MiLB Ballpark for AAA Affiliate of San Diego Padres
Project Overview
In late 2010, the Moorad Group, led by San Diego Padres CEO Jeff Moorad, purchased the Padres’ Portland-based AAA Minor League affiliate and sought to move the team to the San Diego region, as finding a location and building a new ballpark is essential for the success of the franchise. After an exhaustive analysis of potential sites and public partners, the City of Escondido was selected due to the unique development opportunity it presented. The ballpark site is located in an underutilized industrial area close to downtown Escondido that offers terrific access to highways and public transit with numerous development parcels that will allow the ballpark to act as the anchor for an envisioned mixed-use development to potentially include office, retail, residential and hotel properties. As a catalyst for public and private development, the ballpark has an opportunity to transform the economic viability of an underutilized area of Escondido, while creating a state-of-the-art ballpark that will also serve as a venue for public gathering and entertainment.
Our Role
JMI Sports worked with the Moorad Group to convince the Pacific Coast League that locating the ballpark in San Diego County and in close proximity to the team’s Major League market was both viable and a sound business strategy. Subsequently, JMI Sports led the due diligence and conceptual planning effort to evaluate the site alternatives, ultimately making the recommendation that Escondido was the best location for the franchise due to the political and public support, existing infrastructure, central location, proximity to public transportation and quality of developable parcels surrounding the ballpark footprint. After helping facilitate the negotiations between the City of Escondido and the Moorad Group, JMI Sports initiated the selection of the project architect and design team consultants with whom they worked to develop the conceptual design and programming for the ballpark. JMI Sports continues to work closely with the Moorad Group and the City of Escondido to advance the project’s financing and development plans with a structure that is beneficial to all parties.