San Diego Chargers general counsel, Mark Fabiani, spoke in Mission Valley to a gathering of engineers and construction industry professionals about the pursuit of a downtown football stadium. The $750M structure (up to $1B w/ roof) faces financing issues because the Chargers expect public money to be contributed, a sensitive proposition in cash-strapped SD. The addition of a retractable fabric roof would allow for convention space and serve as a replacement for the Sports Arena (can’t wait for that demolition party) or MLS franchise.
Fabiani pointed out that by replacing city-owned Qualcomm and Sports Arena sites, SD could generate revenue by selling the unneeded land. Additional savings would also be possible since taxpayers currently are on the hook for up to $300M in improvements to Qualcomm if the Chargers finish out the current lease through 2020.
If the East Village complex is built, the 10 acre site would be the smallest in the NFL (bye-bye traditional tailgating) and the proposed 62,000 capacity would need an additional 8,000 temporary seats in order to host a Super Bowl. The capacity is intentionally undersized to minimize construction costs and ensure regular season sellouts.
The next step in the process is a vote scheduled on June 22 by San Diego City Council to authorize further studies on financing options. If the City approves (write your local councilmember), the County would need to do the same before the project is put to a county-wide public vote. The 2012 presidential primary would be the likeliest opportunity to put the stadium on the ballot.
On the possibility of the Chargers exhausting local sites and leaving town: “We’re closer to the end of this process than the beginning, we’ve been looking for 8 years” and “I’d hate to say this is the last option, we could take another look at the Escondido site, but the stars seem to be aligning downtown.”
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