Updated at 8:30 p.m. May 18, 2015
A “modern, efficient” Chargers stadium for Mission Valley, costing $1.1 billion and including a 12,000-lot parking garage, is possible without a tax increase, a task force says.
The “fiscally prudent” plan is “a good deal for the taxpayers” and fair to the team and the city, said Adam Day, chairman of the Citizens’ Stadium Advisory Group, in presenting the vision Monday in Kearny Mesa.
“We have tremendous potential here that no other NFL city has,” Day said, noting that the mayor’s task force overstated costs and understated revenues a bit. “But our plan for building a stadium does not rely on any future development.”
A report released by the nine-member group two days before its deadline said no new taxes would be included, so that a two-thirds vote of the public would not be required.
Funding sources would exceed $1.4 billion for a facility estimated to cost around $1.1 billion, according to the report.
“We have overstated costs just a bit, and understated revenue just a bit, making for a very prudent, fiscally conservative recommendation,” said Adam Day, chairman of the Chargers Stadium Advisory Group. “It overcomes all the hurdles that were thrown in our path — both real and imagined — and it is a good deal for the taxpayers.”
He said the task force conducted extensive research and analysis of NFL stadiums that have been constructed in recent years.
Another consideration was to make sure the Chargers and other tenants would enjoy the financial benefits of a new playing facility, rather than designating all the new revenue streams toward construction costs.
“We developed a financing plan that would actually succeed in this unique San Diego environment, ensuring that it is fair for the Chargers and other tenants, fair for the city and county, and fair for taxpayers,” Day said.
“Our plan is the first of its kind, and it should jump-start negotiations between the Chargers, the city and the county,” Day said, adding that the recommendations provide “a fair and workable path to a new stadium in San Diego.”
Mark Fabiani, the Chargers’ general counsel on stadium issues, issued a statement saying that he’s grateful for the CSAG members who volunteered their time.
“We will now ask our stadium development team — including our financing, legal and land-use experts — to thoroughly review the CSAG results,” Fabiani said.
Faulconer said the plan is “tangible” and “achievable.”
“Earlier today I communicated to Chargers owner Dean Spanos that the city/county team and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith are ready to sit down and negotiate,” Faulconer said. “I’d like to start by June 1. San Diegans deserve a good and fair deal, and I will not accept or support anything less.”
Supervisor Ron Roberts, who has served as the public face for the county on stadiums, said the report shows a path forward for the project.
“While there is much to be done in the coming months, this is a time for optimism,” Roberts said.
The task force has already recommended that the facility be built adjacent to Qualcomm Stadium, which would be razed to make way for development, including a massive parking structure, a 500-room hotel and a park alongside the San Diego River.
Day said he envisions a pedestrian-friendly, transit oriented mixed-use project, but not a high-density development that would draw opposition from Mission Valley residents.
The task force has already recommended that the new facility be located adjacent to Qualcomm Stadium, which would be razed to make way for the development and a park alongside the San Diego River.
The next step will be for a team of financial and legal experts to take the recommendations and mold them into an actual plan that can be taken to the Chargers and voters.
The city and county of San Diego jointly hired Nixon Peabody, which has consulted on 25 stadium projects, and Citigroup, which has been involved in raising money to build stadiums recently in Atlanta, New York and Orlando.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the design for the 65,000-seat stadium includes a canopy intended to hold in crowd noise and give the Bolts a home-field advantage.
“Some venues take years to take on the character of the fans that most define it,” senior project designer Xan Young was quoted as saying. “This one will feel like home to San Diego from the day it opens.”
The Chargers have been pushing for a new playing facility for more than a dozen years, and have recently taken steps to build a joint $1.7 billion stadium with the rival Oakland Raiders in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson.
The proposed 72,000-seat facility off the San Diego (405) Freeway is considered to be a backup plan for both teams in case they aren’t able to forge agreements in their current cities.
Also, the owner of the St. Louis Rams is planning to build an 80,000- seat stadium in Inglewood, another Los Angeles suburb.
The San Diego funding breaks down to:
- $300 million from the Chargers.
