Author Topic: San Diego Convention Center Expansion  (Read 166561 times)

Offline cabler30

  • Ballroom 20
  • ****
  • Join Date: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 948
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 62
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #930 on: June 07, 2018, 03:14:11 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
From You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Updated: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Read through about the deal and they still wanna build another hotel in an area already saturated i guess but so many already. They need better ideas then just another hotel lol. unless they assume a new hotel is gonna do or be any better then those around already.

Offline Angel_

  • Volunteer HQ
  • ******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 4328
  • Karma: 0
  • Aizawa Enthusiast
    • The Geekiary
  • Liked: 1537
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #931 on: June 07, 2018, 05:32:59 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
I am guessing at some point if all does not got right, then there will be too many hotels to have the center expand how they wanna do so. they know the center needs more space, but just too much bs and money it takes is just dragging it out which seems like forever lol. i really dont think they need another hotel, cause they really need to expand more.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Read through about the deal and they still wanna build another hotel in an area already saturated i guess but so many already. They need better ideas then just another hotel lol. unless they assume a new hotel is gonna do or be any better then those around already.

Actually I disagree very very much. 

While I'd rather the convention center gets expanded if I had to choose (like if it's hotel vs convention center, I'd go convention center), I don't think there's enough hotels downtown for SDCC.  People get stuck out in Mission Valley, Old Town, and the Airport with a high frequency.  The issue is that when SDCC is over, the rooms feel a bit empty.  We're kind of the biggest thing to happen to downtown all year so while they create infrastructure for us, a lot of it may sit empty for the rest of the year.

So basically no, I don't think the Gaslamp is at all saturated with hotels in regards to SDCC.  We don't have enough honestly.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Friends of Comic Cons

  • Guest
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #932 on: Today at 05:11:52 PM »

Offline mattytreks

  • Ballroom 20
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 547
  • Karma: 2
    • mattytreks on twitter
  • Liked: 233
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #932 on: June 12, 2018, 07:14:15 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Quote
City and port leaders agreed Tuesday to buy out a hotel developer for more than $33 million to regain control of a waterfront parcel crucial to expanding the San Diego Convention Center.

Although an expansion of the center still depends on the outcome of a proposed hotel tax increase likely to face voters this November, Tuesday’s action by the San Diego City Council and Port Commissioners cleared a major hurdle that had threatened to undo the long-planned project.

========================================
HurdleStatus
Project approval by California Coastal CommissionCLEARED
ThisCLEARED
Pass Nov 2018 ballot measure by two-thirds majorityPending
========================================

We're now just a single hurdle away from the convention center actually, finally expanding -- all but guaranteeing Comic-Con will be here to stay forever.

Please don't play with my emotions, citizens of San Diego...let this happen!
Star Wars | LEGO | 1000toys | Batman | Voltron

Offline Vapors

  • Ballroom 20
  • ****
  • Join Date: Feb 2013
  • Posts: 837
  • Karma: 0
  • 1999-current
  • Liked: 268
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #933 on: June 13, 2018, 10:21:54 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

We're now just a single hurdle away from the convention center actually, finally expanding -- all but guaranteeing Comic-Con will be here to stay forever.

Please don't play with my emotions, citizens of San Diego...let this happen!

What are the demographics like now?  I haven't lived in SD for over a decade, but my recollection is that its still a pretty Republican/Conservative (fiscally anyways) place.  Any tax on the ballot always seems to be a risky bet.  The two thirds threshold seems like a pipe dream, but a simple majority I could see happening.  The only question, which is brought up in the article, would be how would the result pass the courts in the event its a simple majority as opposed to a 2/3s vote.

Offline Angel_

  • Volunteer HQ
  • ******
  • Join Date: Dec 2012
  • Posts: 4328
  • Karma: 0
  • Aizawa Enthusiast
    • The Geekiary
  • Liked: 1537
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #934 on: June 14, 2018, 10:46:07 AM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
The two thirds threshold seems like a pipe dream, but a simple majority I could see happening.

