San Diego SportsMayor Sanders Re-engages Chargers in Stadium Talks
Escondido Also Remains an Option On Friday morning, Oct. 30, 2009, Mark Fabiani, who has served as Special Counsel to the President of the San Diego Chargers since April 2002, spoke as a guest speaker at the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club regarding the topic, “Keeping the Chargers in San Diego,” which discusses ways to find a site and fund the development of a new state-of-the-art stadium. In his address, Fabiani stated, “It is clear now the City of San Diego is interested in re-engaging us in this process, which is great news for us!” Fabiani, who had long been scheduled to speak at the weekly Rotary meeting, proclaimed that this confidential announcement comes in light of a “very good meeting” the Chargers had on Tuesday night with Mayor Jerry Sanders. Fabiani stated, “There is no appetite for public funding of stadiums, and we understand that.” He reassured the group of largely influential business people that the re-emergence of the City of San Diego as a potential partner with the Chargers in a new stadium project did not mean that the city would be infusing the Chargers with any public funds. What the Chargers are looking for is a partnership with a government entity that can provide an underused parcel of land to be developed in conjunction with a stadium project. The development would involve private investors to help finance the overall cost of a new stadium, which is now projected to cost in excess of one billion dollars. This private financing would be supported by the Spanos family as well as a multimillion dollar construction loan from the NFL. Regarding the City of San Diego, Fabiani stated, “The city is particular interested in downtown sites. Again, great news for us! Because, believe it or not, downtown sites are a lot cheaper than any other site. The reason for this is all the infrastructure that you would otherwise be required to build … is already there downtown. Therefore, the cost goes down by several hundred million dollars.” In describing a downtown stadium, Fabiani said, “You would have a stadium that abuts the street; you would have a very different-looking stadium where the first level would have shops, restaurants and things that you can do 365 days a year.” The two sites being considered are the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal and land east of Petco Park. Regarding the Tenth Avenue property, Fabiani said, “We have no indication that the Port Commission is interested in talking to us about that, so that is off to the side a little bit.” However, Fabiani believes the site east of Petco “would have a lot more potential.” This area is partially owned by the city, in what is Tail Gate Park, and partially owned by the county, encompassed by the transit yard. It is also partly privately owned since it includes the Wonder Bread Factory and some other buildings. As with any possible location for a stadium, there are several obstacles to overcome for this location to work: The first is that the transit yard would have to be moved. Also, the Wonder Bread Factory and the other privately owned buildings would have to be purchased. In addition, because the Wonder Bread Factory is an historic site, it would then either have to be moved or incorporated into the new stadium. This would be along the same lines as the Western Metal Supply Company Building that was incorporated into Petco Park. According to Fabiani, “Eminent domain would not be used.” In that case, reaching an equitable sales price and finding willful sellers may be problematic for accruing any privately owned property to build a new stadium. Along with the City of San Diego, Fabiani also identified the City of Escondido “as another place where we have been working extremely hard.” Fabiani described the leadership of Escondido as being “extremely enthusiastic.” However, any project in Escondido would mean that a sales price would have to be negotiated with approximately 20 private property owners, which is considerably more than in downtown San Diego. Regardless of the outcome of these new negotiations, Fabiani was correct in his assessment: “It is really exciting that the city wants to re-engage in the process.” Whether the final location is downtown San Diego, Escondido or yet another location in the San Diego region, the important thing is that eventually a stadium is built that secures the Chargers to San Diego. According to Fabiani, because of the progress currently being made in both San Diego and Escondido, he predicts that by February 1, 2010, when the Chargers are able to opt out of their current lease with Qualcomm and even move the team to another city, the Chargers will choose not to do so. Instead, according to Fabiani, “The Spanos family will continue to work to keep the Chargers in San Diego, and that is exactly where they belong.” Mayor Sanders' office could not be reached to confirm Mr. Fabiani’s statements.
 Dan McLellan About the author: Dan McLellan is a San Diego native and Charger season ticket holder since 1993. He also has a weekly Charger podcast at www.DanMcLellan.com. More by this author Subscribe to Sports:
Trackback(0)TrackBack URI for this entryComments (6)...
Hey. Great reporting on this breaking news story. Very informative and positive. Overall, great reporting!
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October 31, 2009
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A site that is "30 blocks east of Petco Park" would NOT be in downtown.
Perhaps you meant "3 blocks east"?
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November 01, 2009
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IT IS ABOUT TIME WE GOT SERIOUS . THIS TEAM IS THE PEOPLES TEAM. MAYBE THE CITEZENS COULD PURCHASE THE TEAM WITH OUR STATE , COUNTY AND CITY TAXES. WE CAN BE LIKE THE PACKER FANS , OWNERS & FANS. CITEZENS WHO DO NOT WISH TO PARTAKE WILL LOSE THEIR RIGHT TO WATCH THE GAMES ON TV AND CANNOT ATTEND CHARGER EVENTS.
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November 03, 2009
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