INGLEWOOD UPS BID TO SNARE SPORTS ARENA : DEVELOPERS OFFERED FREE LAND, $30 MILLION CASH.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The city of Inglewood has upped the ante in its competition with Los Angeles for a new sports arena, offering developers $30 million in cash while charging that the Los Angeles bureaucracy and political climate make meeting construction deadlines there ``probably impossible.''

In a letter to Kings hockey club owners Ed Roski Jr. and Philip Anschutz, Inglewood City Manager Paul Eckles said his city's offer makes Inglewood the ``superior site'' for the 20,000-seat sports arena.

``Keep in mind the list of teams that have left Los Angeles and think about why - the Rams, Raiders, Angels, Lakers, Kings and the UCLA Bruin football team,'' Eckles wrote.

``The Raiders were enticed back with big promises which were not kept and left again. Talk to Al Davis, Jack Kent Cooke and Gene Autry,'' he wrote, referring to three professional sports franchise owners who took their teams out of Los Angeles.

Eckles upped Inglewood's offer to include free land at Hollywood Park and the $30 million with an up-front payment of $5 million.

Eckles said the Inglewood site is close to high-income areas and fans are accustomed to going to the nearby Forum. He called the Los Angeles site a ``fringe area.''

``We both understand why the city of Los Angeles would like to divert these fans to their city, but it is uncertain whether the fans will go along with this change. This is a risk,'' Eckles wrote.

He also said the city's bureaucracy, political climate and the need to buy property for the Los Angeles site are problems.

``Keeping a project in Los Angeles on track and on time will be a major effort and may be impossible,'' he wrote. ``Be prepared to spend large sums on lawyers and lobbyists to keep this project moving. In Inglewood, you can have the home telephone numbers of anybody you need.''

Mayor Richard Riordan disputed Inglewood's criticism of Los Angeles.

``Downtown Los Angeles is one of the great arena sites in the United States,'' he said in a written statement. ``A downtown Los Angeles site is best for the Lakers and Kings, it's best for the city of Los Angeles, and it's best for the fans. Los Angeles is the place where the vision of a world-class sports and entertainment complex can be achieved.''

Los Angeles has offered to issue $60.5 million to $70.5 million in bonds to pay for the acquisition of land for a parking lot and a $1-a-year lease of Convention Center land for the arena itself.

The developers have submitted a formal proposal to Los Angeles and plan to submit a proposal to Inglewood in the next two weeks, said John Semcken, a representative.

The developers have given the Los Angeles City Council until mid-October to approve a development agreement or face a decision to build the arena in Inglewood.

``We are continuing to work on our proposal to Inglewood,'' said Semcken, who declined to compare the two cities' offers.

As for Inglewood's warnings about Los Angeles, Semcken said the developers are experienced at weighing the risks of developing in different cities.

``I suppose if I were in Inglewood, that's what I would say,'' Semcken said.

He said getting a project approved ``certainly would be more difficult in Los Angeles, but to say it's impossible is an exaggeration.''

Although getting approval to build the $240 million arena by a 1999 deadline is harder in Los Angeles, city officials say their location would offer a better location and better market for a high-profile project.