How many more Gulls seasons does the building on Sports Arena Boulevard have left? After the news in late September, plenty of people on the peninsula would guess one or two. The city's own deal documents give a much longer answer. They describe the 1960s arena staying open while a new neighborhood is built around it, and they put most of the early work in the streets.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 344 on Sept. 29, 2026. Times of San Diego reported that the bill clears Midway Rising's path toward redeveloping the former San Diego Sports Arena site. Ten days later, the city posted the full transaction documents. Those documents carry the real schedule, and it depends on financing and phasing.
What Sacramento Actually Changed
SB 344 deals with one project only. It declares the Midway Rising environmental impact report sufficient and conclusive for the California Environmental Quality Act. It makes the report's mitigation measures enforceable and requires annual reports on how they're carried out. State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, whose district includes the Midway area, introduced the bill with Sen. Steve Padilla and Assemblymember Chris Ward. Newsom signed a second bill the same day, Senate Bill 958, which also changes how CEQA applies to the development, according to KPBS.
Neither law approves the project. That step belongs to the City Council. The proposed ground lease and Disposition and Development Agreement go first to a special meeting of the council's Land Use and Housing Committee on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, at 1pm. The full council takes them up later. The city's project page lists the staff report, a phasing schedule and the draft agreement for anyone who wants to read them before Friday.
The plan in those documents covers the city-owned land at 3220, 3240, 3250 and 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. It calls for 2,254 market-rate homes, at least 2,000 affordable homes, an arena of at least 380,000 square feet with 16,000 seats, up to 130,000 square feet of retail, 8.2 acres of parks and 6.42 acres of public space.
The Calendar Runs on Financing
The San Diego Union-Tribune went through the deal on Oct. 9. It reported that the phasing plan assumes construction starts in 2029, with horizontal site work in three phases and vertical construction in five. According to that reporting, the sequence looks like this:
- Financing comes first. The 15-year horizontal ground lease for 48.5 acres begins once a way to pay for infrastructure is in place, such as a tax increment financing district. During that lease the city charges $100,000 a year in rent.
- 2029 through 2031 or 2032: utilities, roads, transportation upgrades and parks on the eastern half of the property, up to a new street called Frontier Drive.
- 2032: vertical construction begins with the new arena.
- 2033 and 2034: market-rate housing starts, then affordable housing.
- 2050: expected completion of the whole project.
The financing in step one isn't settled yet. The Union-Tribune reported that the deal doesn't yet include the financials for an enhanced infrastructure financing district. The city and county are weighing one that could generate about $1.16 billion to reimburse the developer for infrastructure, which is currently estimated at $462 million. Friday's agenda includes a separate resolution of intent to form that district over the 48.5-acre project area. Christina Bibler, who heads San Diego's Economic Development Department, described the logic to the Union-Tribune:
"It's layered in a staggered way so that horizontal improvements begin once the financing is in place, and then that initiates site prep. And nothing can be built vertically until site prep is underway in a certain manner."
The developer's public statements point to an earlier date. In the KPBS report, Midway Rising spokesperson Jeff Meyer said SB 344 gives the project "the ability for our project to move forward with shovels in the ground at the end of next calendar year in 2027, should the project be approved at city council this fall." Times of San Diego quoted Zephyr CEO Brad Termini as saying construction could begin as soon as next year. None of the published reporting explains the difference between a 2027 groundbreaking and the phasing plan's 2029 start. It also doesn't identify any early demolition or prep phase that would fill those two years. Until the council hearings, both dates are on the record with no explanation for the gap.
The Arena's Lease Sets the Pace
The interim lease for the existing arena matters more to someone heading to a hockey game than either groundbreaking date. The council approved it in September 2026. The standalone interim lease expires on the earlier of two dates: when the horizontal ground lease closes, or Dec. 4, 2031. When it ends, the amendment requires an orderly handoff of arena operations.
