Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani on Monday appeared on XX Sports Radio 1090 and said a stadium in downtown San Diego may cost "a lot less" than the team had previously estimated. Fabiani: “Probably for the stadium itself $700 million or so.” He added that “including a retractable fabric roof to a new stadium pushes the total cost to $750 million.” Fabiani said it is “fair to say that we’re going to get the same financial support that the other teams have gotten” from the NFL. When asked if Chargers Owner the Spanos family would contribute 40% of the cost of a new stadium, Fabiani said, “Yes, roughly, again give or take” (SIGNONSANDIEGO.com, 5/24).
CIVIC PRIDE: In Pittsburgh, Dan Majors noted organizers of the effort to preserve Civic Arena “gathered outside the Uptown structure Monday evening” to mark the building's 50th anniversary and to “call attention to their cause.” Members of Preservation Pittsburgh and Reuse the Igloo for months “have decried efforts by the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority and the Penguins to raze the arena as part of a plan to develop the 28-acre site.” But their “attempt to have the arena designated a historic landmark have come up empty, first with the Historic Review Commission and then with the city planning commission.” The city council, the “third and final body to vote on the matter … must act before Aug. 10.” Penguins President & CEO David Morehouse on Monday “urged the council to take advantage of the ‘prime real estate’ in such ‘a tremendous location.’" Morehouse: "This is a rare moment for the city and the region for a chance for development that literally and figuratively will change the landscape” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/24).
LOOKING FOR LAND: In California, David Garrick noted the City of Escondido's efforts to “acquire land in its aging industrial sector for a large business park or minor league ballpark will continue this week if the City Council approves a plan to spend $6.6 million on two Quince Street properties totaling 4.5 acres.” City officials said that the properties “would make it easier for the ballpark to spur collateral development by creating available land for such projects, which could include restaurants, shops and a hotel.” But “prospects for the ballpark have dimmed since Gov. Jerry Brown threatened this winter to confiscate the redevelopment revenue Escondido needs to build that roughly $50 million project” (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 5/24).
SUMMER SOIREES: In Baltimore, Ryan Sharrow notes Ravens execs are “prepping for a busy schedule of outside events rolling into M&T Bank Stadium this summer.” The 71,000-seat venue will host the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Final Four this weekend, U2 in June and “its first-ever monster trucks event in July.” Promoters and organizers said that “ticket sales for all three events are meeting or exceeding expectations.” The U2 concert is “expected to be the largest in the history of the 13-year-old M&T Bank Stadium” (BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/20 issue).
