A group called the Build the Bayfront Coalition rallied behind the proposed Lane Field development project during a news conference Jan. 7.
The $400 million project , which calls for two hotels and retail space on bay front land north of Broadway , goes before port commissioners for review Jan. 8.
The Jan. 7 event drew speakers such as Julie Meier Wright, chief executive of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. Reached after the event, Wright said the Lane Field development would be a “job generator.”
Ruben Barrales, chief executive of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, also spoke.
Eric Christen, a spokesman for the Build the Bayfront Coalition, alleged that labor leaders plan to “undermine” the project, seeking concessions about the project work force.
Brigette Browning, president of Local 30 of the hotel and restaurant workers union, Unite Here, said she sees the issue differently.
“We support hotels that are environmentally and economically beneficial to our community, to our members and future workers. But Lane Field is not currently that sort of project,” Browning said in a statement released Jan. 7.
The statement outlined a number of concerns, including the fact that the Lane Field hotels would be next to the Holiday Inn on the Bay, which employs 200 unionized workers. It said it doubted that the owner of one new hotel would be friendly to labor.
, Brad Graves