- $200 million from the National Football League.
- $225 million from the sale of 75 acres of Qualcomm Stadium land to a developer
- $173 million of bondable construction capital from the team’s rent.
- $121 million from the city of San Diego.
- $121 million from the county of San Diego.
- And more than $100 million from fans in the form of personal seat licenses, and surcharges on parking and tickets.
San Diego Mayor Faulconer released this statement:
San Diego has come together since we began this path toward a new stadium. Despite so many dramatic changes and potential distractions, both here and elsewhere over the last four months, our community rallied and kept moving forward. Today, San Diego has a framework to build a new stadium that’s tangible, that’s achievable and that won’t raise taxes.
I thank each volunteer who has served on the Citizens’ Stadium Advisory Group for their diligent and careful efforts on behalf of their fellow San Diegans. They have shown the spirit of optimism and determination that makes San Diego great.
We are now ready for another first – beginning formal negotiations with the Chargers. The County and City of San Diego have, for the first time, assembled an experienced negotiating team that will review the CSAG report as it prepares for talks with the team.
Earlier today I communicated to Chargers owner Dean Spanos that the City/County team and City Attorney Jan Goldsmith are ready to sit down and negotiate. I’d like to start by June 1. San Diegans deserve a good and fair deal, and I will not accept or support anything less.
My continued commitment is that if we reach a stadium agreement with the Chargers, San Diegans will have their say with a public vote. When this measure will be on the ballot will be discussed through negotiations with the team.
As we all begin to review the details of the CSAG report, one thing is clear: We’re all in this together. The Chargers are beloved by generations of San Diegans. San Diego has worked in good faith with the team and the NFL and will continue to do so.
I am confident that if the team comes to the table with a willingness to work together, we will get this done for the benefit of our community, with protections for taxpayers and for the enjoyment of future generations.
In another statement, San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith thanked the task force and said “its recommendations demonstrate that stadium financing is not an insurmountable challenge.”
Goldsmith added:
Now that CSAG’s work is completed, the Mayor will need to consider these recommendations with negotiations involving the City, County and Chargers to begin soon. The City and County have on board a team of experts in financing and stadium negotiations. Our goal is to negotiate the best possible agreement for the citizens of San Diego, but voters will have the final say.
As I have stated on a number of occasions, just as we do with other negotiations, Charger negotiations should be conducted at the table, not in the media. Thus, the City will have much less public comment during these negotiations than there has been during the CSAG process. At this point in time, the parties need to focus on face-to-face discussions if there is to be any chance of reaching an agreement.
U-T San Diego and NBC San Diego leaked details of the report hours before the news conference in Kearny Mesa.
NBC San Diego reported: “One way the Bolts can start working in that direction is a slight increase in ticket prices. This is why we can’t say there will be ‘no public funds’ involved in the new stadium. San Diegans are going to have to, in some capacity, chip in.”
The difference is it will not be all residents who have to do it, only those who choose to pay to see the games.
The Chargers already have the sixth-cheapest tickets in the NFL. An increase of $10 per seat would still give them the seventh-least expensive seat in any NFL house. A parking surcharge is also a possibility.
Former Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, attending the CSAG news conference with others from Save Our Bolts, said he was “very optimistic” that the plan would lead to the Chargers staying.
“Now you have a better vision … of making this happen,” he said.
Don Meis, the lead designer for the Staples Center in Los Angeles and NFL stadiums in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, apologized for arriving at the news conference late to talk about his pro bono work on the Chargers stadium.
But he had just gotten off a flight from Europe, where he’s designing a new 60,000-seat soccer stadium in Rome called “Stadio Della Roma” that includes a mixed-use entertainment village similar to “LA Live” at Staples Center.
Asked by Times of San Diego what the biggest challenge of a San Diego stadium was, Meis said: “You don’t want to design a stadium that’s not finananceable. It’s being practical about the building.”
He said San Diego’s stadium can’t cost as much as ones on Atlanta or Minneapolis — as much as $1.5 billion for the structures themselves.
He called his San Diego design “right-sized and achievable.”
— Chris Stone and City News Service contributed to this report.
