Staples Center owner AEG is working on plans to build a downtown 'events center' and bring an NFL team to Los Angeles in deals that could be finalized by year's end, the company's chief executive said Thursday. AEG is willing to invest $1 billion in a stadium complex and $300 million in a renovation of the Los Angeles Convention Center, creating a complex that would crown Los Angeles the 'event capital of the word,' CEO and President Tim Leiweke said. 'We will create an economic juggernaut,' Leiweke boasted during a lunchtime speech at the Valley Industry and Commerce Association's annual Business Forecast Conference. Leiweke refused to divulge details, but laid out the basics of a plan he said could revive the Los Angeles economy by creating thousands of private-sector jobs. A key element of the project is luring an NFL team to Los Angeles for the first time since 1994. Leiweke said he is in negotiations on various aspects of the plan, which he said could be finalized in 30 to 60 days. The plan outlined Thursday puts AEG in competition with a proposal by billionaire Ed Roski's Majestic Realty to bring a National Football League team to a stadium that would be built in the City of Industry. Leiweke told the crowd of 400 that AEG's project -- he insisted it was an 'events center' and not a 'football stadium' -- could be used for NFL games, as well as the Super Bowl, World Cup soccer and college basketball's Final Four tournaments. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello could not be reached Thursday. The league has previously said it is reluctant to expand but that one or two current franchises might want to relocate to Los Angeles. 'I think it's probably closer than you might think,' Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a member of the league's Los Angeles Stadium Working Group committee, told the Daily News this month. 'There's a lot of very qualified people and energy being expended to get that team in the L.A. area.' But there is belief in some quarters that the NFL has used Los Angeles as bait to get other cities to help fund construction of new stadiums. Leiweke dismissed that happening in this case, saying that AEG's billionaire owner Philip Anschutz knows all 32 of the league's owners and has their respect. 'The good thing about AEG is we don't get used,' he said. 'We won't let L.A. get used.' Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine, who attended Leiweke's luncheon speech at the Warner Center Marriott, said he supports the company's development plan. The entire city will benefit if it becomes a reality, he said. 'Everything they touch turns to gold. They have not developed projects that have failed,' Zine said. 'They are astute business people and they are not asking for a handout.' Leiweke said that his company operates worldwide and the only place now on solid economic footing is China. The rest of the world, including California, remains challenged. 'The economy today is like quicksand. The experts tell us we're not sinking anymore but we're still stuck up to our necks,' he said. Politicians in the coming months will face tough decisions on pension reform, welfare programs and immigration, he said. There are some bright spots, though. For example, business at LA Live is 30 percent ahead of this time last year, Leiweke noted. And AEG remains bullish on the region's future. 'There is no better place to do business than in Southern California. It's still the Golden State,' he said. 