The San Diego City Council votes today on the $4.2 billion Midway Rising arena and district. The council will decide the 105-year ground lease plus a $378 million financing package. Both cover 48.5 acres of city-owned land in the Midway District.
Today’s session takes up Agenda Items 600-602 at 1:00 PM. The package covers the land use, zoning, planning, housing and permitting actions the project needs. A unanimous Land Use and Housing Committee sent it forward last month. However, critics have asked the city to delay and address remaining concerns.
If approved, a private team led by billionaire Stan Kroenke would transform Pechanga Arena and its surroundings. The plan holds a 16,000-seat arena, retail space, parks and 2,000 affordable apartments. “This is a monstrosity. This is not going to be conducive to other development in the community,” one opponent told the committee. Supporters disagreed: “It is my hope that you all will vote yes for this development and the quest to build housing for San Diegans that we can all afford to live in.”
Other Projects
On April 7, 2025, the Los Angeles Rams unveiled plans for Rams Village at Warner Center, a landmark 52-acre, $10 billion mixed-use development in Woodland Hills. Designed to be the Rams’ permanent headquarters and training facility, this ambitious project is poised to reshape the Warner Center area into a thriving hub of sports, business, housing, entertainment, and green space. While construction is still a few years off, Rams Village at Warner Center is already being hailed as a model for privately funded, sports-centered urban renewal. Once complete, it is expected to not only provide a cutting-edge home for the Rams, but also set a new standard for mixed-use development in Los Angeles.
Scope of implementation on the Midway Rising arena and district
Phase 1 delivers a $520 million, 16,000-seat indoor sports and entertainment arena rising up to 165 feet. It lands on the site’s eastern edge between Sports Arena Boulevard and Kurtz Street. An 800-to-1,000-space garage sits alongside it, the first of three planned event garages. The 60-year-old Pechanga Arena stays open until crews finish the replacement, so no events are lost.
The wider district adds 4,224 residential units rising up to 250 feet, including 2,000 affordable homes. That count makes it the largest affordable housing build on public land in California history. Plans also include 130,000 square feet of retail and dining. Parks take $65 million, while road, utility and stormwater upgrades carry $400 million to $460 million. Developers plan to begin construction in 2027.
Kroenke’s partners include venue giant Legends Global, Zephyr, and Chelsea Investment Corp. The financing package matters as much as the buildings. The enhanced infrastructure financing district would reimburse the developer for hundreds of millions in infrastructure work.
Challenges facing the Midway Rising development
The legal path already took one hit. In January, the California Supreme Court declined to hear the city’s appeal. That left a lower-court ruling in place, blocking the project’s height-limit exemption.
Flood risk has emerged as the sharpest new objection. “FEMA has given us a recent report that this is on a flood plain, so that means when flooding happens in this is the area that’s going to get impacted the most,” Patty Ducey-Brooks said. Traffic, noise, pollution and financial impacts round out the opposition case.
Affordable housing enforcement is the other fault line. The contract includes language requiring the developer to build the affordable units. “2,000 or 4,000 homes that exist on paper don’t actually do the good that the Midway Rising Project is meant to deliver,” District 9 Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said.
Mayor Todd Gloria has set expectations for a long build. The project, he said last month, would be “developed in multiple phases over many years,” adding that “the demolition of the current Pechanga Arena will not take place until the new entertainment center is fully built and ready to open, ensuring there will be no gap in scheduled events.”
Project Overview
- Project Value: $4.2 billion-plus
- Location: Midway District, San Diego
- Developer: Kroenke Group, Legends, Zephyr
- Status: Council vote today
Scope
- 48.5 acres of city land
- 105-year ground lease
- 16,000-seat indoor arena
- 4,224 residential units
Project Highlights
- 2,000 affordable homes planned
- Largest affordable build on public land
- $520 million arena in Phase 1
- $65 million in parks
Key Developments
- Committee approved unanimously last month
- EIFD package totals $378 million
- Height-limit appeal failed in January
- Crews slated to start in 2027
Key Challenges
- FEMA flood plain finding
- Height-limit exemption blocked
- Traffic, noise, pollution objections
- Enforcement must cover affordable units
Outlook
- Vote closes Agenda Items 600-602
- Arena opens before Pechanga demolition
- Phased buildout runs many years
- No event calendar gap promised
Leave a Reply