A county “bridge loan” might be the way to finance a new Chargers stadium, Supervisor Ron Roberts told Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s stadium task force Tuesday.
In an hourlong, closed-door session, Roberts told the nine-member panel that the county could front the public share of the project, which has been projected to cost $1 billion or more, until surrounding development begins generating cash flow. The public share has not yet been determined.
San Diego State University President Elliott Hirshman expressed his “eagerness” to participate in planning for a new stadium as well as looking out for SDSU’s athletic and academic interests.
Roberts said his finance concept probably works better at the existing Qualcomm Stadium site in Mission Valley than at a proposed location downtown.
“As you look at how you might develop, more Qualcomm than downtown, the staging of that development and when that cash flow starts to occur, that’s an issue,” Roberts said. “That could be a bridge loan that the county could make to get us through the earlier years until revenue starts to flow from leases that would be signed.”
His remarks, on behalf of a supervisors committee that includes Supervisor Dianne Jacob, were the first to outline what exactly the county’s financial role in the project might be.
— U-T San Diego