SAN DIEGO
On Friday, August 1, the financing plan for the Phase III Expansion of the San Diego Convention Center was ruled invalid by a state appeals court. Despite the setback, Mayor Kevin Faulconer, the business community and hospitality industry remain committed to the expansion of the convention center.
In a statement, Mayor Faulconer reaffirmed his support of the project saying, “The convention center expansion is critically important for our regional economy. It would create thousands of good jobs and ensure that we continue to attract large conventions like Comic-Con. We will be working with the City Attorney’s Office to review all options in moving forward.”
The expansion plan calls for an additional 225,000 square feet of exhibit space, giving San Diego the largest contiguous exhibit hall on the West Coast. In addition, the plan would add 101,000 square feet of new meeting space and a brand new 80,000-square-foot ballroom. The plan was unanimously approved by the California Coastal Commission in October 2013.
“While we are disappointed, our last expansion faced similar legal hurdles and we were ultimately successful in our effort,” said Carol Wallace, President & CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation. “In the next few weeks, we will share additional information about what future plans San Diego has to finance the expansion project.”
“It remains a top priority for our community to expand the convention center to accommodate events that have outgrown our current facility; create more space for additional events; and to ensure we remain a world-class meeting and convention destination said Joe Terzi, president and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority. “Our team will be reaching out to our clients in the next week to answer any questions they may have about the court ruling.”
The San Diego Convention Center Corporation is a public benefit corporation created by the City of San Diego to exclusively manage and operate the 2.6 million-square-foot waterfront facility. Now celebrating nearly 25 years of success, the San Diego Convention Center has generated $22.9 billion in regional economic impact, $430.3 million in tax revenues and supports 12,500 jobs countywide.
