By Mike Harris Thursday, November 16th, 2023

Formalizing a long-planned move, the Los Angeles Rams announced Nov. 14 that they will be leaving their practice facility at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks for a new one in a neighboring section of Los Angeles.

The move will take place ahead of the 2024 NFL season, the team said in a press release.

The new facility in Woodland Hills will be part of a nearly 100-acre site Rams’ owner and chairman E. Stanley Kroenke acquired last year.

“This is a monumental day for the Los Angeles Rams as we can now call Woodland Hills and the City of Los Angeles our home,” Kroenke said in the release.

The Rams have used the temporary training facility at CLU since 2016. The team will train at another temporary facility at the Woodland Hills site until a permanent one is built there, the Rams said.

In a Nov. 16 statement to the Business Times, CLU spokesman Mark Berry said the Rams announcement was disappointing.

But the university has had a “rich history with professional teams at Cal Lutheran – we were the practice home for the Dallas Cowboys before the Rams – and will continue to consider other partnerships,” he said.

Thousand Oaks City Manager Drew Powers told the Business Times that the city is “so fortunate and proud that the Rams have called it home for seven years.

“The Rams organization has been tremendous corporate citizens,” he added.

Much of Kroenke’s professional life has been dedicated to real estate and community development. In 1983, he founded the Kroenke Group, a national firm that builds and manages shopping centers and apartment buildings throughout the country.

Topanga Village, an indoor-outdoor shopping and dining mall in Woodland Hills, is also part of the 100-acre site.