Sports Arena for Santa Ana Put in Doubt

SANTA ANA — All but scuttling plans for the proposed $85-million sports arena here, the project’s developer said it may no longer be possible to attract professional indoor sports to Orange County.

“Things just don’t look good now,” said Anthony V. Guanci of the Orange County Arena Partnership. “There is nothing that leads us to believe that any one (professional basketball or hockey team) is serious about relocating.”

As result, the partnership recently closed a model suite designed to drum up interest for the proposed arena.

Guanci’s statements represent a dramatic change for the city’s developer who only two months ago was enthusiastically competing with the city of Anaheim to lure basketball and/or hockey franchises to Santa Ana.

Without commitments from professional sports, the city and its developers have always maintained that they would not begin construction. However, Anaheim’s $103-million arena is nearly 50% complete and scheduled to open in the summer of 1993, even though city officials there have yet to secure agreements from professional franchises.

Guanci has not totally given up on his quest for sports, but the developer said he would not rule out the possibility that another kind of entertainment development would be considered for the 17 acres on Edinger Avenue.

“Our company is in the business of managing entertainment facilities,” he said. “If an opportunity presents itself that makes sense we’ll consider it. . . . Every day, we’ve got guys throwing something new our way. It would be premature for me to comment on something now.”

City officials involved with the Santa Ana arena project could not be reached for comment Friday.

Municipal staff members have said that no city money has been spent on the project. But, according to a memorandum of understanding between the city and the developer approved two years ago, Santa Ana’s Redevelopment Agency could be responsible for reimbursing the private partnership up to $500,000 in preliminary planning expenses if the project is determined “not viable by the developer.”

In March, Guanci told The Times that the project was very much alive and that he and his partners had been only “inches away” from bringing a franchise to Orange County.

Since that time, he said, the depressed economy has not improved and “cities are doing whatever it takes to keep their teams.”

“It’s been very difficult,” he said. “What’s changed is the economy. It is forcing people to be more cautious.”

Given the Santa Ana partnership’s unsuccessful efforts at securing a franchise, Guanci said he would “have to question the economics of the Anaheim building.”

“It’s not easy anymore to get a team to move,” he said. “A good number of NBA (National Basketball Assn.) teams are having new facilities built for them right now,” the Santa Ana developer said.

For example, before the San Antonio Spurs agreed to occupy that city’s new domed stadium, Guanci said he had been discussing opportunities in Orange County with Spurs owner Red McCombs.

In Anaheim, developers remained undeterred by Guanci’s fatal vision for basketball and hockey in Orange County.

Less than a year since ground was broken on the Katella Avenue and Douglass Road site, the new structure is gaining form. There have been discussions with the Los Angeles Clippers about the possibility of playing a portion of their 1993-94 schedule in Anaheim. Arena managers are even beginning the selection of soft drink and beer contracts.

“We wouldn’t have gotten involved in this project if we thought we couldn’t attract a professional sports franchise,” said John J. Nicoletti, Anaheim arena spokesman. “This facility has brought together the best team possible. We never really considered it a competition (with Santa Ana).”

Although city officials have declined comment about possible negotiations with sports teams, most have agreed that a professional hockey club is more likely to be the first major tenant in the 19,000-seat facility.

Guanci, however, does not share Anaheim’s optimism. Three weeks ago, the developer closed a model for the Santa Ana facility’s planned 134 club suites.

Times staff writer Gebe Martinez contributed to this story.