So I know I’ve been quiet on the Chargers reporting lately. I’ve been working on some other stories and was out on vacation last week when the National City stuff blew through.
But I’ll be talking about the issue on Editors Roundtable on KPBS tomorrow morning at 9 a.m., so I’ve been putting in some calls today to get caught up on the latest.
To begin with: National City was always a long shot. It had little available land, the infrastructure costs were going to be quite expensive and a horde of governmental entities were going to have to be involved. (I did a story on all the challenges in October.)
But there’s also a new wrinkle that’s left some uncertainty in Chula Vista, and that’s the recent decision to extend negotiations with Gaylord Entertainment over the convention center complex planned for the waterfront. The deal appeared to be a sure thing, but now that doesn’t look so solid. If it were to go away, there would still be a $300 million subsidy on the table down there.
But, for now, the extended Gaylord talks seem to be overshadowing any Chargers talk. And a study that was slated to be released in April or May looks like it will be postponed to June.
That leaves Oceanside, which is getting the most attention right now, though officials still aren’t clear if they can make a proposal pencil out.
“Although the process is moving slowly, we’re significantly encouraged by what we see in Oceanside — and hopefully what we will see when the Chula Vista study is released sometime soon — that we’re committed to working on this process through the end of the year and into next year,” said Mark Fabiani, the team’s stadium point man.