Unified Port of San Diego commissioners voted April 6 to authorize the transfer of six acres of land from Fifth Avenue Landing LLC (FAL) to the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC) at a cost of $13.5 million. The parcel is the last remaining piece of open land the city’s convention center could use to expand its current footprint. In September, the mayor’s Citizens Task Force on the Convention Center Project recommended in its final report that the SDCCC move forward with the expansion plans it has been considering since the center hit full capacity in 2001. SDCCC officials said they have turned away 381 events because of a lack of space or dates. The task force also determined that over the last two decades, the center has generated $18.3 billion for the regional economy and nearly $365 million in tax revenue. Steven Johnson, vice president of public affairs for SDCCC, said before the April 6 vote that the property acquisition is an important step toward increasing the economic benefits that the convention center has had in the downtown area. “[An expansion] will allow us to keep events like Comic-Con at our facility and in San Diego, which is a huge economic boom to the region, and it also allows us to attract groups who have outgrown our building back to San Diego,” said Johnson. He said the additional space would make it possible to host two groups at once, so organizers could stagger the move-in/move-out times and event dates to provide a more consistent stream of visitors to the area. The SDCCC will pay FAL $1 million from reserves and issue a $12.5 million promissory note to secure the land. There will be an annual principal payment of $500,000, with the balance of the principal and interest scheduled to be paid by SDCCC at the end of a five-year financing period. Now that the land has been acquired, the SDCCC will work with city officials and the Port Commission to identify funding streams, design the project, conduct an environmental review and seek public feedback.  The project will require approval by the California Coastal Commission before it can proceed. To view the full task force report, visit www.conventioncentertaskforce.org.