The San Francisco 49ers are taking another sizable step in their quest to build a new football stadium in Santa Clara. JMA Ventures, a San Francisco-based real estate investment company, announced plans to purchase California's Great America from Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. JMA is expected to make this purchase in partnership with an entity affiliated with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Great America theme park is located immediately adjacent to the property where the 49ers are hoping to build their new theme park. Cedar Fair had raised complaints about the 49ers stadium plans in their parking lot and were threatening to detail the project before it could really get going. This purchase will remove that issue from the table as the 49ers will now have a stake in the park.
The press release on the subject stated the park would continue operating, but it will be interesting to see how long that is the case. If the 49ers get the needed financing for their stadium, the best long term option might very well be simply closing down the park and using the space for other purposes.