By Emilie St. John
Contributing Writer
INGLEWOOD — Companies held by Los Angeles Rams and SoFi Stadium owner Stan Kroenke have filed a new lawsuit against the city of Inglewood alleging the city has deemed their 2015 development agreement void.
The 181-page suit was filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court Dec. 16, days before Inglewood City Hall closed for the holidays.
At the heart of the suit are allegations that the city is refusing to adhere to the terms of its agreement to reimburse the companies held by Kroenke for infrastructure work at the 238-acre Hollywood Park campus. The city owed the developer once it received revenue in excess of $25 million annually.
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. publicly lauded the deal for being a huge windfall for the city that was reportedly teetering on bankruptcy before he was elected in 2011.
“The question I have come to ask people is: ‘What is it you don’t understand about $25 million we would have never received?”’ Butts said once. “’And what is it you don’t understand that even if they built the stadium and it was never occupied, we would derive over $3.6 million in property tax revenue if it sat vacant?”
According to the suit, Inglewood made a $20 million payment towards the infrastructure last May 23, as a “good faith” partial reimbursement for public services.
The $20 million payment, which was not disclosed on any publicly available city documents, came a month after the City Council approved a 40-year digital billboard lease agreement with WOW Media.
The awarding of the lease triggered Kroenke to file a lawsuit against the city on July 11.
After Kroenke sued the city, the city declared the development agreement they made with Kroenke “void” and demanded its $20 million payment be returned.
According to the latest legal filing, “On July 30, 2025, the city asserted for the first time that the development agreement “is not legal and … invalid as a matter of law.
“The city made it clear it would no longer perform any of its obligations under the development agreement and demanded that the $20 million that the city had already paid Hollywood Park be returned, suggesting criminal consequences if Hollywood Park did not give in.”
The city asserted the development agreement was void due to a 2018 court ruling that determined that “adoption of a development agreement by initiative violated the development agreement statute and article II, section 12 of the California Constitution.”
“The Court of Appeal concluded the California Legislature intended to exclusively delegate approval of development agreements to local legislative bodies and to make such approval subject to referendum, but not to initiative.”
In 2015, the Inglewood City Council chose to sidestep voters and adopt the Champions Revitalization Initiative themselves and because it was not a referendum, the city is interpreting their agreement to be void as well.
Kroenke is seeking declaratory relief to rule its development agreement with the city as enforceable.
“If the city is permitted to tear up the development agreement, Hollywood Park will be left to incur a bill of at least $376 million for the public improvements it has already completed and turned over to the city, and it will further incur over $52 million for public services it provided in connection with the operation of SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park.”
Emilie St. John is a freelance journalist covering the areas of Carson, Compton, Inglewood and Willowbrook. Send tips to her at emiliesaintjohn@gmail.com.