This is my thought exactly. I don't see it getting 2/3 at all.  Not just fiscally conservative people, but people that find giant conventions a nuisance might vote against this.  This is going to be a tough one.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Offline AzT

  • Supporter
  • Volunteer HQ
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jan 2014
  • Posts: 8743
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 2123
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #935 on: August 09, 2018, 10:07:58 AM »
??? ::)

From You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Quote
Then came a Wednesday bombshell.

The county registrar’s random sampling of signatures the campaign turned in last month revealed the measure did not cross the state-mandated threshold to avoid a full count and evaluation of each signature. That would trigger a weeks-long review process that would run through much of September. The deadline to make the November ballot is this Friday.

The mayor’s team jumped into action on Wednesday, urging the City Council to act and making necessary tweaks to ballot language to make it a city measure. It means that the citizens’ initiative would likely be done, the donors’ losses booked and the requirement for voter support solidified at two-thirds. By late afternoon, City Council President Myrtle Cole called a special City Council meeting. City Councilman Chris Cate, who is on paternity leave after the birth of his daughter just a week ago, agreed to come to the meeting and City Councilman Mark Kersey, who is visiting Ohio, made plans to call in. The mayor’s office also had to plan around City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry’s Friday vacation plans. City Councilman Chris Ward is already gone. In spite of the travel and hectic preparation, the mayor’s team believes it can secure the five votes necessary to send the measure to the ballot despite the last-minute panic.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Update:

From You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

Quote
A divided San Diego City Council said no Thursday to putting a measure on the ballot to expand the city’s bayfront convention center, rebuffing Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s pleas to do so. The council had been asked to move the measure forward after a citizens’ initiative that would have boosted the hotel tax to finance the expansion project failed to secure enough valid signatures to make it onto the ballot. The measure would have also funded homeless initiatives and road repairs.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
« Last Edit: August 09, 2018, 10:25:01 PM by AzT »

Offline mattytreks

  • Ballroom 20
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 547
  • Karma: 2
    • mattytreks on twitter
  • Liked: 233
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #936 on: August 10, 2018, 03:26:43 PM »
Well then.  That was dealt with rather swiftly by city council.

At this point I honestly have no idea where the mayor and proponents of a convention center expansion go from here.

If I were a gambling man, I say that CCI stays put here in San Diego even if the convention center cannot expand.
Star Wars | LEGO | 1000toys | Batman | Voltron

Offline Miss Kitty

  • Pre-Registration
  • ******
  • Join Date: May 2013
  • Posts: 2154
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 738
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #937 on: August 10, 2018, 03:35:00 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Well then.  That was dealt with rather swiftly by city council.

At this point I honestly have no idea where the mayor and proponents of a convention center expansion go from here.

If I were a gambling man, I say that CCI stays put here in San Diego even if the convention center cannot expand.
You'd be a winner in your gambling choice. Actually, we all win!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Offline Transmute Jun

  • Stan Lee's Hospitality Suite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Mar 2012
  • Posts: 23720
  • Karma: 5
  • Queen of the Bird Missiles
  • Liked: 9714
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #938 on: August 10, 2018, 07:05:16 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
If I were a gambling man, I say that CCI stays put here in San Diego even if the convention center cannot expand.

They have already stated that this is the case. CCI has publicly said that if they leave San Diego, it will be because of the hotels, not because of the convention center.

Offline cabler30

  • Ballroom 20
  • ****
  • Join Date: Apr 2017
  • Posts: 948
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 62
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #939 on: August 10, 2018, 09:43:19 PM »
So guessing they can find ways to manage the traffic, but if hotels cant find ways to keep price decent for con goers then it a factor if move any later i guessing.

Offline chocolateshake

  • Volunteer HQ
  • ******
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 3270
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 1497
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #940 on: August 11, 2018, 10:20:07 AM »
I don't know why there is all this emphasis on expanding the convention center to keep CCI.  Has CCI ever said that the convention center expansion was critical for them to stay?  I've said it before, if people think that the lines and lotteries are bad enough now then what do they think will happen if there is someway to double the number of attendees?  You already can't see much in much of Hall H except on the big screens, how will it be better to have 12,000 people in there instead of 6,000?

