SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The Qualcomm Stadium property in San Diego is worth $82.8 million, while the Chargers practice facility is valued at $27.3 million, according to a pair of appraisals released by the city Tuesday.
All told, the properties have a value of $110.1 million. The reports were transmitted to City Council members, and were quickly posted on social media, one day after the council approved a budget for the upcoming fiscal year without funding for a special election this fall, which likely would have included the proposed SoccerCity redevelopment of the Mission Valley land.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer subsequently announced he would restore the $5 million in special election funding, though the council would have the opportunity to override his action.
An appraisal by D.F. Davis Real Estate Inc. of El Cajon provided a valuation of 191-plus acres of the stadium site, plus an additional 41 acres of wetlands along the San Diego River that's expected to become parkland.
David Davis, in a cover letter to the city's Real Estate Assets Department, noted that he was asked for "the most probable price that the portion being disposed of should bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, the willing buyer and willing seller each acting prudently and knowledgeably, and assuming that the price is not affected by coercion or undue stimulus.''
Davis also said the property was valued as if the existing stadium is no longer operational and no stadium expenses were deducted from the appraised value. The possibility of underground soil contamination was not considered for the report, he said.
According to Davis, the main stadium property was worth $73.8 million as of March 2, with the set-aside wetlands $9 million.
A second firm, Hendrickson Appraisal Co. of San Diego, investigated the Chargers' 50-acre practice facility, which the team is preparing to vacate as part of its move to Los Angeles.
The Chargers' decision to leave San Diego is what's making the property of aging Qualcomm Stadium available for development. The city hopes to shutter the money-losing facility at the conclusion of the 2018 college football season.
The backers of SoccerCity, led by FS Investors of La Jolla, want to build a smaller stadium for soccer and football, along with a park along the river, housing, offices and commercial space. They've applied for a Major League Soccer expansion franchise.
Monday night's action by the City Council puts the project in limbo. However, the developers gained enough petition signatures to require the council members to either adopt the project outright or place it on a ballot, whether sooner or later.
With all sides preferring a public vote, the council is scheduled to decide June 19 whether the project will go on a potentially revived special election ballot this fall or be delayed until November 2018 -- the next regularly scheduled general election.
