Arcadia Chamber of Commerce member Santa Anita Park, which has undergone extensive modernization and renovation projects over the past three years, has been awarded the prestigious “Best Hospitality Project” award for 2015 by the Los Angeles Business Journal—long considered metropolitan Los Angeles’s leading chronicler of business innovation, activity and investment.
“When this award was announced Tuesday night, it seemed to send a jolt through the audience, which included the biggest players in L.A.’s design, development, real estate finance and brokerage communities,” said Billy Lehman, who on behalf of the Stronach Group and its West Coast Chairman Keith Brackpool, oversaw modernization upgrades to several areas at the track, including Santa Anita’s new luxury suites, the box seat area, mezzanine, Club House Terrace, Eddie Logan Suite and Chandelier Room.
“The fact that the L.A. Business Journal trained their eye on Santa Anita Park for the first time and recognized our redevelopment above new, white-hot area hotels and other projects in this category, further validates Keith’s theory, which is to generate interest and attract large numbers of people via great design.”
(Under Lehman’s direction, AvroKO Design and Shawmut Design and Construction Corporation were key players in all facets of Santa Anita’s redevelopment efforts).
Santa Anita Park, which attracted 40,810 on-track fans for its current Winter Meet opener on Dec. 26, will host the 78th running of the Grade I, $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday March 7, and will conduct live racing through closing day, June 28. For more information on racing, group or specialty events, please visit santaanita.com.