A proposal to renovate the Huntington Beach Sports Complex, considered one of the city’s biggest assets, will undergo an extensive financial and environmental review, including a potential audit, amid concerns that the costly project would not generate enough revenue.
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The city currently loses $1 million a year maintaining the facility under its lease agreement with operator Huntington Beach Sports Complex Partners, according to an analysis by the city’s Finance Commission. HBSC Partners keeps 84% of profits while the city retains 16%.
Bond payments alone have surpassed $36 million and could likely rise to $40 million over the next few years, the commission found, while ongoing capital expenses will cost at least $3 to $4 million.
Meanwhile, total usage and visitation to the complex has fallen by 19%, driven by a sharp drop in visits from residents, according to a report from the Finance Commission.
“We’re getting a concentration of people that stay there all day rather than a flow,” said Commissioner Dave Chennault, who presented the report to the City Council last week.
The 45-acre recreational facility, which opened in 2004, boasts eight softball fields overlaid with seven soccer fields, batting cages and two playgrounds. Dozens of leagues, along with hundreds of adult and youth teams, use the facility throughout the year.
To bring in more visitors and boost revenue, the city is considering a major overhaul of the facility, including replacing fields with turf, installing LED lighting and building a year-round indoor training center and high-tech batting cages.
The proposed improvements, introduced at a July council meeting, could generate around $745,000 a year for the city, according to a staff report. But the project will cost close to $20 million, with the city on the hook for $14.5 million.
The City Council has agreed to explore a list of recommendations from the Finance Commission before approving the upgrades and a 20-year lease extension with HBSC Partners that would start Sep. 27, 2027.
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The city needs to conduct a CEQA analysis before starting the renovations, the commission said, as the sports complex is built on top of a former landfill with an aging methane management system. At the same time, the commission suggested conducting an audit of the sports complex’s operations under HBSC Partners, including “financial management, maintenance procedures, staffing structure, contract administration and revenue-generation activities.”
Another recommendation is the establishment of a base rent and revenue-sharing structure to “determine a more equitable revenue split between the city and operator,” in addition to setting fixed parking and field-use rates. Chennault noted that parking revenue jumped 300% from 2023 to 2024 after the city raised rates on weekends from $1 to $10.
To boost local usage of the facility, Chennault said the city should increase benefits and access for Surf City residents.
Another recommendation from the commission is to gather public input and hold a competitive bidding process for vendors who might give the city better terms than HBSC Partners.
Chino Hills has a more favorable agreement with its Big League Dreams complex, Chennault said, in which the operator paid for upgrades while the city received $600,000 and 9% of the revenue.
“I would just like to see competition,” Chennault said. “I’m a free market advocate and free market always says competition is going to make a better deal for us, the residents, in the end.”
Councilmember Don Kennedy said he supports the renovations and urged the city, the commissioners and the operator to engage in “transparency conversations” about the project.
“Today, based on plans I’ve seen, you have a team that’s willing to listen, to work with us,” Kennedy said. “We all want the same thing: more revenue for the city, a better complex for people using it, without the city having to put a bunch of money into it.”
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