To advance a fresh round of negotiations with Angels baseball, Anaheim is hiring a real estate expert to determine the value of the 155-acre Angel Stadium property. It wants the results within three months.

The council voted Tuesday, Feb. 19, to spend up to $100,000 to have Pasadena-based Norris Realty Advisors value the property both with and without the stadium.

“This is an important first step for the early stages of both the city and the Angels thinking about the long-term future of the site,” city spokesman Mike Lyster said Wednesday.

The team told the city in October it was exercising an option to cancel its lease on the city-owned stadium, which would have left the stadium empty as of this fall.

But the November election brought a new mayor and council who wanted to reset their relationship with the Angels, which have played in town for more than a half-century. They agreed last month to extend the lease by a year to allow time for talks.

The 45,483-seat stadium is the fourth oldest in major league baseball.

The last appraisal was done in 2014, during ultimately fruitless negotiations under the prior mayor, Tom Tait. That analysis concluded the land’s value by fall 2016 would be $225 million to $245 million if the baseball stadium use continued, and $300 million to $325 million if it was made available for development – it was assumed the city would make more money by selling the property rather than leasing it out.

Mayor Harry Sidhu said Tuesday his goal is to reach an agreement “that would keep Angels here in Anaheim for another 50 years,” and he’s looking for something that “provides the biggest benefit to the residents, the city itself and works for the team as well.”

Critics of past negotiations charged that city officials were being too generous to a team that already has a good deal.

Discussions are likely to hinge on development rights for stadium parking areas, some of which could be turned into restaurants, shops, hotels and more. Officials have pointed to a deal that lets the Anaheim Ducks owner build next to Honda Center as a potential guidepost for Angels negotiations.

Council members on Tuesday questioned whether the appraisal should include the value of the stadium building and potential cost of upgrades – a 2013 report suggested about $150 million in work is needed – but agreed that can be assessed at a later stage.

“This is the first inning,” City Manager Chris Zapata told the council.