What brought you to this project?

We started working at Hollywood Park in 2004 when our client, Stockbridge, acquired the property and began a five-year community-based planning process that culminated in approval of the Hollywood Park Specific Plan. Our work on the Rams stadium was a natural outgrowth. When the Kroenke Group approached Stockbridge with the proposal to create a stadium, we represented Stockbridge. Once the venture was formed, our land-use group was retained by the new venture. 

Title: Partners

Company: Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, downtown

Project: Forbes and Champion acted as transactional counsel to Stockbridge Capital Group and are now land-use counsel to Hollywood Park Land Co.

What projects prepared you to take on the Hollywood Park development?

We worked with Inglewood six years ago when Madison Square Garden approached us to assist with the renovation of the Forum. In the waning days of redevelopment agencies, we were able to secure $18 million in redevelopment funding, as well as historic preservation tax credits, to assist in the rehabilitation. The Forum provided us with insight into the critical issues in Inglewood and the public benefits the community desired.

How does this project differ from others you’ve worked on?

By virtue of its scale. The site could accommodate approximately two Century City-sized developments. In addition, we obtained the stadium approval in eight weeks, which for us, and we suspect for any major project, is a record. 

What are your biggest challenges?

To make it feasible for the Rams to return to L.A., we had to have an approved world-class stadium. Putting together a (voter) initiative is full of challenges. You need to have a good idea of what you want to build and write the entire legislative framework for the project up front. There is no negotiation because once the measure is circulated to voters it cannot be changed. We were helped by the fact that there had been an enormous amount of environmental analysis and community input into the original Hollywood Park Specific Plan. But it wasn’t until the petitions hit the street and we secured 22,000 signatures in two weeks that we knew we had hit the target.

What impact will the stadium have on Inglewood?

Projects with unique public benefits have the greatest likelihood to be impactful. Most of the jobs are staffed by local folks, meaning the project had the power to directly transform lives. It has everything: huge investment in the city economically, more than 25 acres of parks and open space, new uses that the community has asked for repeatedly, and a new source of civic pride. Inglewood has been thrust into the national spotlight by this project.