Importance of the Ballpark Project to the Visitor
Thanks to the proactive decisions made earlier this month by San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy and the San Diego City Council regarding the ballpark development project, there seems to finally be a glimmer of light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.
From the standpoint of San Diego's visitor industry, the ballpark project is absolutely critical to the development of downtown and the future health of our convention and meetings business. This project will virtually eliminate the areas in East Village that have been blighted for years and encourage the development a whole new live-work area right in the heart of our city--filled with shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, and revitalized sidewalks and pedestrian zones for residents and visitors to enjoy equally.
Instead of looking out over an urban wasteland just a few blocks from the San Diego Convention Center, hundreds of thousands of convention delegates annually will gravitate to this new, exciting venue--where they can spend their visitor dollars supporting a wide variety of local businesses and services.
San Diego is no stranger to controversy in the face of progress. If we look back across the decades, we'll see that change just doesn't come easy to San Diego.
I can remember the flurry of protestors in the early '80s who tried to stop the construction of the San Diego Trolley, predicting that this "Trolley Folly" would never find riders!
I can remember pickets raised high by protestors as crews started the demolition of the shabby buildings and tattoo parlors on the area of land that would soon house Horton Plaza, whose whimsical architecture doomsayers claimed could never attract shoppers!
I can remember the years of struggle and defeat as we tried to persuade voters to approve the construction of a convention center on what was then an urban wasteland by the bay. Even after the center proved to be a vital economic engine for the local community in its very first year, the subject of the center's expansion brought renewed controversy and a frivolous lawsuit that ended up costing our community three quarters of a billion dollars in lost convention business for the region!
So its really not surprising that another project that will do so much good for our downtown hasn't had an easy time of it. I can imagine a time in the near future when we'll look back at the incredible renaissance triggered by the ballpark project--as we do now with the San Diego Trolley, Horton Plaza, and San Diego Convention Center--and wonder why there was ever such a fuss to begin with!
There is no question that this project will begin a revitalization process that will positively affect all areas of our lives: local employment, housing, tax revenue and our region's overall prosperity. The project is more than just a ballpark--it is about renovating an underutilized area of downtown and turning it into an attractive, thriving revenue generator for the entire San Diego region.
Its importance to our visitor industry--San Diego's third largest--goes without saying. It will add the necessary infrastructure to help support the development of the area as a visitor destination. The Padres and their development partners have agreed to build some 950 hotel rooms as part of the project-- hotel rooms that are desperately needed to help house the increased numbers of delegates who will be attending conventions in the expanded center once it opens this September.
In addition to these valuable hotel rooms, the project will also include 700,000 square feet of office space, 270,000 square feet of retail, 5,000 parking spaces and 700 residential units. Creating an urban experience that combines the excitement of a business and retail venue with the "down home" feel of a family neighborhood will attract visitors and residents alike. It doesn't matter whether you live here or are here as a tourist--people simply like to visit, have fun and spend money in a clean, safe and entertaining setting.
And speaking of money spent, the estimated annual economic impact of future ballpark events on the San Diego economy is staggering--$588.5 million in direct and indirect spending, $3.7 million in Transient Occupancy Tax revenue, $2.8 million in sales tax revenue, and $6.5 million in new property tax revenue for the city. All this from just the Padre events held in the ballpark.
During the time of the year that there are no Padres home games, the ballpark can generate even more revenue as a convention-related special event and corporate entertainment venue. Meeting planners are always looking for fresh and unique places to hold a memorable event for their convention groups. The new stadium would be a perfect choice for such an experience, not only due to its proximity a few blocks from the convention center, but also because of its overall ambiance and layout. Just imagine the fun and excitement of holding an annual meeting, awards banquet, or convention gala in the center of a ballpark, surrounded by the sparkling lights of San Diego's dramatic skyline!
While we know what appeal the ballpark will have for our convention delegates, we're also certain that our leisure travelers will want to visit the region and that it will develop into a tourist destination and "urban resort" in its own right. Shopping, dining, and just strolling "round the Ballpark" will quickly become a favorite activity for the millions of visitors who visit San Diego annually.
We're not just guessing at these potential benefits, either. There are several examples of the urban metamorphoses generated by the construction of a downtown ballpark in cities across the country. New ballparks recently wove their economic magic in cities such as Baltimore, Cleveland, and Denver, becoming tourist attractions and destinations in themselves while turning urban blight into vibrant, healthy neighborhoods.
There's no reason why this magic cannot happen here in San Diego. Under the guidance of our forward-thinking civic leaders, the trials and tribulations of the ballpark project will soon rank among those other projects that had a tough start--but now help make San Diego such an incredibly attractive region for our visitors and residents alike.
