San Diego SportsOvercoming Obstacles for a New Chargers Stadium
An interview with Mark Fabiani Suddenly a new downtown stadium for the San Diego Chargers is a possibility. For that stadium to become a reality, though, there areobstacles to overcome. Mark Fabiani, who serves as special counsel to the president of the Chargers, identifies those obstacles as creating a private funding package, determining if the land east of Petco Park is viable for development, creating architectural plans and getting legal approval for development, and that means ultimately winning the hearts and minds of San Diegans for any proposed stadium project. A downtown stadium is a possibility because there is currently good communication between Mayor Jerry Sanders, city officials, and the Chargers. Fabiani believes communications were renewed because Mike Aguirre no longer holds the office of city attorney. “Over the previous four years with Aguirre in office, people from the City of San Diego would say to us repeatedly, ‘We would like to help, we would like to meet with you, but the minute we do, we will be subjected to criticism by Aguirre ... and it is just not worth it!’” As soon as Aguirre left office last December, the City and the Chargers resumed talks. “We met with the mayor and his staff in early January. We have continued to meet with his staff throughout the year.” Now that the city and the Chargers have overcome the Aguirre obstacle, Fabiani says: “The biggest obstacle has always been the biggest obstacle ... how to privately finance a project of this scope.” “Downtown has it advantages: It is a redevelopment district, and it is cheaper to build downtown because you do not have to create the parking, the roads, the freeway on and off ramps and the trolley stops. Everything is there downtown, so it is less expensive to build there. Nonetheless, it is still a gigantic project in the neighborhood of one billion dollars, and no NFL owner has ever privately financed a project of this size.” Even as financing remains a major barrier, the Chargers are moving forward with anticipation that this obstacle will be overcome. “Architects are working through various options," says Fabiani. "We met last weekend for several hours, but the bottom line is, until we know this is financible, it probably does not make sense to be distributing drawings to people and get their hopes up.” Another major obstacle to overcome is determining whether east of Petco Park is a viable building location. In order for a stadium to be built in that location, the transit center would need to be moved. Also, that land has some potential environmental concerns because buses have heavily used it, and that can often bring petroleum and oil spills that would be costly to clean up. Finally, the Chargers will have to overcome the hurdle of getting legal approval to begin construction. “It is not inevitable that something needs to go to the ballot," says Fabiani. "In fact, the city council, the City of San Diego and the County Board of Supervisors could approve something like this. Having said that, it is awful easy to qualify something for the ballot these days in California. Sometimes if you do not put your measure on the ballot, someone who is against your measure will put a measure on the ballot to block you. So oftentimes, even though you do not have to go on the ballot, it makes sense from a political and tactical point of view to go on the ballot. For that reason, we have always assumed that for one reason or another, we would be on the ballot, but it is not something that has to happen legally.” Whether a new downtown stadium is ultimately approved by an elected board of politicians or by a vote, the Chargers will need the support of the public behind any project. That is where all of San Diego needs to have input. “The biggest thing that people can do who are obviously busy with their everyday lives is to weigh in on this issue electronically," says Fabiani. "What I mean by that is anytime a story is published anywhere ... it is very easy to weigh in with a couple of sentences to interject some facts or to interject your point into the debate. Elected officials read those comments. Staff members of elected officials read those comments. It gives them a sense of where the public is on an issue. And sometimes, if you just sit back and do not do anything, some of the people who comment in stories tend to be against things. There is nothing wrong with that; it just seems to be the way that is. So we encourage people who are for our ideas to weigh in. It does not take long, and you can do it as unobtrusively as you like, and you can be surprised on what a difference that can make. You can influence an online discussion. You can educate a lot of people about the facts as you see them, and you can also influence elected officials.” Even with so many obstacles, Fabiani remains confident that with continued perseverance, a new privately funded stadium is obtainable for San Diego and the Chargers. “It is just a difficult thing to get done, but we just have to keep reminding people and sometimes reminding ourselves that no other NFL owner has ever done this. So there is no reason to be discouraged.”
 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 (30)...
Fabiani, you told me to weigh in electronically, so here it is -GET THIS DONE - PLEASE San Diego! Do not lose the Chargers! That simple.
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November 19, 2009
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I'm for keeping the Chargers in San Diego and for the re-development of the east village. Seems like a match made in heaven!
