Health & Fitness
Dodgers and LA Real Estate LLP Bankruptcy actions (Patch Blog)
Dodger bankruptcy action may give Echo Park a reprieve.
From filings in the McCourt divorce, it looks like Jamie and Frank McCourt had a life style to rival that of Marie Antoinette and Louis the XVI.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon decided that Jamie and Frank McCourt’s postnuptial agreement was invalid. About a week ago, Frank McCourt signed a settlement agreement to pay Jamie for her interest but the agreement was contingent on Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig’s approval of a multi-billion dollar contract between the Dodgers and FOX. Selig did not approve the contract.
This Monday, LA Real Estate LLC, three other related holding companies, and the Dodgers, Inc. (all McCourt owned), filed for Chapter 11 United States Bankruptcy Court protection in Delaware (where McCourt incorporated the Dodgers) in separate actions. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.
About two years ago, LA Real Estate LLC applied for an expansion of its Conditional Use Permit to have more restaurants, commercial space, lights, rock concerts, and bars. It considered building housing on part of the stadium land. Its website claims contracts with a number of chain restaurants. According to one dedicated Dodger fan, “I've been to most of the ballparks throughout the country. Most of them have public transit to the stadium and bars and restaurants within a block or so of the stadium where people hang out before and after the games.” The City Council has been working on getting public transportation to the stadium and there is a shuttle from Union Station.
The proposed stadium expansion has been put on hold until McCourt completes a draft environmental impact report. LA Real Estate has not yet applied to change the ball park's zoning to build housing. These land use changes should be contemplated as a "cumulative impact" in the Barlow Hospital environmental impact report.
The McCourt divorce and the Dodgers and LA Real Estate LLP's bankruptcy actions may give the Echo Park neighborhood a reprieve.
On the other hand, Frank McCourt’s need for money seems a bottomless pit. I suspect he’ll not only survive the bankruptcies and the divorce and will look around for more cash to finance his lifestyle. Inasmuch as LA Real Estate LLC owns the stadium land, McCourt could lose the team but make the Dodgers pay rent to his limited liability company.
