The owners of San Diego Wave FC have proposed a new soccer stadium as the part of a large-scale development on the Del Mar Fairgrounds property.
A 12,000-16,000 seat soccer stadium would be the centerpiece of a project that could also include a hotel, convention center, retail businesses and restaurants.
The soccer stadium would be built where the parking lot currently resides, on the southeast corner of the 324-acre property.
Lauren Leichtman and her son Zachary Leichtman-Levine, controlling owners of the Wave FC, made the proposal Tuesday at the 22nd District Agricultural Association board meeting.
As for the scale of the project, the initial proposal includes stadium, plus a parking structure for 1,300 cars, a 300 room hotel, 125,000 square foot convention center and 350,000 square feet of space for retail and restaurants.
Why does the San Diego Wave FC want their own stadium?
There are a couple factors behind the Wave’s desire to have their own stadium.
The Wave’s current home stadium is the 30,000 plus seat Snapdragon Stadium, which is too big for the team. This season, the Wave is drawing roughly 12,000 fans a game, which is aligned with the size of their proposed new stadium.
Another factor is the Wave has limited control over their home game dates and times. San Diego State University athletics, SDFC and others have priority when it comes to picking home game dates, often leaving the Wave with less desirable day and time options.
The 22nd District Agricultural Association runs the state-owned fairgrounds property. The Wave’s owners would fund the development, with the DAA providing the land.
Wave owners requested an exclusive 2-year negotiating period to spend the millions of dollars needed to develop further plans to present to the DAA Board for approval at some point in the future.
While this is a preliminary plan, the proposed timeline for the project would have the stadium opening in 2031, shops and restaurants in 2032 and the hotel and convention center coming in the following year.
The Wave released the following statement Thursday on the proposal:
“San Diego Wave FC is proud to call Snapdragon Stadium home and remain committed to our long-term agreement and valued partnership with San Diego State University. As we look toward the future of San Diego Wave FC, the concept shared with the 22nd District Agricultural Association represents an early exploration of what’s possible. We look forward to continuing those conversations with the Fairgrounds board, the City of Del Mar, our fans, and the broader community.”