Bill allowing Cow Palace parking lot sale vetoed
October 2, 2008
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| A herd of cattle is led into the parking lot of the Cow Palace during the cattle drive to the 53rd Grand National rodeo in San Francisco. A bill that would have allowed the sale of a 13-acre parking lot to Daly City was vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, leaving redevelopment plans in doubt. (ASSOCIATED PRESS) |
DALY CITY — The futures of the financially struggling Cow Palace and a sorely needed revitalization for its economically depressed neighborhood are both uncertain after the governor vetoed a supposed savior bill late Tuesday.
The bill would have allowed the 13-acre overflow parking lot of the state-owned arena to be sold to Daly City, likely for around $20 million. The city would have developed the parking lot plus two adjacent lots as part of a 37-acre project for a grocery store, post office and other amenities for the surrounding Bayshore neighborhood.
The palace’s Board of Directors – needing some sort of revenue after the arena lost more than $1 million during the last five years – will try leasing the parking lot to a developer instead, as it had intended to all along. If successful with the lease, the revitalization project would likely be roughly one-third the size of the city’s plans and would result in small amounts of annual cash instead of a large lump sum upfront, said City Manager Pat Martell.
“We envisioned a much larger project,” Martell said. She also questioned whether the palace, without city redevelopment money and mixed with the economic downturn, would be able to finish the project.
Martell added that the $1 million or so the palace would earn each year from a lease pales in comparison to the roughly $20 million it would have received from a sale.
Not so, says the palace administration, which opposed the bill all along and recently began negotiating with a developer called Cypress Equities to lease the land in spite of the legislation.
“I think they can get it done,” said Cow Palace Interim CEO Michael Wegher. “Having the revenue stream for the long haul and still owning the property in the end is the best interest of all the parties here.”
The 67-year-old palace has hosted 50 million visitors for acts such as rodeos, a John. F. Kennedy appearance and concerts by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead.
