TWO DEVELOPERS COMPETING FOR REDEVELOPMENT OF QUALCOMM STADIUM SITE
Source: March 02, 2017 |
Patricia Kirk, Bisnow, SD
FS Investors, a private
investor group led by partner Nick Stone, is moving ahead with community
meetings to gain public approval for the proposed $1B SoccerCity development on
the Qualcomm Stadium site in Mission Valley, but it has competition.
Presenting the group’s plan
Wednesday at the Mission Valley Community Planning Group’s monthly meeting,
Stone was bombarded with concerns about traffic, schools and the permitting
process by residents, businesses and development competitors, the San Diego
Union-Tribune reports.
This is the first of six
public meetings planned citywide. Two will take place in Mission Valley,
including an interactive session to get input from residents about what they
want at the 34-acre San Diego River Park at the south end of the site. FS
Investors is offering to develop the park as a gift to the city and Mission Valley
residents and has proposed completing the park in advance of other projects so
residents can start using it.
The La Jolla investment
firm is trying to secure a Major League Soccer franchise for the city this year
and complete a soccer stadium on the 166-acre, city owned site by 2020. FS is
proposing 4,800 housing units and several million square feet would be designed
to double as a football stadium for the San Diego State University Aztecs and
host concerts and other special events.
Objections to the project’s
proposed approval process came from three board members, including Sudberry
Properties’ Marco Sessa, who said documents suggest fewer environmental and
entitlement requirements than required of other developers, and H.G. Fentor’s John
LaRaia, who said he was concerned about the timing of traffic-control measures.
Another board member wants the board to write a letter of opposition to other
community planning groups, citing SoccerCity’s “trivialization” of the planning
progress.
FS plans to launch a ballot
initiative drive on March 15, which must gather at least 71,646 signatures from
valid registered city voters to be placed on the ballot. The group will also
ask the city council to approve the project, without having to wait for a vote
in November, to meet the MLS deadline for awarding new franchises later this
year.
Meanwhile, local developer
Doug Manchester is working on competing proposal to redevelop Qualcomm Stadium
for professional soccer, football and the Aztecs, and build a new NBA sports
arena and lower-density housing and commercial development that would result in
less traffic than Stone’s plan, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. His
consultant, Perry Dealy, an architect and developer, said preserving the old stricter
would save a lot of money.
Manchester sent a letter to
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell describing his plan for redeveloping the
50-year-old stadium. He also proposed it to the NFL as an alternative for the
Raiders if their Las Vegas deal falls through or the Chargers if they decide to
return to San Diego.
While Manchester’s concept
is similar to FS’s, he would spend $500M to upgrade the stadium, redesigning
with 60,000 to 70,000 seats and other modern improvements. The FS plan would
set aside 16 acres for a new football stadium, but would require a commitment
by an NFL team within five years. Manchester’s proposed new sports arena would
replace the old Valley View Casino Center on Sports Arena Boulevard that hosts
sports events and concerts.
Development of the remaining
portion of the 166-acre site would provide 4,800 homes for SDSU students,
faculty and staff and other local residents, a similar number to the SoccerCity
proposal, but just 1M SF of office space, compared to the 2.4M SF proposed by
FS, and 500K SF of retail amenities, rather than the 740K SF in the FS plan.
Both plans call for hotels. Manchester’s plan would also accommodate an SDSU
West Campus, but would not donate the land, because Manchester contends the
property’s value should be returned to the city.
Both proposals would be
privately funded and assume the city’s $38.4M remaining debt on the old
stadium, which costs the city $4.7M annually in payments for a 1997 stadium
upgrade, and would eliminate the annual cost of maintenance.
Stone said Manchester’s
plan would not meet MLS’s key requirement of a “Soccer specific stadium.”
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