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November 19, 2009
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Thank you for the article. I drove by the downtown stadium site this past weekend. What I like about it is knowing that most of the infrastructure is already there (I do believe that Fabiani had said that this could save about $200 million, just on that). I also liked the location in respect to already built parking/structures (another article I read saying that over 55,000 parking spaces within a mile of the site.) I liked the proximity to the transit center and the trolley stop that would be a block away from the site. I also liked the bus stops already running. The logistics of a stadium on a footprint that would be the smallest in the NFL would present a challenge: architecturally. The already built lofts and other projects that the centre city redevelopment group will "wreath" around Chargers Park/Stadium. Paying for this would present the biggest obstacle. Arizona had the visitors pay for it with an additional tax when they visited (1). NFL will kick in some money (2). Infrastructure/Environmental discount should be heavily marketed as a cost savings over other stadiums built on new development lands (3). Public funds from closely related industry (hotel, taxi's, transportation, restaurants, bars, etc...) (4). Private industry interests in development near the stadium could have an additional fee when permits are requested (5). Non-profit foundations that support minority employment could be tapped for funds (6). Redevelopment property/business taxes from this area over the additional projects slated (7). Ultimately, a combo of private/public groups will pay for this...Petco has created and sustained more jobs, so will this project. The less the public has to contribute, the more they'll go for it....Fabiani, Sanders should stress the money they will save by putting it in downtown as a marketing tool for public consumption --- the cheapest stadium in the NFL can be had right here in San Diego....it's a great challenge, but every dollar saved should be highlighted.
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November 19, 2009
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At this point who cares about tailgating, I just want the Chargers to stay in SD!!
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November 19, 2009
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The site in Mission Valley already has everything- build next to the existing facility and you have parking, trolley and history on your side.
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November 19, 2009
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San Diego is not going to pay for another stadium so that some sports moguls can get rich. Thanks to the out-of-town corporate interests, this is a lame and cultureless city compared to other big metropolitan areas. Compare San Francisco to San Diego and we are an absolute joke. No money goes into arts and culture here, and hence we have none.
There have been enough books, articles and news stories detailing how the stadium building scam works. We are not falling for this again. There many other important and much more beneficial public projects that deserve what little money we have.
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November 19, 2009
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I'm for keeping the Chargers in San Diego and for the re-development of the east village. Seems like a match made in heaven!
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November 19, 2009
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Build the Darn thing, and let's get on with getting another Super Bowl brought to this town! You heard the NFL Commish "There will never be another Super Bowl without a new stadium." The money will make itself. There must be one absolute condition though... The city must not incurr any debt. In fact it must be profitable for the city, as should any other non-essential city business interest. We pay taxes for services we need, not for entertainment ventures. "If you build it, they will come."
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November 19, 2009
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I've lived in OC all my life and was never a fan of San Diego. Last year I visited some friends downtown for the first time in years and was blown away by the Padre stadium and the east village. I was so impressed that the next weekend I came back downtown and dropped 1.2 million dollars on a second home. All my OC buddies come down now and feel the same way. We have all discussed the recent talks of a downtown stadium and they all agree that if it happens then they too are going to buy downtown. A downtown NFL stadium would no doubt make San Diego the greatest city in the nation. Could you imagine , a baseball stadium and a football stadium next to each other on the waterfront in a dense city with the best climate in the nation.
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November 19, 2009
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sweet, lets have 4 stadiums, 2 teams and the nations crappiest library. Screw the library idea. Who needs books? Stupid words, Americas finist, oops finest.
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November 19, 2009
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I've lived in OC all my life and was never a fan of San Diego. Last year I visited some friends downtown for the first time in years and was blown away by the Padre stadium and the east village. I was so impressed that the next weekend I came back downtown and dropped 1.2 million dollars on a second home. All my OC buddies come down now and feel the same way. We have all discussed the recent talks of a downtown stadium and they all agree that if it happens then they too are going to buy downtown. A downtown NFL stadium would no doubt make San Diego the greatest city in the nation. Could you imagine , a baseball stadium and a football stadium next to each other on the waterfront in a dense city with the best climate in the nation.
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November 20, 2009
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Its a no-brainer. Do whatever it takes to keep the Chargers in San Diego. I've never understood the problems with the Mission Valley site - but down town is even better. Get-er-done.
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November 20, 2009
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I wouldn't put Mike Aguirre out of the picture. As a private citizen with a law degree he can still create problems through frivolous lawsuits....
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November 20, 2009
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We've got the wheels rolling now all we need is the support from the public to get this project approved! First off, i just want to say how thrilled I am to see the downtown stadium as our top prospect! If the Chargers left San Diego it would ruin football for me, and to have them downtown in the heart of our beautiful city would make downtown even more dynamic and "alive" than it already has become.
I understand people complaining about the area being viable to build a stadium there. Of course it is, they built petco there, the east village has just enough space to house a NFL sized stadium as well. Let the city officials and civil engineers be the ultimate approval for it but as a citizen who has been in that area i think it would be a perfect fit. It would most certainly affect the tailgating experience that every chargers fan loves at qualcomm. But wake up and dont deny the fact that qualcomm is old. Qualcomm needs a facelift and the city is not willing to rebuild in that area. Thats the facts, thats what's happening. Our only other viable option is Escondido, and i would MUCH rather have a stadium in downtown with a central location where fans can still tailgate than in escondido. I think people are just a little scared of change. People are comfortable with Qualcomm's location and the routine when attending a game. I can understand how season ticket holders would be a little upset because of this change, but we have to accept the facts and let the politicians do the work. Let your opinions be heard and lets rally around our city to support this. I agree, that if possible, a large tailgating area needs to be allocated. To be realistic, theres no way it could be as large as the Q's but there has to be some way of fitting in a tailgating area. Either way, i support this decision and hope that it becomes a reality sooner than later! Keep the Bolts in San Diego. GO CHARGERS!!!
