San Diego expected to approve Midway Rising to develop sports arena site

California Construction News staff writer

San Diego’s land use and housing committee has recommended Midway Rising to develop the Midway District and Sports Arena site. City council is scheduled to vote on the recommendation at its Sept. 13 meeting.

“I want to thank the city council’s land use and housing committee for unanimously advancing Midway Rising to the full city council,” said Mayor . “This puts us one step closer to revitalizing the Midway community, building thousands of more affordable and middle-income homes to address our housing shortage and constructing a new world-class arena for our city.

“I look forward to the City Council’s consideration and ultimately transforming the Sports Arena property into something all San Diegans can be proud of.”

As proposed, the Midway Rising project will create:

• 4,250 new homes (2,000 affordable, 250 middle-income, and 2,000 market rate)
• A new 450,000 square foot arena with capacity for 14,500-16,500 people
• A 200-room hotel and 250,000 square feet of retail; and
• More than 11 acres of park and open space along with a 9.4-acre public plaza.

In 2021, the city received notice from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that a proposal by the previous administration to redevelop the Sports Arena was likely in violation of the Surplus Land Act (SLA).

Mayor Gloria immediately restarted the redevelopment process to fully comply with state law. Over the past year, staff worked with HCD to issue a Notice of Availability in compliance with the SLA, moving the five respondents through the statutory 90-day good faith negotiating period, and shortlisting respondents to three teams in May 2022.

The Sports Arena redevelopment area encompasses includes about 48 acres in the Midway-Pacific Highway Community area.