Former City Councilman Carl DeMaio will unveil a plan today to pay for a new $1.5 billion Chargers stadium without a tax increase or a convention center annex.
DeMaio, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2012 and Congress in 2014, said the proposal involves fans and investors, investing in the stadium for $5,000 to $700,000 each.
Instead of a convention center annex, as the Chargers propose in their planned Nov. 8 so-called convadium ballot initiative, DeMaio would substitute a 250-room hotel whose rooms would overlook the stadium field, and a 200,000-square-foot retail center with a fitness club, nightclubs, shops, restaurants and other attractions.
In addition to laying out his vision, DeMaio said he will encourage local hoteliers to move immediately for their own ballot initiative to authorize the convention center expansion already approved by the California Coastal Commission, and a separate measure, if necessary, to fund the project.
If they are worried about the convadium not being beneficial to San Diego, why are they sitting on their hands? DeMaio asked. Get up and start moving forward. What I want to see is leadership in town. The only people providing leadership right now are the Chargers. Whose fault is that?
To get the plan enacted, DeMaio proposes a mail ballot election on Nov. 15 that would delete the Chargers proposed financing plan but retain the general concept of a sports and entertainment center immune to environmental legal challenges.
However, he also said the plan would work with a stadium rebuild at the current Qualcomm Stadium site or on a portion of the San Diego Unified Port Districts Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, linked by a people mover to the San Diego Convention Center.
DeMaio, now a talk show host, said he was moved to come up with his own plan because no other plan has been advanced with the taxpayers interests in mind.
None of these options have been discussed in the context of a San Diego solution, DeMaio said in an interview Wednesday. The Chargers have their solution and I dont fault them for developing a position that is very favorable to their interests.
The Chargers initiative relies on raising the current city hotel room tax from 12.5 percent to 16.5 percent, $650 million from the team and NFL and other sources that could underwrite a $1.8 billion, publicly owned facility with 65,000 seats for a stadium and an attached convention exhibit hall, meeting rooms and ballrooms that can expand to the stadium field.
The county registrar of voters expects to complete a preliminary review by July 10 of the 110,786 signatures the team has collected. If a sample check indicates a shortfall in the 66,447 signatures needed, additional time will be needed to complete a more thorough count.
The financial sources could include:
▪ $300 million from FanLord shares, ranging from $5,000 for limited-access standing-room-only to $700,000 per suite. In return, investors would stand to receive discounts to stadium events and a share in any profits.
▪ $200 million from a boutique hotel development partner with $62.5 million for the hotel and the remainder set aside for the stadium.
▪ $300 million from a retail partner with $60 million for the retail portion and remainder for the stadium.
▪ $300 million from the NFL loan already promised to the Chargers.
▪ $150 million from the Chargers in the form of an equity share in the project or lease payments.
▪ $150 million from naming rights that go to the project and not to the Chargers, as the teams proposed financing package envisions.
If the project is built in Mission Valley, San Diego State University and UC San Diego would contribute $125 million rather than build their own, smaller facility that could do double duty as a Major League Soccer venue.
A Mission Valley development partner would contribute up to $200 million in return for development rights at the 166-acre Qualcomm site.
If the facility is built on the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal, the port would contribute $100 million.
To cover infrastructure improvements, $50 million would come from property taxes generated by the hotel and retail development.