Facts
Project San Diego Sports Arena
Redevelopment Project
Location San Diego, CA
Client ConAm Group
Gehl team Project Directors: Blaine Merker, Ghigo DiTommaso
Project Manager: Geoff Dyck Designers: Candelaria Mas, Donna Mena
Size 45.5 acres
Year 2022
More here
Gehl and 3XN|GXN
Architects collaborated to envision
‘Neighborhood Next’—a regenerative 15-minute community master plan — a vibrant new urban atmosphere, connected to the local environment and culture of San Diego
Vision
‘A destination for Locals and Visitors from All Corners of the World’
• 16,000+ Seat arena with Top-Tier events and World-Class experiences
Strategic Master Plan Framework & Vision
• 35,000+ sqft Cultural HUB for children, arts & learning
An Icon, to be Refreshed San Diego’s Midway District, home to the San Diego Sports Arena, sits in a location full of potential. The district offers all the amenities and convenience of 15-Minute Living. While it’s already a place of cultural activity, and a rich entertainment history, it’s largely underutilized and underdeveloped. Gehl partnered with 3XN | GXN to envision ‘Neighborhood Next’ – city’s next great neighborhood — an iconic place that is authentically San Diego and that finally reconnects the Midway district to nature and restore its purpose to our city.
The proposal developed by Gehl and 3XN | GXN details a community where people want to stay and live, with significant affordable housing as well as middle-income and marketrate residential units. ‘Neighborhood Next’ proposes 5,000 homes for residents of all income levels, with cultural, commercial, and recreational spaces all weaved within green promenades and public parks. At least 25 percent of the units, or 1,350 apartment houses, will be reserved for families earning less than 80 percent of the area’s average income.
• 5,000+ Homes at all levels of Affordability Focused on Walkability to maximize social & sustainable value
Midway used to be defined by its relationship to the water, its vital jobs, and its housing for essential workers. But today, Midway is a sea of asphalt completely disconnected from its surroundings; a place people need to go, but don’t want to spend time.
Inclusive by design
The team developed a vision to restore the neighborhood of Midway as a Cultural Heart of San Diego, to be realized in three key ways:
• Connect people to culture & nature
• Promote innovation & opportunity
• Attract people from every corner of the world
This team offered three possible design scenarios to realize this vision for the future of the site:
• Scenario 1: Renovation of the city’s existing Sports Arena
• Scenario 2: Replacement of the city’s Sports Arena, onsite
• Scenario 3: Replacement of the city’s Sports Arena, off-site.
And finally, the team formulated eight key ingredients for the neighborhood. in any of the former scenarios, in order to accomplish the vision: Reconnecting the River Green Spine Inner Loop
Edges and Boulevards
Neighborhood Streets & Alleys
Gathering Plazas of varying sizes
Local Pockets
8. Connections to the city and region at large
From a green link to the San Diego River, to onsite light transit, to reorienting the site to Mission Bay as a new front door to the community, ‘Neighborhood Next’ is a new paradigm for post-pandemic urban living.
The Gehl and 3XN | GXN, together with the developers: CONAM Management Corporation, have been selected for the second phase of a new master plan in San Diego, California in conjunction with a new sports complex and grounds.
1. Site Scale Strategies: Key to realizing the future potential of Neighborhood Next, the team developed 8 core ingredients of success. 2. Reconnect the River: The first ingredient in strategically reimagining and redesigning the site was to connect the 48.5 acre parcel back to the San Diego River, a key natural resource, currently seperated from the site by a highway. Creating an engaging and seamless connection to the water is both a link and a defining feature of the Sports Arena’s public realm