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Gensler Wins Bid to Design Farmers Field
Gensler's rendering of the proposed downtown L.A. football stadium and events center (AEG).
AEG has selected global architecture, planning and design firm Gensler to take the lead on the Farmers Field project, a large sports complex slated for construction at current site of West Hall of the L.A. Convention Center.
Though it has no experience with NFL stadiums, Gensler is already familiar with the area having designed another L.A. Live cornerstone, the J.W. Marriott hotel and Ritz Carlton Residences. LA-based Gensler was selected by AEG from among the three finalists, including HKS and HNTB. Other iconic Gensler creations include the Beverly Hilton and the CAA Building in Century City. Gensler's leads on the project will be Andy Cohen and Ron Turner. Turner previously worked on new stadiums for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles.
AEG says an Environmental Impact Report will be completed by year's end and Gensler could have initial design drawings completed sometime during the first quarter of 2012.
The naming rights for the estimated $1 billion sports and events center were purchased last month by Farmers Insurance in a deal worth $700 million over 30 years.
The overall project including Farmers Field and Event Center is expected to create over 12,000 construction-related jobs with a total impact of over 10,000 additional jobs coming on-line by the completion, according to AEG.
Farmer's Field is one of two proposed stadiums intended to draw an NFL team to Los Angeles for the first time since the Raiders left in 1994 (the Rams left Anaheim that same year). A second stadium was proposed in 2008 by Ed Roski Jr.'s Majestic Realty for the City of Industry, in an area Majestic has referred to as Grand Crossing.
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