Owners of The Forum lash out at Inglewood for quietly entering into Clippers arena talks

Owners of The Forum concert venue issued a sharp rebuke to the Inglewood City Council for its sudden decision Thursday to negotiate a new basketball arena with the Los Angeles Clippers.

A scathing letter from an attorney representing the owners was delivered Thursday morning, when council members met and approved the deal in a special meeting. It complained negotiations were made “without a shred of public notice or public process.”

Inglewood City Hall publicly noticed the meeting’s agenda, listing the proposed state-of-the-art arena on a 20-acre site just south of the NFL stadium, the day before.

Council members then swiftly approved the item Thursday morning. The deal is secured with a $1.5 million payment to the city.

“To our knowledge this action was done without the courtesy of any substantive discussions with the Inglewood community or, for that matter, our client,” states the letter, written by George Mihlsten, a land-use attorney for The Madison Square Garden Co.

“The proposed project is inconsistent with the city’s General Plan and zoning and violates numerous agreements and requirements of law.”

Negotiations with San Francisco-based SPI Holdings and its subsidiary, Murphy’s Bowl, can now proceed for the next three years on an 18,000- to 20,000-seat arena for the Clippers near Century Boulevard and Yukon Avenue. A potential six-month extension is included.

Clippers owner Steve Ballmer wants to move the NBA team from the Staples Center, which is shared with the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings, to a new state-of-the-art facility. The team’s Los Angeles lease is up in 2024.

‘Plenty of time’

Inglewood Mayor James Butts fired back that the complaint from Madison Square Garden Co. was unwarranted.

“Big deals are not discussed until there is something to discuss,” Butts said in an email. “Now that there is a commitment of interest, (there’s) plenty of time to engage the community if we decide it necessary. (This is the) same process we did for MSG and the Forum. In fact, for the Forum, there was no community stakeholder outreach.”

Madison Square Garden Co. bought the Forum in 2014, and did a major renovation of the venue, built in 1967. The remodeled 17,800-seat facility is now the most popular concert venue in the state and second in the nation.

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It was home to the Lakers and Kings until they relocated to Staples Center in 1999 with the Clippers, who had been playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The Forum was sold to Faithful Central Bible Church the following year.

The new arena would also be a neighbor to the 298-acre entertainment complex and $2.6 billion NFL stadium under construction for the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. It’s set to open in 2020 at the former Hollywood Park Racetrack, which shut down in 2013.

‘Right to object’

Mihlsten’s letter indicates that the owners of the Forum are considering a lawsuit.

“The proposed Exclusive Negotiating Agreement action fails to comply with requirements of law with regard to use of eminent domain,” the letter states. “The Forum reserves all rights to object.”

Butts said he’s not yet sure whether the city will use its power of eminent domain — forcing a private owner to sell property — to make way for the development.

Whether a new arena for the Clippers would also host concerts would be a major concern to the owners of the Forum.

“The design of the stadium has not been conceptualized. It could be built to accommodate concerts, but that has not been decided,” Butts said. “An environmental impact report will be done. We have not committed or decided on eminent domain yet. We need to see the scope of the project.”