Mayor and Chargers talk alternate stadium financing
Mayor, Chargers explore alternate stadium funding
Without redevelopment, NFL, options still exist
By Roger Showley
Monday, March 7, 2011 at 2:24 p.m.
Mayor Jerry Sanders and Chargers President Dean Spanos explored alternatives Monday to financing a new stadium yesterday if funds from the NFL and downtown redevelopment evaporate.
In their first meeting since October, according to a joint statement, Sanders, Spanos and other city staff and outside interests reviewed the status of state efforts to eliminate redevelopment agencies and with that, no automatic access to downtown property taxes to cover what might be a $950 million program.
They also took note of the NFL's ongoing salary negotiations with players and the possibility that the league will not have funds available to help finance new stadiums, including for San Diego.
"The Chargers and the mayor’s Office will continue to work together as these important issues are resolved," the statement said.
A mayoral spokesman said no further meetings have been scheduled but staff will stay in close contact in coming weeks.
This was the first official meeting between Sanders and Spanos since Oct. 6. Besides those two, participants included the mayor's top two staff members, chief of staff Julie Dubick and, deputy chief Amee Faucett, communications chief Darren Pudgil; Fred Maas, former chairman and acting president of the Centre City Development Corp.; and Mark Fabiani, the Chargers' counsel on the stadium project.
Maas has talked of developing a sports and entertainment district along with the stadium that could extend from Petco down to the waterfront. He is modeling his idea on Los Angeles' LA Live complex, where developers and city of Los Angeles also are considering adding a football stadium.
Rick Bach, chairman of the Downtown San Diego Partnership who was not in attendance, said the project may have to rely solely on private investment, as is the case with the proposed two stadiums in Los Angeles.
"I don't knokw in the Chargers' case where that money would come from -- probably, it's a whole different cast of characters for San Diego," said Bach, who leads the local office of Turner Construction.
Meanwhile, he said, his group is focused on trying to save redevelopment from elimination by the state.
"Keeping redevelopment alive is our highest priority alive right now," he said. "If that goes away, it's a game changer for us and it really changes our entire strategic plan."
The Chargers have been counting on covering most of the $800 million cost of the stadium with the use of redevelopment and NFL support. Another $150 million already has been budgeted to clean up the proposed site at 14th and K streets, current location of the city bus yard.
Lately, Fabiani has spoken of backup sources, such as city real estate assets, such as the sports arena in the Midway area, Qualcomm Stadium and downtown properties. They might be serve as collateral for a city bond to cover costs. But the source of debt repayment has not yet been pinpointed.
The Chargers have been searching for a new stadium site for years, starting with Mission Valley and redevelopment of the Qualcomm, property, then the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, Chula Vista bayfront and a golf course in Oceanside and a site as well in Escondido.
The downtown site has become the last-ditch candidate if the team is remain in San Diego.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles developers have been putting together stadium plans there and hoping to lure a team, such as Chargers, to move to a state-of-the-art venue in the nation's second largest city.
The Chargers have repeatedly said they prefer to stay in San Diego, but their current contract allows them to exercise a short option period to break the contract and leave town.
And for each year they don't leave, their payback requirement reduces on the remaining debt from the 1996 Qualcomm expansion.
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