Fairground Fever Dreams

On October 13, a development group, Del Mar Dreams LLC, presented a proposal to the 22nd DAA Board (the Fair Board) for a mega-development on the Fairgrounds: a soccer stadium with 12,000 to 16,000 seats, a 300-room hotel, a 125,000 sq. ft. convention center replacing existing exhibit halls, a multi-level, 1,300-car parking garage, and a retail and restaurant district. Del Mar Dreams LLC includes the majority owners of San Diego Wave FC and founders of a global private equity firm, and a developer of mixed-use and industrial real estate. The conceptual graphic places the new structures primarily on the south side of the Fairgrounds property, adjacent to the ecologically sensitive San Dieguito Lagoon.

Notably, the conceptual graphic shows some existing facilities such as the racetrack, barns and backstretch, but does not appear to show the existing Del Mar Fire Station. Nor does it show a location for an affordable housing project to help Del Mar meet its State housing obligations, which are based in part on the 22nd DAA’ s employment numbers – even as the presentation boasted of the creation of “year-round jobs in sports, hospitality, retail and operations,” which would presumably increase Del Mar’s future housing obligations imposed by the state. Nor does the graphic appear to have the 100-foot buffer required by State law to be established along the San Dieguito River no later than when the existing exhibit halls are replaced. A chart in the presentation lists “Plazas, open space and lagoon-edge walks” as part of the proposal, in contrast to “a 100-ft greenway along the San Dieguito River” shown on the chart as what was included in the 22nd DAA’s 2008 master plan. That 100-ft greenway is what State law requires.

The estimated completion date for the stadium is 2031, with other elements opening in 2033-34. Since the presentation was on the agenda as an “informational” item, the 22nd DAA took no action. Board member Sam Nejabat, chair of the Master Site Planning Committee, said that the committee had not sought proposals for development, but is meeting with groups that approach the 22nd DAA about potential two-year exclusive negotiating agreement with the 22nd DAA, to justify the millions it would spend producing detailed site plans.

Just as the 2008 master plan was challenged in court by the cities of Del Mar, Solana Beach and the San Dieguito River Park JPA, with a separate challenge filed by the Sierra Club, a mega-development like this, on such an environmentally important and sensitive location, would likely face heightened scrutiny by those same stakeholders, along with the California Coastal Commission.