Chargers Eyeing Escondido As Potential Site For New Stadium

City Of Escondido Added To Short List Of Cities Where Chargers Might Build New Stadium

The city of Escondido "has been added to the short list of cities" where the Chargers might build a new stadium, and team officials yesterday said that they have been "quietly crunching numbers and exploring potential sites in the city for several months," according to David Garrick of the NORTH COUNTY TIMES. City officials said that the "leading potential site for a stadium" in the city is the "industrial area near the Interstate 15/Highway 78 interchange," where a 30-to-60-acre site could be created. Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani said that the "15-acre to 20-acre stadium would either be surrounded by a series of multistory parking garages, 30 to 40 acres of surface parking or some combination of the two." Fabiani added that the city "would also have to provide land and other incentives for some kind of ancillary project of large office buildings, retail businesses or condominiums," and that the team would "use the revenue from that project to cover most or all of a $500[M] gap in funding for the stadium." Fabiani and Escondido-based attorney Dave Ferguson yesterday said that they "began conducting a preliminary analysis early this year of traffic, parking, land acquisition and possibilities for the ancillary development, which might not be adjacent to the stadium." They added that their "early findings were encouraging, but that many questions remain unanswered." Meanwhile, Fabiani said that Escondido is "attractive to the team because it is on the Sprinter rail line and has freeways that provide easy access to San Diego, coastal North County and Riverside County" (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 9/10).

SEARCH FOR TOMORROW: Fabiani said the team's "search remains focused in San Diego County," which includes Escondido. However, former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre said the Chargers are "trying to pound a round object -- their desire for a new stadium -- into a square hole -- which is economic reality." Meanwhile, Fabiani said the ability to sell naming rights and luxury seats for the stadium "in an NFL marketplace will determine whether a new, privately financed stadium is financially feasible." Fabiani: "The team will be required to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to finance the project. So we need to be sure that sales from the new stadium will support the significant private debt" (SAN DIEGOREADER.com, 9/9).

Majestic Realty Hoping For Environmental Exception For Its NFL Stadium Project

SEEKING SUPPORT: Majestic Realty VP John Semcken yesterday said that the company, "in order to gain support for an environmental exception for its stalled NFL stadium proposal" in City of Industry, "guaranteed tens of thousands of jobs, as many as 18,700, to unions" (PASADENASTARNEWS.com, 9/9). However, an L.A. TIMES editorial is written under the subhead, "A Measure To Exempt A Proposed Pro Football Venue From Environmental Review Should Be Blocked." Majestic last week was "pushing a bill that would exempt its proposed stadium in the city of Industry from environmental review." However, it should not be exempted, as that would "cut the public out of the process and free the developer from having to mitigate serious environmental consequences" (L.A. TIMES, 9/10).

CALIFORNIA DREAMS: In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Bruce Schoenfeld takes an in-depth look at the struggles for new NFL stadiums in San Diego and City of Industry, as well as S.F. and Oakland. Schoenfeld notes "visualizing a new NFL stadium is all anyone can do," as no new facility has been built in the state of California since the '60s. And with the state "issuing $2[B] in IOUs and its municipalities attempting to remedy shortfalls with unprecedented firings, layoffs and service cutbacks, public funding for sports venues ranks as low as it ever has on most civic to-do lists, and maybe even lower than that in terms of public perception" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/7 issue).