News: A multi-billion dollar theme park coming to Southern California

Posted at 6:23 PM EST (2323 GMT)

Dec. 1st, 2006 -- Southern California will soon be home to a new multi-billion dollar amusement park, just a few minutes drive down the freeway from Knott's Southern California Resort and the Disneyland Resort.

After years of failed attempts at landing some sort of tourist attraction, the Garden Grove City Council voted 5-0 in agreement to allow an investment firm to proceed with plans for a $4 billion dollar amusement park project. The 150-acre site is literally down the road approximately three miles from the Disneyland Resort in the city of Garden Grove, CA.

The city has been eyeing a theme park of its own for approximately five years, and a recent city-commissioned study predicted that a theme park could bring up to seven million visitors annually with gross revenues of $350 million its inaugaral year.

The plan's backers also told the council that they wanted to invest an additional $4 billion to build a nearby retail and entertainment complex.

A tourism expert said that if Six Flags Inc. decides to sell Magic Mountain in Valencia to real estate developers, the Garden Grove plan would be even more attractive.

"If that happens, you could argue the 3 million Magic Mountain customers a year are up for grabs," said John Robinett, of Economics Research Associates, a consulting firm to the leisure and real estate industries.

"If an attraction was built to cater toward that niche, there'd be significant demand."

Greg Blodgett, an economic development manager for Garden Grove, said the city is encouraging TL Properties to build a "next-generation park" that would complement Disneyland.

"We're looking at something along the lines of Islands of Adventure, Universal's second park in Orlando," Blodgett said.

As part of the agreement, TL Properties, an investment firm — which represents Korean interests — must put up $500,000, hire theme-park consultants, develop a preliminary concept and provide details on funding for the project.

Michael Lim, a consultant of the TL Properties said he has contacted numerous movie studios, including Universal, Paramount and MGM, in hopes of developing a theme for the park.

Rich Harrill, director of International Tourism Research at the University of South Carolina, said the project could be successful if it doesn't try to compete with Disneyland.

"With that kind of money, it should be a global attraction and complement Disneyland," said Harrill, who consults with counties and cities on tourism planning and development. "Leisure time and discretionary income are growing and so are service and entertainment sectors."

For more information on the plans visit ThrillNetwork.

Visit the Los Angeles Times for the complete and original article.