Lennar Corp., the Miami-based Fortune 500 company thecity tapped to manage the redevelopment efforts, released a planfor Candlestick Point only in lateNovember that included the NFL stadium. The plan wasreleased despite the fact that two weeks earlier the San Francisco49ers, citing among other things a lack of surface parking forfans' pre- and post-game tailgate parties, announced they wouldfocus on building a new stadium in the city of Santa Clara.

In an attempt to shift the San Francisco 49ers attention backinside city limits, a key component of Mayor Gavin Newsom's plancalls for the stadium to be built on Hunter's Point, a contaminated500-acre site the Navy is cleaning up and conveying to the city'sredevelopment agency in stages. The Navy has said it would expeditethe clean-up and conveyance of the 27-acre stadium site by June2009 to facilitate the football team's goal of playing in a newstadium in 2012. Additionally, the city would encircle the stadiumwith expansive fields of reinforced grass that would be used fortailgating on game days and for sports and other recreation therest of the year.

On the financial side, the lure includes the city donating theland to the team and Lennar contributing $100 million in cash andalso helping to finance stadium infrastructure (parking, roads,utilities). The 49ers have said the proposal represents progressand that there are still issues to be resolved, such as theclean-up timeline and the specific plans for public transportationand traffic flow management. Meantime, they continue to work withthe City of Santa Clara.