The city staff report says how the arena keeps running during the transition. Portions of the interim lease get folded into the horizontal ground lease "to accommodate ongoing activation of the existing Arena while site preparation, infrastructure and the new Entertainment Center site are under construction." Staff expect the existing arena to operate under its current rent structure until the new venue opens, and the report also notes that the interim lease term ends in 2031. The Union-Tribune reported that this arrangement keeps roughly $2 million a year in rent flowing to the city until the replacement venue is built.
Put that next to the phasing plan. The new arena wouldn't start vertical construction until 2032. On the contract's own timeline, the building now called Pechanga Arena stays in use through all of Phase 1 and into the construction of its replacement. The documents reviewed don't give an opening date for the new arena.
The lease names the San Diego Gulls, Seals, Sockers and Strike Force as tenant teams. The amendment doesn't say where they'd play after the old building comes down. The draft agreement handles the site's other existing agreements by having the city send termination notices on a performance schedule. It doesn't publish a termination date for any particular agreement.
The Streets Change Before the Skyline
Phase 1 is mostly infrastructure, so the first visible work would be at intersections Point Loma drivers already use. The staff report commits to on-site street improvements, linear parks, bus rapid transit facilities and shuttles for events and employees. It also commits to off-site work on streets, roundabouts, intersections, traffic signals and bridges.
Midway Rising's Summer 2026 infrastructure fact sheet names the locations:
- Upgrades where Midway Drive, Sports Arena Boulevard and W. Point Loma Boulevard meet
- Upgrades at Camino del Rio West, Rosecrans Street and Sports Arena Boulevard
- Hancock Street widened from two lanes to four
- Kurtz Street converted to two-way traffic, with a roundabout at Hancock and Kurtz
- Two new north-south roads through the site
- Protected intersections on Sports Arena Boulevard at Kemper Street and Frontier Drive
- A shuttle to the Old Town Transit Center, improved bus stops, and daily and event shuttles
The same fact sheet names the planned public spaces: The Green, The Square, The Plaza, a set of promenades, Paseo Greens and Paseo Greenways. These names come from the developer's graphic. The city's readable staff report gives acreage, 8.2 acres of parks and 6.42 acres of public space, without attaching names to it. The roughly 14.5 acres quoted in news coverage is the two figures combined.
The Height Question Moved to a Different Law
The Midway District sits inside San Diego's Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone, created by Proposition D in 1972, and its 30-foot limit is in force again. In 2022, voters approved Measure C to remove the Midway District from it. In October 2025, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the city hadn't adequately studied the environmental effects of taller buildings before putting the measure on the ballot. Times of San Diego reported that the California Supreme Court denied review on Dec. 30, 2025, which ended the city's appeals and required the height limit to be reinstated. The City Council unanimously repealed Measure C on Aug. 24, 2026. Council President Joe La Cava told NBC 7 that the council had "an obligation to clean up our municipal code and strip that language out."
The project's route above 30 feet now runs through state density bonus law. The Union-Tribune reported that California's Department of Housing and Community Development sent the city a technical assistance letter on April 30, 2026. In it, HCD's Melinda Coy wrote that the project, arena included, "qualifies as a 'housing development'" eligible for concessions and waivers. The letter is an agency's opinion, not a court ruling.
SB 958 doesn't restore Measure C, and it doesn't lift the height cap by itself. Under the bill, increased height alone doesn't count as a significant CEQA impact for projects that meet certain criteria. Those include a certified EIR that analyzed use and density, a previously graded infill site, no sensitive biological resources, non-industrial use, and consistency with airport land-use plans. Save Our Access is the nonprofit that sued over the height limit. Its leader, John McNab, cited concerns about congestion and coastal access, and he told KPBS the group will keep assessing new avenues to push back. No new lawsuit has been reported since that statement.
For now, Friday's committee meeting is the next date on the calendar. The Dec. 4, 2031, end of the interim lease is the date that matters for anyone with Gulls tickets.
If you're trying to figure out how construction from 2029 through the early 2030s could affect traffic, noise or your sale timing on your own Point Loma street, The Kaiser Team is following each Midway Rising hearing and is glad to walk you through the timeline over coffee. Book a consultation whenever it would help.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
