Chargers re-considering Oceanside as possible stadium location

Qualcomm Stadium has been the home of the Chargers since 1967. (Courtesy photo)

And now, we’re back to Oceanside.

According to Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani, the organization is now considering a proposal to build a stadium in Oceanside at a defunct drive-in theater site along state Route 76. The developer, Thomas Enterprises, based in Georgia, contacted Fabiani six weeks ago with the idea of building a stadium where the Valley Drive-In once stood.

Thomas Enterprises already has approval to build a 950,000-square-foot open-air shopping center on the 90-acre site. Two years ago, the Chargers turned down an idea to build at Oceanside’s Center City Golf Course. The team has also shot down another developer’s proposal to build close to the existing Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley.

“Our project has been in the works for almost five years, to get approved and entitled, which it has been as of November 2008,” said Mel Kuhnel - vice president of West Coast development for Thomas Enterprises. “We’re not putting it on the shelf, not dropping it, just trying to make it bigger and better.”

This proposal is much different than the recent proposal  to redevelopment the Qualcomm site, Fabiani told SDNN. That proposal has since been scrapped by developers.

“[The Qualcomm plan] was six or seven years into project before it started generating any revenue,” he said. “If you’re continuing to play at the Qualcomm site while building a stadium somewhere else, it’s a gigantic financial difference.”

Fabiani said that the proposed stadium project in Chula Vista has hit a snag, saying the short answer is that “we’re on hold because the power plant has not received permission from the state to shut down.” He said until that happens, they can’t move forward.

Both he and Kuhnel said that the sides have to first gain public and political support for the Oceanside project, a process that could take a long time.

“Some of the comments that were made at City Council meeting yesterday were lukewarm to negative, so if that’s the case we certainly don’t want to waste their time or ours on any proposals,” Fabiani said.

See related: Sorting out the Chargers stadium search

Pocket Change: Costs of Qualcomm Stadium

Arthur Salm: Lose the Chargers? No loss at all

In addition, the sides must figure out if there is a financial deal to be made. Fabiani said the principal for Thomas Enterprises, founder and CEO Stanley Thomas, will be meeting with team president and CEO Dean Spanos sometime after the Fourth of July.

The team has said it would consider leaving San Diego if it doesn’t get a new stadium. If the team leaves this year, it would have to pay the city $56.2 million from the 1997 expansion of Qualcomm. The exit amount goes down to $54.6 million next year and to $25.8 million in 2011.

News of the stadium talks was first reported in The San Diego Union-Tribune Friday.

Eric Yates is deputy managing editor for SDNN. E-mail: eric.yates(at)sdnn.com

Tags: SDNN

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Chargers, Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.