SAN JOSE — The potential sale of the San Jose Earthquakes by owner John Fisher might also be a way to entice the soccer club to play its games at an unspecified downtown San Jose site, the city’s mayor says.
A sports and entertainment district in San Jose’s urban core that Mayor Matt Mahan has proposed could become a magnet to bring the Earthquakes into the city’s downtown, in the mayor’s view.
“I look forward to welcoming the Quakes’ new ownership and working with them to one day bring the team into the future sports and entertainment district we’re planning” on the western edges of downtown San Jose, Mayor Mahan stated in a post on X, a social media platform.
The Earthquakes play their games at PayPal Park, a stadium in north San Jose near the city’s airport.
Attracting the Earthquakes to downtown San Jose would mean that the city’s western downtown district could host multiple sports teams. The Sharks hockey team already plays at the SAP Center sports and entertainment complex.
“We’re working to make our downtown Silicon Valley’s downtown, but to do that, we need to double down on what’s working,” Mahan said in a text to this news organization. “That’s our experience economy.”
The mayor believes unique experiences could be a way to spur the downtown San Jose economy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and the government-mandated business shutdowns to combat the spread of the deadly bug.
“My long-term vision for San Jose includes building out a sports and entertainment district to continue the momentum” in the downtown district, Mahan stated in the text comments.
The sports and entertainment district could sprout in the vicinity of the SAP Center and Diridon train station.
It wasn’t immediately clear if San Jose officials have begun to envision a location for a soccer stadium.
The city of San Jose owns land in that area, the mayor’s office noted.
Among the biggest chunks of contiguous land that the city owns in that section of downtown San Jose: the surface parking lots next to SAP Center.
The surface parking lots have been viewed in the past as a potential spot where a major new sports complex could rise, according to Bob Staedler, principal executive of Silicon Valley Synergy, a land-use consultancy.
“The city and the redevelopment agency have studied putting a baseball park and a soccer stadium adjacent to SAP Center,” Staedler said. “It would take a lot of time and effort to figure out a cohesive plan to see if it’s feasible.”
A new soccer stadium at that location would be adjacent to the footprint of a transit-oriented village and neighborhood that Google has proposed near the SAP Center and Diridon train station.
The mixed-use development is currently paused, according to Google executives. The search giant is attempting to refine the scope and nature of its office footprint in the Bay Area and nationwide.
Google envisions a new neighborhood of homes, offices, shops, restaurants, entertainment hubs, cultural loops and open spaces in western San Jose.
Other obstacles remain, not the least of which is that current Earthquakes owner John Fisher has yet to sell the soccer club. And that also means a new owner is unknown at present.
“The Earthquakes will absolutely have a role to play alongside our Sharks,” Mayor Mahan said in the text comments.
The San Jose Sharks are nearing a new lease deal with the city whereby the hockey team would continue to play hockey at SAP Center on a long-term basis.
“For now, we’re making lasting investments by building out Sharks Way, establishing new entertainment zones, and revitalizing the Guadalupe River Park.”