Developers Launch Campaign For Proposed SoccerCity Development
Following kickoff of a ballot initiative campaign last week by FS Investors to redevelop the 163-acre Qualcomm Stadium site as SoccerCity San Diego, San Diego State University responded by asking San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer on Tuesday for the opportunity for the university to lease or buy 47 acres of the Qualcomm site for a football stadium and expansion of the university’s campus, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Faulconer promised to keep an open dialogue with SDSU officials as he meets with stakeholders in this project.
FS Investors had proposed building a stadium that could accommodate a Major League Soccer team and the SDSU Aztecs football team, but SDSU athletic director John David Wicker said the university could build its own $150M football stadium within the next three years. An SDSU seven-point plan covers 230 acres in and around the Qualcomm site and includes the football stadium and room for expanding the campus, an approach university officials called imperative to the future success of SDSU and San Diego.
The $1B SoccerCity proposal calls for an 18,000- to 32,000-seat stadium, with size dependent on whether it would be utilized by the Aztecs; 4,800 residential units; 3.1M SF of commercial space; and 55 acres of parkland, including the San Diego River Park. The 50-year-old Qualcomm Stadium would be demolished and 16 acres set aside for five years for the Chargers or another NFL team’s facility.
The project would be served by expansion of the MTS Trolley System, which is expected to limit impact of the development on local traffic, the most common objection of citizen groups to large developments throughout the San Diego region. The proposal’s large amount of office space, 2.4M SF, would create a suburban employment center in Mission Valley. With 740k SF of retail and entertainment amenities, the development would be live/work/play.
A joint independent economic analysis by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. and AECOM, a global engineering, design and construction firm, estimated the redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium site would add $2.8B annually to the regional economy and 25,750 jobs that pay $1.98B annually in wages, as well as 41,720 construction jobs and $2.4B in wages.
