New Owners of California's Great America (Santa Clara)

[retlawfan]

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- The 49ers plan to build a new stadium next to Great America amusement park in Santa Clara received a boost today.

Real estate investment firm, JMA Ventures, announced it has reached an agreement to buy Great America, and work with the 49ers to integrate the park with the team's stadium plan.

The two sides have already been working together on the project. JMA will take over park operations this year and plans to retain all of its employees.

(Copyright ©2011 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

[steven]

Thanks, retlawfan.

We will have to watch closely how this develops for the Santa Clara park. Lots more details are sure to come. Here's another breaking news story:

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18928013

Steven

[steven]

Official press release:
http://www.cedarfair.com/ir/press_releases/index.cfm

Steven

[retlawfan]

I wonder what this means for Gilroy Gardens, which is managed by CF. With the big sister park right up the street, it was a natural fit. Now, with the nearest CF park in SoCal (Knott's), I wonder what will happen.

And, it's too bad we didn't get to see more of Matt Ouimet's influence on the park. He was a great president of the Disneyland Resort. I was hoping for some good things in Santa Clara.

[retlawfan]

It appears Gilroy Gardens is part of the deal, but City of Gilroy does not confirm...

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news ... -part.html

[XYZ]

Honestly, I think this deal will be good news for CGA. They will finally have owners that actuall seem to care about the park rather than Cedar Fair listing their neglected parks with CGA being #1.

[kbsimmer]

"Real estate investment firm JMA Ventures LLC cancelled plans to buy California’s Great America theme park, a $70 million deal that would have given the San Francisco 49ers partial control of key property near its planned stadium.
The park's owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. , said Tuesday that San Francisco-based JMA bowed out of the purchase agreement. Cedar Fair also said it reached a "long-term" agreement with the 49ers on parking and stadium construction, issues that prompted at least two lawsuits in recent years."

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news ... great.html

I have mixed feelings about this. Cedar Fair wasn't really that fair with the park. I'm not to impressed with the way they've "managed" the park. But then again, what would a football team know about running a theme park? Either way, this is sure going to be an interesting next few years.....