Owner to Sell Boston Land
Dodger owner Frank McCourt intends to repay a $145-million loan from Fox Entertainment Group by selling the company a 24-acre harbor-side parcel in Boston that he used as collateral upon buying the team two years ago, a source close to the deal said Thursday night.
Terms of the deal, to be completed in a few days, won’t be released. But the source said McCourt will receive more than $145 million in the transaction. The Dodgers also are expected to continue their long-term broadcast rights deal with Fox, a subsidiary of media giant News Corp.
Word of the land sale came amid a swirl of activity this week.
In letters sent to McCourt on Tuesday, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston Redevelopment Authority Director Mark Maloney demanded an immediate update on what McCourt intends to do with the land, which he bought for $3.5 million in 1977 from the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad.
Also on Thursday, a spokesman for Related Cos., a New York-based development firm, said that it was no longer talking with McCourt about a possible joint development plan for the Boston land. McCourt last year said that he hoped to create the joint venture to develop the land that is now used for parking lots.
The land sale would fulfill McCourt’s financial obligations to Fox, but he still owes $250 million in long-term debt that is secured by the 300 acres of land at Chavez Ravine. He must pay about $1.6 million a month on that 25-year obligation.
McCourt has said that the club’s finances are stronger than two years ago because of an improved TV rights deal, higher parking lot revenue and an increase in revenue generated from upscale seating sections at Dodger Stadium.
Dodger fans probably wouldn’t care how McCourt settles his financial obligations -- as long as things settle down for the storied franchise that, under the new owner, has employed three general managers and two managers.
After a 91-loss season and several tumultuous months that followed, a period in which Manager Jim Tracy and General Manager Paul DePodesta were fired, McCourt appears to be more comfortable with his current management team.
General Manager Ned Colletti, hired away from the San Francisco Giants, was allowed to sign free agents Rafael Furcal, Bill Mueller, Nomar Garciaparra and Kenny Lofton at a total cost of about $60 million, pushing the 2006 payroll close to $100 million.
Awaiting a handful of minor league prospects, stunted by injuries to front-line players Eric Gagne, J.D. Drew, Milton Bradley, Cesar Izturis and Odalis Perez and paralyzed by a philosophical rift between DePodesta and Tracy, McCourt and the Dodgers lost much of the goodwill engendered by their previous season, which ended with a National League West title and their first postseason win in 16 years.
Though they drew more than 3 million fans for the 10th consecutive season in 2005, the Dodgers finished in fourth place in the division, and no-shows appeared to outnumber the patrons at Dodger Stadium by September.
*
Times staff writers Tim Brown and Sallie Hofmeister contributed to this report.
