HomeTownSD, one of five companies vying to redevelop City-owned Pechanga Arena San Diego, detailed its vision for re-creating the 48-acre former Sports Arena site at Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group in February.

“We all get one shot at getting this project right and it’s important this happens with a collaborative dialogue going forward,” said Sarah Kruer Jager of San Diego-based Monarch group, which has teamed with Essex Property Trust, Eden Housing, and sports real estate firm JMI Sports to form HomeTownSD.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform public land to address our housing crisis. We believe San Diegans deserve a project here that maximizes the type of housing that we need most that is built in an equitable, inclusive and sustainable way.”

Stressing that HomeTownSD is “women-led with local ties,” Kruer Jager noted Sports Arena’s redevelopment “could be a model for how we tackle the housing crisis, and how we build a world-class destination.” She added their project has got “a distinctive San Diego feel.”

“This would be a precedent-setting project,” she added. “We’ve got an inclusive community with 3,250 apartment homes. As part of that, we’re committed to delivering more than 2,000 apartment homes, 62.5% of the total, with deed-restricted, affordable- and middle-income housing. By doing that, we’ve got the ability here to serve tens of thousands of San Diego families with this project and provide true continuity of housing.”

Discover Midway, Midway Village+, Midway Rising and Neighborhood Next are the other four development teams competing to redo the former Sports Arena site built in 1966.

Senior City spokesperson Tara Lewis said a 90-day good-faith negotiating period was begun by the City on Dec. 4, 2021, with all five prospective redevelopment teams. “We are using the time to request supplemental information from each of the teams,” she said. “Presuming the 90-day good-faith negotiating period is not extended beyond March 4, staff will be reviewing the responses to create an apples-to-apples comparison and presenting all five responses to the Land Use and Housing Committee sometime in the spring, and subsequently presenting to the full City Council.”

Regarding the selection of the winning development team, Lewis said, “We expect to recommend moving forward with a short-list to conduct a deeper dive into each team’s financial and operational wherewithal.”

Noting the Sports Arena’s redevelopment is “not a traditional solicitation process,” Lewis added the City is also considering the following criteria in assessing the qualifications of the five applicants:

– Redevelopment is the right fit for the community, provides community benefits, and is consistent with the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Update.

– Demonstrated operational and financial wherewithal to deliver the proposed project and to be a good long-term partner for the City.

– The project includes a world-class arena that will be competitive with other big cities.

– Strong agreements with labor to provide good wages and job protections for workers.

“This would be a precedent-setting project,” noted Kruer Jager of HomeTownSD’s plan. “We’ve got an inclusive community with 3,250 apartment homes. As part of that, we’re committed to delivering more than 2,000 of those apartment homes, about 62.5% of the total, as deed-restricted, affordable- and middle-income housing. By doing that we’ve got the ability to serve tens of thousands of San Diego families with this project and provide true continuity of housing.”

During its presentation, HomeTownSD said their project would be phased in over approximately 10 years. Their plan calls for razing the existing Sports Arena and building a new smaller-scale, 10,000-square-foot arena. The new arena serving the hometown San Diego Gulls and San Diego Seals sports teams would be shifted from the center of the project to its eastern portion. The current arena would be inactive for two years while its new building is under construction.

Reacting to HomeTownSD’s proposal, Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group Chair Cathy Kenton said: “The community wants to see a development that is not walled off from the rest of the community. This feels very walled off. You’ve got buildings on all the edges and everything feels very much like it’s been dropped down in the middle of Midway. I realize this is all conceptual. But I would like to see something that is more open to the community on all sides and on all edges. This just feels very closed off.”

Kenton said Brookfield and ASM Global of redevelopment applicant Discover Midway, have asked to present their plan to MPHCPG in March.