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‘Field Goal’ Linked To Convention Center

The developer of Petco Park has joined the convention center fray with its own proposals for a downtown facility that could double as convention space and a new home for the San Diego Chargers, as city officials weigh their options to salvage the existing $520 million plan to expand the convention center.

Austin-based JMI Realty, a development company founded by former San Diego

Padres owner John Moores, has put forward four

potential configurations for a stadium and/or events facility, according to published reports. All are suggested for sites across the railroad tracks from the existing convention center and east of Petco Park.

One of those, estimated to cost $1.4 billion, is a joint-use facility that would have an exhibit hall below the stadium’s football field, with meeting and ballroom space in an attached building that would have views of the field.

A second stadium-convention combo option, with a $1.8 billion price tag, would include a new Chargers stadium and an adjacent convention center facility that would be roughly the same size as the currently proposed exhibit space expansion of about 400,000 square feet.

Boltless in Tailgate Park

Two other options do not include a stadium. One is to build a 400,000-square-foot convention center annex on land that currently houses Tailgate Park, and on part of a Metropolitan Transit System bus yard, for an estimated $457 million.

The other non-stadium option has a two-level exhibit hall limited to the Tailgate Park site, with meeting and ballroom space to be included in a nearby hotel to be developed by JMI. That option would cost about $602 million.

All of the proposals are on or near land that JMI controls, and all four include plans for a new JMI-developed hotel on a site next-door to and north of Petco Park.

At press time, JMI Realty officials could not be reached for comment on plans that the company had apparently not shared in great detail with local media, except for the U-T San Diego newspaper.

JMI officials told the newspaper that they have shared plans with the city and the Chargers, and will be meeting with other groups in coming weeks.

In an email to San Diego Business Journal, Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani

said the team would not be commenting immediately on the JMI proposals, noting that the Chargers are involved in ongoing talks with the Mayor’s Office on stadium-related issues.

City, Convention Center Mulling Appeal

The Chargers last year were rebuffed by city and convention center officials, as well as the California Coastal Commission, after the team proposed building a multiple-use facility combining a stadium with convention center space, at a cost of about $1.2 billion. The Chargers, with investment partner Colony Capital LLC, eyed the same general East Village site, including the MTS bus yard, where the team previously proposed an $800 million stadium-only project.

Local officials and the coastal panel instead opted to support the long-discussed convention center expansion, which would add enough exhibit space to create the largest contiguous span among West Coast convention facilities. Also planned are ballroom and meeting space additions, with outdoor amenities including a new rooftop park.

Two civil lawsuits have since been filed over the Coastal Commission’s approval, primarily concerning environmental review issues. The biggest legal blow to the project came recently when a state appeals court ruled that the financing mechanism for the expansion — a new tax on city hotel rooms — violated the city charter and California constitution because it was not approved by city voters.

City and convention center leaders are now deciding whether to appeal the court decision, seek voter approval of the hotel tax, or develop alternative financing plans. The city has until Sept. 10 to file an appeal, which could take the case to the state Supreme Court, although officials note there is no guarantee that the higher court would decide to hear the matter.

City officials have said a special election on the hotel tax is unlikely to occur in 2014, due to filing deadlines and other procedural issues.

JMI Realty, with regional operations in San Diego, was the master developer of the Ballpark District that surrounds and includes Petco Park. The developer is at work on the first phase of a $250 million East Village mixed-use development, called Ballpark Village, slated to include a 37-story tower with more than 600 residential units, along with adjacent retail and related commercial space.

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