoming seemingly likely that it will be the last meet run at HP. With the cancellation of night cards, they have apparently thrown in the towel.

[cosmo96]

There are always rumors that Hollywood Park will close. but it never happens.

[Dan Montilion]

Originally Posted by cosmo96

There are always rumors that Hollywood Park will close. but it never happens.

That was said about Bay Meadows. If Bay Meadows Land Co. owns it, it will close. Knowing this outfits history, CHRB should have pulled their dates long ago.

[so.cal.fan]

Hi Dan,
I think HP would have been closed before 2010, had it not been for the economic downturn/crash in real estate, namely commercial property.
The city of Inglewood had very real plans on what they wanted developed on that property....but money dried up.
There is always a chance this will continue to be the case....however, one of the top people over at HP told my husband, they were told they would have to be clearing all the offices out, they would be closing. Before it was always speculation and rumors...now, other racetracks, Los Al and Fairplex want to expand to accomodate these dates.
It just may happen this time.

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by cosmo96

There are always rumors that Hollywood Park will close. but it never happens.

Hard to call it "crying wolf" when the track was sold to a land developer several years ago...

[anotherCAfan]

No Friday nights, damn. (I enjoyed the ska/reggae/whatever and the food trucks, in addition to the racing, of course.)

Here is what confuses me:

• There is already a Target near Hollywood Park
• There is already a Costco near Hollywood Park
• Walmart owns a portion of the racetrack property; if they were to develop it, you could still hold racing as usual
• There are already vacant commercial properties in the area for a theoretical UPS/FedEx/DHL facility
• We have an excessive supply of houses in the immediate area and especially in Southern California; I don't think a housing development would do well
• The Forum and Madison Square Garden don't need the HP land
• Any development of the racetrack property is still going to have the stigma of being in Inglewood

With all this said, it's too bad they can't continue to race.

[Bruiser1]

As one who used to run a horse @ Hollywood and attended as a fan on numerous occasions, the biggest problem the track has (among many problems harming the industry) is obvious to most......the location.

If the goal is to increase on track attendance and handle, why not relocate the track to a different, more desirable location?

I know the idea has been discussed before (thinking back years ago there was talk of building a new facility at the old Devonshire Downs in the San Fernando Valley), yet it would seem the time has come. So many different marketing ideas have been tried (as long as I can remember) at the current location with the same dismal results.

[Fingal]

Originally Posted by Bruiser1

If the goal is to increase on track attendance and handle, why not relocate the track to a different, more desirable location?

I know the idea has been discussed before (thinking back years ago there was talk of building a new facility at the old Devonshire Downs in the San Fernando Valley), yet it would seem the time has come. So many different marketing ideas have been tried (as long as I can remember) at the current location with the same dismal results.

Simple question........

Where is the money going to come from to do this ?

I hear figures of 15 million to " fix up " Los Al or Fairplex. Could the land be obtained & a whole racetrack, stable & auxiliary facilities be built for that sum ?

[Bruiser1]

It's a great question and I lack the expertise to give an educated opinion. I do know that real estate prices are still slumping.

What I'd guess is with any profits from the sale of the rest of the current location, financing, and perks from a local government, it could be done. I don't know how the casino would be factored in.

It just seems that given the mass of population in Southern California, there should be a market for three major race tracks (with apologies to Fairplex), two of which are in the LA area.

[so.cal.fan]

Another CAfan brings up an interesting piece of information.
Walmart owns a portion of the property?

This is very interesting, because, since Walmart gets so much of their products from China.....perhaps they will build a big distribution center on that property? Along with Fed EX?
They would be near the airport and not far from the docks.

Anyone think this is possible???

[usedtolovetvg]

i believe the property will be developed for some form of housing. There is an historic low inventory in the Socal area, prices are rising along with the cost of a rental. Bay Meadows would have to believe that now might be an opportune time to pull the trigger and bring in the bulldozers.

[Al Gobbi]

Originally Posted by usedtolovetvg

i believe the property will be developed for some form of housing. There is an historic low inventory in the Socal area, prices are rising along with the cost of a rental. Bay Meadows would have to believe that now might be an opportune time to pull the trigger and bring in the bulldozers.

It should be pointed out that the BM project up north has resumed again.

[anotherCAfan]

Originally Posted by so.cal.fan

Another CAfan brings up an interesting piece of information.
Walmart owns a portion of the property?

This is very interesting, because, since Walmart gets so much of their products from China.....perhaps they will build a big distribution center on that property? Along with Fed EX?
They would be near the airport and not far from the docks.

Anyone think this is possible???

Here is a snippet from a 2006 Los Angeles Times article:

Wal-Mart, a few months after being trounced by voters in its bid to build a store without normal city oversight, quietly bought the 60-acre parcel of land between the Forum and Hollywood Park that was at issue in the 2004 vote. The plot had been owned by a developer.

There may be a historically low inventory in L.A. area, but when I look at Southern California as a whole, what about all the empty houses in the Antelope Valley and Inland Empire? In fact, there have been people who had lived in South L.A. who have moved to those locations.