
SANTA ANA – The Orange County Register reports that the sale of the Orange County Fairgrounds to a private company is dead, unless the state Supreme Court resurrects the deal.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal struck down the sale of the 150-acre property, finding that the bidding process was fatally flawed.
“Any future sale must begin again at square one,” the court wrote.
In October, the state agreed to sell the fairgrounds to Facilities Management West for $100 million, after a year in which another bidding process and negotiations to sell the property to Costa Mesa both fell apart. After losing bidders filed a lawsuit, a local court put the sale on hold in November.
The suit was filed on behalf of State Senator Lou Correa, State Assemblyman Jose Solorio, former Costa Mesa City Council Member Katrina Foley and the Orange County Fair Preservation Society.

State Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) issued this statement regarding today’s ruling;
“The court’s decision today is a great victory for the residents of Orange County. I hope the Governor lets us keep our fairgrounds public and does not put the fair out to bid again.”
The court decision to stop the sale of the fairgrounds was based on the fact that the process was flawed and that there was no appraisal done to learn the fair market value of the property.
Read more of the OC Register story here.