WHEN IT COMES TO THE NFL IN L.A., TIME IS MONEY RISING LAND VALUES COULD DETERMINE WHERE A NEW TEAM WOULD SETTLE.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

KAPALUA, Hawaii - As NFL owners congregate at the Ritz-Carlton for their annual league meeting, which runs today through Wednesday, they are greeted by palm trees swaying in the warm tropical breeze and a panorama of the lush green slopes and azure seas of west Maui.

No matter where they look, there are million-dollar views.

Aesthetics aside, the views are just as pricey in Los Angeles as the NFL considers its options of where to build a state-of-the-art stadium.

The booming real estate market, which has touched so many aspects of the Southland economy, is also making its presence known to the NFL, lending a sense of urgency to those who control the two undeveloped sites the league is examining, Anaheim and Carson.

Although the Coliseum and Rose Bowl won't be leveled for condominiums anytime soon, each day that Anaheim and Carson lay fallow, their owners lose out - either on real dollars or opportunity costs.

Simply put, time is money.

``Just look around - in Southern California, people are getting priced out of the real estate market every day,'' said David Carter, a sports marketing consultant working for Anaheim. ``The value of real estate being what it is, you can't stay in this thing forever.''

Expediency, however, does not appear to be a driving force for the league. It has been more than two years since the NFL began its latest exploration into returning to Los Angeles, and at the Super Bowl last month, commissioner Paul Tagliabue indicated that striking a deal by the end of May - once his stated objective - was not the primary consideration.

In recent weeks, NFL staff has pulled back the reigns on the process, informing the sites it was no longer necessary to reach term-sheet agreements by mid-March. Moreover, there are plenty of other meaty topics for the owners to address this week: TV contract negotiations, labor talks and the Vikings' proposed sale among them.

Although developer Steve Hopkins, who controls the Carson site, says he'll need to know by this fall whether the NFL wants to buy part of his 157-acre parcel, Anaheim city manager Dave Morgan wants to know by the next owners' meeting, May 25-26, whether or not his site will be in the game.

``If, after the May meetings, we believe we're in serious negotiations with the NFL on deal terms that may look like they make sense, then sure we'll hang in there and spend a few more months on this,'' Morgan said. ``But if we get to May and we or they are still a ways apart and it's not looking serious, there's a possibility the city would look at other alternatives.

``I don't say any of this to be arrogant or play games, I'm just trying to be clear. The level of urgency on the part of the NFL is something you begin to wonder about.''

Morgan isn't alone. Officials at the Rose Bowl, the Coliseum and Carson have all been through the hurry-up-and-wait phase.

Rose Bowl general manager Darryl Dunn said he and Pasadena officials have been discussing terms with the NFL - they are expected to be discussed in closed session at Monday night's city council meeting - and the city's Environment Impact Report (already the size of three metropolitan phone books) should be complete by May.

``The expectation is that if they want to make a decision in May, we'll be able to,'' said Dunn, who along with Coliseum general manager Pat Lynch will be attending the meetings. ``Whether the NFL is in position or not, that's up to the NFL.''

The Coliseum has been exchanging term proposals with the NFL for 10 months, but it has still not reached agreement on the central issue - money.

In Carson, the league is mulling over the figure Hopkins delivered this month that he's seeking to clean up and turn over part of the former trash dump.

NFL executive Neil Glat, the league's point person in Los Angeles, is expected to lay out the possibilities for each of the four sites today before the owners' committee on Los Angeles, which includes Carolina's Jerry Richardson, Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney, New England's Bob Kraft and Miami's Wayne Huizinga.

The full membership is expected to be briefed at some point during the meeting.

There was mounting speculation this month that at least one site - most likely Carson and perhaps the Rose Bowl - would be eliminated. Although that could happen, such talk seems to have cooled, officials at the sites say, because the league has not given any of them an indication it's close to sealing a deal.

``We'll get an update,'' Rooney said recently.

``We're waiting for what kind of commitment would be made. (When it's time to make a decision), we'll look at all factors. It's not going to be a dollar-for-dollar match. We'll compare what the asking situation is in every case and try to estimate. There are factors here other than dollars. We'll try to look across the board.''

When Anaheim was approached by the NFL to enter the stadium-selection process in August, league officials hinted that more than one stadium could be built in Los Angeles.

That fueled talk that if the Rose Bowl or Coliseum were chosen, then Anaheim could be kept warm and in several years the league could move into the burgeoning south Orange County-Inland Empire market.

``I have told (the NFL), 'Look, if you're trying to develop two options that both work, you'd better deal with us first,' '' Morgan said. ``If you don't go with us and wait around, I doubt it will happen. I'm not looking to insult Los Angeles, but where is the Coliseum going?''

Morgan said the city receives calls daily from developers wanting to build in the Platinum Triangle, the area that includes Angel Stadium and the Pond near the confluence of the 5, 22 and 57 freeways.

Last year, the city re-zoned the area, which was largely industrial, for uses that include retail and high-density housing.

Rick Hamilton, a commercial broker at Cushman-Wakefield's Irvine office, says that raw land zoned for industrial purposes goes for $15-20 per square foot, while office space goes for $30-40 per square foot, multifamily apartments would fetch $60-70 per square foot, and high-rise condominiums up to $110-120 per square foot.

Hamilton said Platinum Triangle properties have zoomed from industrial prices past office space prices and some pieces past apartments toward the condo figures.

``All through this (boom) cycle, land in that area has become significantly more valuable,'' Hamilton said. ``Right now, there's the expectation that the city will wait for the NFL to tap them on the shoulder to say it's OK. But as the land value goes higher and higher, there's a distractive nature that continually weighs on the city.''

Anaheim mayor Curt Pringle plans to unveil next month an Orange County sports association that will be headed by Anaheim businessman Bill Taormina. Among its objectives will be to convince the NFL to build in Anaheim.

``We'd love to have the NFL,'' said Morgan, who added that the city is pursuing an NBA team to join the Ducks at the Pond. ``It would certainly add weight and prominence to the area, but only with the right terms.''

The Carson site differs from Anaheim in that there are concerns about the cost - and perhaps some unforeseen hurdles - in its cleanup.

``Carson is more easily developed than land in the middle of Anaheim, except this is a parking structure away from being freed up,'' Hamilton said of Anaheim, referring to the parking spots wiped out by a football stadium that the city would have to return to the Angels.

Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest home builders, has a stake in both Anaheim and Carson. It is the financial backer in Hopkins' proposed mixed-use retail and housing center, which has cobbled together several parcels in Anaheim.

However, officials from Carson and Anaheim say Lennar has no preference as to where a stadium is built. (A Lennar executive could not be reached for comment).

Lennar also recently purchased the former El Toro Marine Base, which is occasionally mentioned as a potential site. And if the NFL decides to write off some of the current sites, it appears that horse racing track Hollywood Park, where the Raiders nearly relocated to 10 years ago, could be on the market.

What Anaheim and Carson afford the NFL is the opportunity, unlike the Coliseum or Rose Bowl, to build a stadium to its specifications. Nor does either appear likely to be burdened with issues of trust in governance, like the Coliseum, or access and community resistance, like the Rose Bowl.

Yet the Rose Bowl and the Coliseum have the advantage of time, which, in dealing with the NFL, is no small consideration.

``In a way, it gives those two sites and advantage because there's nobody looking over their shoulder saying why are we waiting, let's do something with this land,'' said Jack Kyser, the chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. ``It's an interesting dynamic.''

No matter whose advantage it works out to in the end, it's clear that the three most important rules of real estate still apply just the same in the stadium game as they do in Maui: location, location, location.

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com