Point Loma residents are largely taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the City\u2019s recent issuance of a request for proposals (RFP) seeking to redevelop, rehabilitate and operate the 48-acre site commonly known as the sports arena.
\nCurrently, home to the Pechanga Arena, retail businesses and a parking lot, the six-parcel site is in the heart of the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area. The area includes a large industrial warehouse district, a commercial strip and affordable housing expected to add about 10,000 more units over the next 30 years.
\nUnder the terms of the RFP, the City will accept proposals from qualified organizations. Bidders can propose renovating and rebuilding the existing Pechanga Arena with new commercial retail, office and residential space offerings.
\nWalter Andersen of the nursery bearing his name at 3642 Enterprise St., said the arena “is a huge problem.” He asked, “Does it stay \u2014 or does it go?”
\nAndersen claims the Midway-Pacific Highway community has been getting mixed signals about the arena\u2019s fate.
\n“For years they have said the Sports Arena is outdated and is suffering from settling and cracking, like \u2018it can\u2019t be fixed,\u2019” said Andersen. “Then we hear they might extend the lease,” which he said includes DixieLine Lumber, the Salvation Army building, and the now-empty Pier One building.
\n“It\u2019s a huge property that we (Midway planning) don\u2019t want to be messed up,” continued Andersen. “They (City) have come to Midway planning showing concept drawings of residential developments, small commercial designs, canals with water features, many different things over the years. It\u2019s like they have no \u2018real plans.\u2019”\u00a0
\nMidway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group, recently completed its community plan update, the neighborhood\u2019s blueprint for future development.
\nCathy Kenton, Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group chair, believes the arena could use a redo.
\n“My understanding is it\u2019s beyond cost-effective to try and renovate the existing facility,” Kenton said. “But if we are going to have an indoor sports facility, that is probably the best location. There isn\u2019t another good location in the city.”
\nNoting she “doesn\u2019t have a strong opinion” about how the arena is ultimately redeveloped, Kenton added, “The sense of the community during the planning process was that there are a lot of folks who would like to see some form of entertainment venue retained in Midway. What [RFP] calls for is mixed-use. It\u2019s not going to be a tear down that leaves a big parking lot. It\u2019s going to be a mixed-use community with one or more parking structures.”
\nThe City said qualified RFP proposals for the sports arena area are due June 4 by 5 p.m.
\n“The City will accept proposals from qualified organizations that will help achieve the City\u2019s vision of a pedestrian- and transit-oriented landmark that sustainably incorporates a mix of entertainment, office retail, residential, affordable housing, recreational, public and park\/plaza uses and is looking to ground lease the site,” said City spokesperson Racquel Vasquez.\u00a0
\nConcerning whether the arena will be preserved or torn down, and whether current tenants \u2014 Kobey\u2019s Swap Meet, Gulls hockey, Seals lacrosse, Sockers soccer, and Strike Force football \u2014 will stay or go, Vasquez said, “This will be up to the proposers.”
\nVasquez added whatever changes are made to the arena will be “authorized by the City Council.” She added, “The City reserves the right to reject all proposals and re-issue the RFP.”
\nToday, the area is home to the Pechanga Arena San Diego on Sports Arena Boulevard. Besides sporting events,\u00a0that venue is used for concerts and touring events like “Disney on Ice.”
\nMayor Keven Faulconer welcomes a sports arena area update.
\n“This is an opportunity to breathe new life into the Midway and unlock its full potential as an entertainment district for all San Diegans to enjoy,” Faulconer said.
\nOf redevelopment, District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jen Campbell said, “This urban location, with its close proximity to downtown, could become a vital connector to our beach and bay communities while remaining a lively entertainment destination. If done correctly, Midway can become an example of how visionary San Diego can be.”
\nPechanga Arena seats between 12,000 and 15,000. According to the venue\u2019s website, the arena hosts 125 events and 750,000 visitors annually.
\nThe venue first opened in November 1966 as the San Diego International Sports Arena. By 1970, it dropped the “International,” and became just the San Diego Sports Arena. The arena has changed names many times over the past 53 years.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Point Loma residents are largely taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the City\u2019s recent issuance of a request for proposals (RFP) seeking to redevelop, rehabilitate and operate the 48-acre site commonly known as the sports arena. Currently, home to the Pechanga Arena, retail businesses and a parking lot, the six-parcel site is in the heart of […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":269914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Redevelopment is coming to Sports Arena Blvd., but what will it look like?","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}