San Diego council to consider appraisal of SDCCU stadium site sale in closed session

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego City Council will meet with its negotiating team in closed session to consider an appraisal of price and payment terms for the city's potential sale of the SDCCU Stadium site to San Diego State University.

The city is currently in the process of selling a 132-acre parcel of land to SDSU as the university intends to redevelop the parcel, which includes SDCCU Stadium, into a new 35,000-seat stadium to be primarily used by the university's football team, a satellite campus, a park along the San Diego River and commercial and residential space.

San Diego voters approved the plan, then known as SDSU West and now dubbed SDSU Mission Valley, during the 2018 November election. Since then, the university has selected two firms to oversee the planning and construction of the future stadium and campus while negotiating the sale with the city.

On the project's current timeline, university officials expect the California State University Board of Trustees to consider approving a draft environmental impact report on the SDSU West plan early next year. The university expects to break ground on the project in early 2020 and complete the redevelopment in its entirety by the mid-2030s.

On Monday, the Friends of SDSU group of university alumni and community members called on the city to accept the appraisal, arguing that the project will be transformative for the city and SDSU will be a good steward in overseeing the land.

"Introduction of extraneous considerations that are inconsistent with the provisions of voter-approved Measure G or are outside the mutually agreed-to guidelines for the appraisal could substantially delay or threaten altogether the successful transfer of this property,'' Friends of SDSU wrote in a letter to Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the council.

The council will consider the appraisal in closed session following its 10 a.m. meeting in the City Administration Building's 12th floor Council Chambers. A report from the closed session will be given during the council's 2 p.m. meeting.