04/19/2008 2:53 PM - With all the suites located on one side and a clamshell seating-bowl design, developer Ed Roski Jr. has proposed a most unusual design for a new $800-million stadium located in the Los Angeles suburbs.

The new stadium would be built into the existing land layout, which Roski says would cut down on construction costs. But it also forces a rather unusual design where the stadium would be built into the side of a hill, placing most of the seats in an unusual clamshell arrangement and stacking the 175 suites up on one side of the stadium. (Stacking the suites is not unusual; it's actually cheaper and easier to do this than wrap them around the stadium, as many architects working on the college level have known.) The stadium would seat 75,000 and be expandable to 80,000 seats for Super Bowl games. Like many new sporting facilities, this one would be built according to environmentally sensitive "green" specs.

Roski says the venue can be finished in time for the 2011 season.

The stadium would be the centerpiece of what is essentially a totally new city of Industry, which at the present time has fewer than 1,000 residents. The development would feature 2.9 million square feet of commercial space, which includes 1.5 million square feet of office space, 833,000 square feet of retail. 162,000 square feet of restaurants, and both live venues and movie theaters.

Keep in mind this is only a concept. So far Roski has no financing for the huge project lined up, and it's hard to say whether it will be as easy to line up funding as he indicated in today's press conference. He does bring a certain amount of liquidity to the situation -- he's touted as being a billionaire -- and he does have a high level of credibility after participating in the development of Staples Center and serving as a minority owner of the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and Los Angeles Lakers (NBA).

Sam Farmer points out in the Los Angeles Times, LA isn't at the top of the list of cities the NFL would like to invade. The NFL didn't send a rep to the press conference and has not been involved in discussions. There are three teams that could theoretically move to Los Angeles -- the San Diego Chargers can leave in 2009 if they pay off $60 million in bonds, while the New Orleans Saints' and Minnesota Vikings' leases end after the 2010 season. The Chargers and the Vikings are working on new-stadium proposals, however.  The Chargers say they are not interested ... for now.

A complete look at the new stadium can be found here.