THIS BIG CITY THINKS SMALL S.D. needs to think big, push for a new arena in Midway District and possibly lure an NBA or NHL franchise
When it comes to reimagining and resuscitating the Midway District surrounding the old Sports Arena, San Diego seems poised to fumble a huge part of it … in the most predictably San Diego way possible.
Neither of the initial developer proposals to breathe life into the 48-acre property includes a new arena to replace the nearly 54year-old, graying ghost that is all but begging for a retirement cake.
There’s no sure pathway to a facility befitting the eighth-largest city in America. There apparently is no long-term thinking about how fresh concrete might position San Diego for a possible NBA or NHL future.
Instead of thinking big, we seem content to accept small. Instead of charging boldly, we’re tip-toeing like Shaggy and Scooby Doo. Instead of mining rare opportunity, we instinctually lower the bar. For some uncomfortable context, Tulsa, Okla., the 47thlargest U.S. city, has a 19,000-seat arena that’s more than four decades newer.
That’s not on the developers. That’s on the city. Demand more.
As former San Diego sports radio personality Jeff Dotseth routinely puts it, we often are left looking like Mayberry-by-the-sea.
George Katsikaris, program manager in the city’s Real Estate Assets Department, said the RFP (request for proposal) did not specifically require developers to include a new arena, but allowed them to consider one.
The two finalists — Brookfield Properties and ASM Global; and a group led by Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder — did not propose a new building. One plan, from Brookfield and ASM, outlined no significant renovations for the old arena at all.
“We wanted to leave (options) open to the bidders to encourage their creativity,” he said.
Katsikaris said he could not reveal if a pair of proposals that failed to reach the final stage included pitches for a new building.
Are developers incentivized to build an arena? In a word, no. If they can rake in gobs of money from the commercial, retail and housing segments without adding the price tag of a new arena, why would they?
Remaining agnostic about the arena means San Diego is missing a chance to bear-hug the unique convergence of timing and means. Why not dangle a sizable carrot in front of developers who will be enriched by molding one of the most impressive available parcels in America?
In the day, a newer arena lured the Final Four, the NBA All-star Game and a Muhammad Ali-ken Norton fight. The building, though still a concert-hosting grinder, pulled in entertainers from Elvis to Elton John when the paint remained wet.
One of the most visionary minds in San Diego history belongs to Larry Lucchino, the president and CEO emeritus of the Red Sox who filled those same roles for the Padres when he laid the foundation for Petco Park.
“Oh my goodness, it does not include a new arena?” Lucchino
“Oh my goodness, it does not include a new arena?”
Larry Lucchino • On Midway District redevelopment proposals
said when reached by phone Tuesday. “I thought that was the whole point. When a sports facility becomes 40 or 50 years old, most of them are gone by then. The ones that survive have some historical basis. I don’t know what the historical appeal is for the Sports Arena. Fiftyfour years and that’s what you have?
“It’s time for San Diego to think big, think grander and consider all the civic benefits that can flow from an arena.”
Bingo.
Chuck Steedman is the executive vice president of strategy and development for ASM Global, which in concert with AEG, runs the building now known as Pechanga Arena.
You mention that San Diego still is bitter and bruised by the inability to keep the NFL’S Chargers. You remind Steedman that San Diego too often finds itself paralyzed by process, awash in artist renderings rather than roll-up-sleeves resolve.
Steedman hinted that his group’s proposal does not necessarily mean an arena rethink will not be in the ultimate plans. He mentioned that L.A. Live, another ASM undertaking, ended up being markedly different than the initial plan.
“We want to get in position to engage with the community and city what is wanted before we go off half-cocked,” he said. “Of course, we want a new venue and the city of San Diego deserves it.”
Questions swirl about California construction costs, the area’s water table and the city’s coastal height limit of 30 feet that a proposed November ballot measure hopes to lift.
You explain to Steedman that San Diego has a complex about Lucy yanking the football away just as Charlie Brown tries to kick it.
“To use a baseball metaphor, we’re in the first inning of the game,” Steedman said. “I don’t know how you could propose a new arena, without having the answers to other questions.
“… To put a $500 million arena in the plans, then yank the football away when it comes time to do it, I think we’re inviting Charlie and Lucy to sit down and talk about what’s next and how best to do it.”
David Malmuth of David Malmuth Development, a partner in the Toll Brothers proposal, envisions investing in a $125 million renovation of the arena, telling the Union-tribune, “We think there is a lot of memory there — there is history there we’d like to hold onto. Clearly the existing facility is in need of a lot of love, but we think a ... renovation is a smarter way to create a new amenity for the teams and the city than to knock it down and build a new one.” Smarter? Well, cheaper. The lack of a Tier 1 professional sports tenant does not mean a new building cannot thrive. The Power & Light District that surrounds what once was known as Sprint Center in Kansas City, another ASM Global project, provides just one example.
Amid all of this, one of the most powerful players in the city said, “It mystifies me that there hasn’t been more actual effort to build an arena.” Follow-up questions sent to a city spokesperson about what more could be required of developers were not immediately answered.
If this reaches the finish line without a new building, San Diego will lament the missed opportunity — and fuel its unf lattering reputation for failing to stretch and strain for more.
Find a way.
What to watch
Auto racing: NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol, Tenn., The All-star Open, 4 p.m., FS1; NASCAR Cup Series, The Allstar Race, 5:30 p.m., FS1
Baseball: Korean, NC at Kiwoom, 2:25 a.m. (Thursday), ESPN2
Horse racing: Trackside Live, 9 a.m., TVG
Men’s soccer: MLS, Chicago vs. Seattle, Group B, 6 a.m., ESPN; Serie A, Cagliari at Sampdoria, 12:30 p.m., ESPN
Rugby: NRL, Canberra at Sydney, 2:30 a.m. (Thursday), FS1 Tennis: WTT: Washington vs. San Diego, 4 p.m., White Sulphur Springs, W.V., CBSSN