The amount of space available to comic-con is just not the convention center.  It's also the convention space at the surround hotels and area.  I've been to an official SDD panel that was not at the convention center, Hilton or Marriot.  As has been used by various offsites, Petco park can be considered a big annex of the convention center.  There's a lot of space for panels and exhibits there.  The big limiting factor there is cost.  As has been told to me by various people who have had offsites there, Petco Park gouges during comic-con.  Considering that the city owns 70% of Petco Park, I think they should be able to help out during price negotiations.

Also, there's the Gaslamp.  Which I think of as a part of comic-con.  It's the biggest offsite.

In the end, where would comic-con go?  I've been to numerous conventions in various cities.  I can't think of another city that could host comic-con better.  Sure there are big convention spaces in Las Vegas, but hosting it there would be decided different.  Moving around in Vegas between big buildings would be less interesting than moving around the convention center and surrounds in San Diego.  I don't see them doing any outdoor offsites in Vegas due to the heat.

Offline Callie524

  • Freebie Table
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2016
  • Posts: 48
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 22
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #941 on: August 12, 2018, 10:11:35 AM »
Yeah I don’t think the convention is going anywhere. They definitely could not do outside events during SDCC in vegas the heat is just awful. Unless they changed the date of the convention which I don’t see them doing.The issue I see is not with the convention center but with the hotels that host stuff they have to be willing to keep hosting stuff like indigo ballroom at the Hilton bayfront and so on like using the children’s museum and petco park.  If those venues decide we don’t want to participate anymore in SDCC. Then the convention would definitely have to move! There would just be no space for anything.
Find me on Twitter @CallieMartinez

Offline chocolateshake

  • Volunteer HQ
  • ******
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 3270
  • Karma: 0
  • Liked: 1497
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #942 on: August 13, 2018, 06:42:40 PM »
The San Diego Union Tribune has published some more details about the situation.  They have confirmed that CCI has pushed for an expansion but so have other much smaller conferences.  The one they listed has 36,000 attendees.

There was something I didn't know about but it seems was a big factor in the recent expansion initiatives failing.  Part of the deal was that it would increase funding for the homeless.

Another thing I didn't know is that the window for the expansion was limited.  Either there would be a convention center expansion or that land would be used for a new hotel development.  Now that the expansion initiatives have failed, it looks like the hotel development now has rights to that land.  So the city is looking at the land the Symphony uses for summer concerts as another source of land to use for any future expansion.

Offline Transmute Jun

  • Stan Lee's Hospitality Suite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Mar 2012
  • Posts: 23720
  • Karma: 5
  • Queen of the Bird Missiles
  • Liked: 9714
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #943 on: August 14, 2018, 09:57:32 AM »
Honestly, I'm not going to be unhappy with another downtown hotel right next to the convention center....

Offline ccparka

  • Exhibit Hall
  • **
  • Join Date: Jul 2018
  • Posts: 68
  • Karma: 0
    • Vertical Slice Media
  • Liked: 17
Re: San Diego Convention Center Expansion
« Reply #944 on: September 13, 2018, 06:53:07 PM »
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Yeah I don’t think the convention is going anywhere. They definitely could not do outside events during SDCC in vegas the heat is just awful. Unless they changed the date of the convention which I don’t see them doing.The issue I see is not with the convention center but with the hotels that host stuff they have to be willing to keep hosting stuff like indigo ballroom at the Hilton bayfront and so on like using the children’s museum and petco park.  If those venues decide we don’t want to participate anymore in SDCC. Then the convention would definitely have to move! There would just be no space for anything.

I doubt there will be a move. The revenue SDCC brings in is too high. No way they'll pass on it. What COULD happen is attendance drops so much off in the next few years from overpricing that CCI has to reconsider if San Diego is a viable location for the continuation of SDCC. Maybe it moves to a smaller area, one with less foot traffic like Fresno or a smaller city in CA.