Photo: User hober on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
San Diego voters approved a downtown ballpark for the Padres in 1998 with Proposition C, which committed public money to the project in exchange for private development nearby. Lawsuits and a city council scandal delayed construction, and Petco Park opened in 2004.
The site was in East Village, then a district of warehouses, industrial buildings and empty lots. The designers kept the 1909 Western Metal Supply Co. building and built it into the left field corner, where it houses suites, seats and a team store.
The development deal
The plan was that the ballpark would spur housing, hotels and offices nearby. JMI Realty, connected to then-owner John Moores, developed many projects in the district. Over the next two decades, East Village filled with apartment towers, hotels and offices, along with the San Diego Central Library, opened in 2013.
Business around the ballpark
Game days bring crowds to restaurants and bars in the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village. The park also hosts concerts, college football bowl games and other events.
The other side
East Village also has the city’s largest concentration of homeless people, and the district’s rapid growth has made it a focus of debates over shelters and services. Businesses near the park have called for more cleanup and enforcement. The ballpark’s success at drawing development is clear, but the district still faces challenges that affect the experience of visitors and residents.
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