Chargers Pursuing Stadium-Convention Center Complex In Downtown

San Diego Chargers special adviser Fred Maas (pictured fielding questions from the press) announced last week that the team is pursuing a stadium-convention center concept in Downtown SD. The team has concluded a multi-use facility, when combined with Petco Park, the existing Convention Center, the Gaslamp Quarter and a revitalized East Village, would be in the best interest of the Chargers and San Diego region. Maas said it would create "an unparalleled entertainment and sports district that will host Super Bowls and ideally provide a permanent home for Comic-Con and a Comic-Con museum," according to NBC San Diego.

Voters are more likely to approve a multi-use facility that would generate economic activity on hundreds of days per year by attracting major sporting and convention events, Mass said. The Chargers are collaborating with Petco Park's Texas-based developer, JMI Realty, and a citizens’ coalition led by Donna Frye, president of Californians Aware, to win voter approval in November's election.

The Chargers will ask voters to approve bond funding for part of the cost of the $1.7B stadium-convention center complex, about $600M of which is need for expansion of the convention center and $1.1B for the stadium and includes paying off $29M for Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley, as well as financing costs and land acquisition. Up to $400M in public funding is requested for the stadium, along with an increase in the hotel room tax to fund the convention center expansion. [SDNBC]