Clippers' Inglewood Arena Receives Final Approval From City; Construction To Start Next Summer
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) – The Los Angeles Clippers' Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center (IBEC) received final approval from the Inglewood City Council Tuesday and will begin construction next summer.
As a result, the Clippers have opened their waitlist for season tickets and other selected arena experiences.
The "world-class campus" will include an 18,000-seat basketball arena, team practice facility and corporate offices for the L.A. Clippers as well as a facility and space for live entertainment.
"Today is a new chapter for the Inglewood Basketball and Entertainment Center, as we move from the land use entitlement process and look toward construction," said Gillian Zucker, Clippers President of Business Operations.
"Every part of IBEC is being designed with purpose – with an unapologetic intensity that will define the experience together for players, musical talent and fans alike. This arena will prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is no replacement for live basketball and entertainment," Zucker said.
The City Council's unanimous approval provides the terms for Murphy's Bowl, the entity developing IBEC, to purchase the publicly-owned property within the arena site for $66.25 million.
The total purchase price will be shared among the City, the FAA, Los Angeles World Airports and other local entities, including the Inglewood Unified School District.
The facility will be set within an open, indoor-outdoor atmosphere and will serve as a hub that brings the Clippers organization together, with a new team practice facility and corporate offices.
The project, expected to break ground in summer of 2021, will open for the start of the 2024-25 NBA season.
IBEC is expected to create more than 7,000 full and part-time construction jobs and up to 1,500 permanent full and part-time jobs when the complex opens.
It is also forecasted to generate an estimated $260 million in annual economic activity for Inglewood and approximately $100 million in tax revenue over the first 15 years of operation.
