https://www.dailynews.com/2023/06/30/wo ... -facility/Woodland Hills residents get peek at Stan Kroenke’s planned Rams facility
Rams practice field is planned on vast acreage off 101, letting team move 20 miles closer to SoFi stadium
By DELILAH BRUMER | Contributing writer
PUBLISHED: June 30, 2023
After seven years based at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, the Los Angeles Rams are charging into the San Fernando Valley this winter. The team envisions that by January 2024 they will bring their practice field and facilities, administrative offices and community outreach offices to the vast 30-acre property near the 101 Freeway in Warner Center once occupied by health insurer Anthem Inc.
Billionaire team owner Stanley Kroenke paid $175 million in 2022 for the property off of Canoga Avenue and Erwin Street which has an empty 13-story office building and acres of landscaping, greenery and parking lots. He also paid $325 million last year for the nearby 600,000 sq. ft. mall The Village, and in March 2022 a private investment group that includes Kroenke’s company bought the 34-acre Promenade for about $150 million — an abandoned mall near the Anthem property.
The practice facility will be temporary, Rams representatives said, and after they move in they plan to take steps to get city permits to make it permanent. The plan will move the Rams 20 miles closer to the SoFi stadium in Inglewood, compared to their facilities at Cal Lutheran.
The biggest concerns raised at a community meeting on Wednesday, June 28, held by the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, were traffic, noise and the Warner Center area’s lack of affordable housing. Another pressing question was whether the team practices will be open to the public.
To the disappointment of no doubt many, the team practices at Warner Center will not be open to the public, Rams representatives said in their presentation to the Woodland Hills homeowners meeting. But for those in favor of the Rams moving to Woodland Hills, there were other reasons to be pleased.
“It’s going to bring a sense of pride to the West Valley,” said Diana Williams, CEO of the West Valley/Warner Center Chamber of Commerce. “It’ll bring prestige to Warner Center.”
But activist and geographer Gina Thornburg finds Kroenke’s land purchases worrisome. Some of the land is part of the Promenade 2035 Plan, a $1 billion vision to build 1,432 apartment units, a 28-story office tower, two hotels with 572 rooms and a 10,000-seat entertainment and sports center. Thornburg and other Woodland Hills residents successfully pushed for a requirement that some of the apartments, about five percent, be affordable to very low-income households.
Now that some of that property has been sold, she worries that the affordable housing won’t come to Woodland Hills.
“People can’t afford to live in the same (communities) where they work,” Thornburg said. “So I hope the Rams owner fulfills this obligation for very low-income apartments.”
Others said they are concerned about potential noise and traffic caused by the move. Rams representatives said that since the facility will not be open to the public, these disruptions will be minimal.
“Some (WHHO members) are worried about the noise level,” WHHO President John Walker said. “But we’re excited for the Rams to come.”
In a letter to residents obtained by RamsWire, Los Angeles City Councilmember Blumenfield, who represents Woodland Hills, wrote, “Over the coming months, as this project moves forward, the Rams and my staff will continue to meet with community groups to share (the Rams’) proposal and address any issues or questions that may arise. I’m looking forward to welcoming such a storied NFL franchise to the West Valley.”
Blumenfield argued that, “Unlike a stadium that is open to the public, this practice facility will have little to no traffic, noise or other negative impacts on the surrounding community.”
Kroenke bought the three large properties in Warner Center for about $650 million. He has not announced any plans for the Village and Promenade properties.
The transactions have set off speculation that Kroenke is considering building an entertainment district similar to the Dallas Cowboys complex in Frisco, Texas.
“Our long-term vision is to build a permanent practice facility at the Woodland Hills site that Stan Kroenke purchased over the past year,” a Rams spokesperson said. “This application we recently filed with the city is intended to set up an interim practice facility in Woodland Hills as we work on future ideas for a long-term facility.”
The Rams do not plan to use the facility for their annual training camp, which is open to the public and typically is held at UC Irvine, representatives said during the Woodland Hills homeowners meeting.
Several residents said they look forward to the Rams coming to the area, with hopes that the move will contribute to the local economy. But others were worried about potential noise and worsening traffic. Rams representatives said that since the facility will not be open to the public, those disruptions would be minimal.
“It’s going to be offering more jobs and it’s going to boost the economy,” Williams, of the Chamber of Commerce, said. “There’s going to be more dollars circulating, which is good for our businesses.”
The concerned resident Thornburg said the key step she hopes the Rams take is to “get to know the surrounding community.”
“This is going to have a big impact on us,” Thornburg said. “So I hope that they will talk to community groups and engage with the public.”