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November 20, 2009
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Publicly Subsidized, Privately Profitable. It's the anthem of the sports elites. It's robbery. It's unethical. There is so much to do in SD to improve the lives of its citizens and low on that list is to support millionaires in making more millions. If the Chargers are a private company, then the stadium should be privately financed. While a lot of San Diegans bleed Charger blue, there are a lot of others who couldn't care less. Until the chargers become a branch of the City of San Diego with shared profits and so forth, they have no right taking our tax dollars to subsidize the building of a new stadium.
You may argue that a sports team brings added value to a city in the form of perception, media coverage and so forth. I contend that restaurants, museums, libraries, parks and so forth bring just as much, if not more. A city is not defined by it's sports teams. A city is defined by the critical mass of its people. Wake up San Diego!
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November 21, 2009
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WOW! what a great idea, lets get this done this time. I can only picture how nice our city will look with this stadium next to petco. I support this 100%.
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November 23, 2009
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I think the city needs the chargers because they bring in the money. The chargers need the city because alot of major cities are broke, especially la. As a die hard chargers fan, I would be very unhappy if they moved. A new stadium would create more jobs, which in turn means more people wanting to host their events at the new "Q" more people, more money. If spanos wants this to get done, the time is NOW! Let's get this done!
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November 23, 2009
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I think that we should built a new stadium in downtown because it would bring a lot of revenue for the city and its actually worth the investment, it would also create new jobs which is something very critical to the economy and the people in need,
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November 24, 2009
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This is very good news!!!! San Diego cannot loose the Chargers. If we build a stadium in the east village it will continue to transform Downtown San Diego into the beautiful city it has become.
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November 25, 2009
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Stadium haters, does anyone remember how downtown looked before Petco Park opened up. It looked like a dump with homeless people scattered like no other. Build the stadium and watch the haters come go chargers.
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November 26, 2009
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The Chargers in downtown would be an amazing accomplishment for this city and I fully support it. Having Petco Park and a Chargers
stadium next to each other would be a dream come true. Lets get this project done and restore faith (after years of troubles) that this is truly 'Americas Finest City' for the next 50 years & beyond!
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November 26, 2009
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This stadium has to happen. Unfortunately our city does not have much open land and downtown is the only place that this could possibly happen. My home overlooks Qualcomm stadium and would love nothing more than to put a new stadium there but that will never happen (thanks aguirre). I love the idea for a downtown stadium, it simply makes sense! Right next to Petco, trolley there, freeways there, parking there, bars there, restaurants there, hotels there! What more do you need? Plus you then have the appeal of a new East Village instead of the bums and trash that are there!
We need to educate people. People dont understand that Qualcomm is a money pit for us as San Diegans. Complete waste of money that needs to be demolished. WE as citizens need to recognize that we arent gonna have big tailgating areas any longer but ya know what? Its better then losing the Chargers! And if we lose the Chargers we will never ever get an NFL team again. We will lose the exposure you get from having an NFL team. People come to San Diego for the weather and beaches but a lot of people are exposed to these things by simply watching a MNF game and seeing them. Seeing the perfect weather and beautiful areas. It just drives me nuts that people dont want to support this. Get a clue that people have grown up with the Chragers. Stop thinking that its all about money for the Chargers. Yes they will make their money but we get the comradery of having our own football team. Something that can never be replaced. Im just running on and on here but people please just read up and help others get on board and get this thing done!!
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November 27, 2009
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Build the stadium. Keep the Chargers in San Diego. A downtown stadium could be a huge profit for the city. Go Chargers.
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November 30, 2009
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Please,please,please let's do whatever it takes to keep our chargers here!! If it goes to a ballot vote, chargers have mine 100%
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November 30, 2009
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This is a no brainer the infrastructure is there the gaslamp, east village, downtown hotels it would be the ultimate superbowl site
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November 30, 2009
LOLWUT
Saying that "everything is already there" in downtown is the dumbest thing I've read all day. Sure there are parkings and streets and everything. But it's already gridlocked on game days and bringing that many more people is only going to make things work as far as traffic and parking. Sure the infrastructure is there. But it's already overwhelmed.
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December 07, 2009
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please,please,please....................................................downtown is going to soooo awesome when this happens. they will get the money, you see. Yess!!!! tax payer, private. who cares..
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January 01, 2010
Support Your Chargers, SD, or You'll Lose Them!!!
Seriously, a publicly financed stadium would be an awful idea if it's put to a vote because, frankly, San Diegans are a bit stingy. Other cities have gladly helped finance a new stadium for their team. But the fact of the matter is, if the Chargers leave that as their only option, it will probably get shot down.
BUT I urge the people of San Diego to consider what it will mean for the city. You can't want the title of America's Finest City without supporting the upkeep, and that includes supporting a downtown stadium for the Chargers, WHICH the city is more than likely to benefit from anyway. Let's GET THIS DONE, San Diego. Or else the Chargers might be forced to leave us!!!
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January 05, 2010
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