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Realtors Appraise Qualcomm Stadium, Chargers Practice Facility At More Than $100 Million

Qualcomm Stadium seen from above in this undated photo.
KPBS Staff
Qualcomm Stadium seen from above in this undated photo.
Realtors Appraise Qualcomm Stadium, Chargers Practice Facility At More Than $100 Million
Realtors Appraise Qualcomm Stadium, Chargers Practice Facility At More Than $100 Million GUEST:Scott Lewis, editor in chief, Voice of San Diego

Our top story $110 million is the new appraised value of the land needed for the proposed soccer city development. It is a much higher value than has been placed on the city owned real estate before and it means that according to the terms of the proposed agreement the city could get a yearly multimillion dollar lease payment from the developers. The new appraisal to change the minds of some city council members who just voted against funding a special election on the soccer city plan but it could also make the developers back away from the proposal. Joining me is a reporter who has been following this story very closely. Scott Lewis editor-in-chief is dish of voice of San Diego. How much money can the city get of the appraisal holds up how much upfront and how much in lease payments? That might be the total value of clandestine by the appraisal that the mayor was required to put in motion under the plan if this goes through. He wanted to get it done and get it ready so that can see some arithmetic about exactly what's happened. The investors are not planning on purchasing the whole plot what they are planning on purchasing 79 acres and leasing a good portion if not all the rest and so formally with the mayor is 10% per year at the fair market value that they lease. It is a lot of math to be divvied up so out of it was the term itself. How much would it cost to demolish welcome Stadium to get the land ready for development? Set up -- is that included in the value? The appraiser put the cost at $11.5 million above what was previously determined that was factored into the cost. They have to come to a fair market value and have to consider things like that like the potential of the area to flood and the cost of demolishing the stadium and that sort of thing. It does go through and takes into consideration all of the things that the mayor was supposed to when he presented them with this estimate they were pretty jarred by how high the estimate is and went into a bunker to see if they can pull it off. At this caused them to reconsider their proposal? This idea has been around for a while but the together a task force for the Chargers Stadium the idea that came out of that and that the charges ended up working on is that the city would give the Chargers the land and make it build a stadium and pay for the stadium based on the profits that they made from the surrounding development the outline of the plan is always been based on doing what needed to be done to her and then the stadium would get the team. This was the idea going for a while. Soccer city will pay fair market value so to have this estimate come out is much different. The city council members their offering just a child -- dollars for a deal. He said a lot of math has to be done on this appraisal to figure out how much exactly soccer city would have to pay for the land and pay yearly for the lease. The high figure now on the table -- the Democrats and set against a special election. There's a pretty significant shortfall coming in next year's budget. They had a short fall that they could deal with but next year by all accounts they are projecting a much larger deficit could the calculation goes from to improve this development that may eventually turn dollars over to the city. It may literally be able to help us with needs that we will have next year. It's not always the best formulation that you consult to make payroll. When we study lease is up and down the bay and the coast this is a giant one in comparison. When is the soccer city boat set for the city Council. They are scheduled to hear it G 19 a little less than two weeks. They have to put it on the ballot at some point. The question is whether they will put it on the ballot of special election. That is the big going forward again and all eyes turned to Myrtle Cole. She never crisply said she was against special election happening I've been speaking with Scott Lewis of voice of San Diego. Thank you.

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.

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RELATED: Study: SoccerCity Development Would Create Millions In Tax Revenues

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.

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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 have 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.