San Diego State has "secured its board's approval of a deal to purchase the city of San Diego's Mission Valley stadium site, clearing an important hurdle in a yearslong quest to take over the site for a satellite campus," according to a front-page piece by Jennifer Van Grove of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The 25-member California State Univ. BOT yesterday approved SDSU's Mission Valley development plan, "certified the associated environmental analysis" and allocated an initial $350M for the project. It also granted the chancellor of the CSU system the "authority to execute a deal with the city of San Diego." However, the agreement is "at least a few weeks away from being finalized, with the city and the institution still needing to come to an accord on several specifics in the lengthy contract." The approvals allow SDSU to "buy the city's property -- and later start construction -- so long as terms aren't materially altered." The school is "aiming to wrap up the deal quickly so that it can construct a new 35,000-person capacity stadium" in time for the '22 college football season. However, a desired March 27 transaction close date "now appears out of reach" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 1/30).
