San Diego State University has selected the Gensler architecture firm to design its proposed $250 million, 35,000-seat, multi-use stadium in Mission Valley.

Gensler had previously drawn up designs for SoccerCity, the rival vision for the stadium site that lost out to the SDSU West initiative in last November’s election.

The university unveiled plans for the Mission Valley site in November 2017 that were designed by Carrier Johnson + Culture. The firm was competing against Gensler and two other finalists for the project contract. Efforts to reach Carrier Johnson for comment were unsuccessful.

In the end, the university said it chose Gensler based on its new ideas, not its previous design for the site. John David Wicker, SDSU’s director of athletics, said the university and its supporters actually disliked the design Gensler developed for SoccerCity. Instead, they were looking for something closer to Gensler’s recent design for the Los Angeles Football Club’s Banc of California Stadium.


“It won’t look anything like (the SoccerCity) stadium,” Wicker said. “Gensler won based on they brought a really great team with them, and they had a lot of great ideas.”

San Francisco-based Gensler has offices in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and China. They are known for high-profile projects such as the world’s second-tallest skyscraper, Shanghai Tower, and the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park.

In a news release, Gensler design director Steve Chung said the firm looked forward to working alongside the university and Clark Construction Group, the developer that was awarded the $250 million stadium contract in February. Gensler will be paid by Clark out of the contract.

“The venue will reflect the dynamic spirit of San Diego,” Chung wrote, “while offering flexibility for a variety of events beyond football.”


The university plans for the stadium to be used year-round with concerts, Aztec football and, potentially, professional soccer. Wicker said they have had preliminary discussions with potential owners interested in bringing professional soccer to San Diego, both in Major League Soccer and the second-division United Soccer League.

“I feel comfortable that we’ll have professional soccer in that building at some point,” he said, “hopefully sooner rather than later.”

MLS announced Thursday at its board of governors meeting that it would expand to 30 teams, up from 24. Three new teams have already been approved in Miami, Nashville and Austin — bringing the league to 27 teams by 2021.

Wicker said the design will seek to take advantage of the San Diego climate and be unique to Southern California. The first renderings should be available by June, he said.


Los Angeles Football Club’s Banc of California stadium in Los Angeles is an inspiration for San Diego State University. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Alan Nevin, director of economic and market research with Xpera Group, said the stadium has the potential to be a new landmark in San Diego. He said most football stadiums look pretty dull, but there is the potential to make something great, much like the celebrated Petco Park

“This new stadium will have a 50-year life and, therefore, they better do it right the first time,” he said.

The San Diego City Council and the university are still negotiating the sale of the 132-acre Mission Valley property. The site includes SDCCU Stadium, formerly called Qualcomm Stadium when the Chargers were still in San Diego. Ongoing negotiations include what entity should pay for the demolition of SDCCU Stadium, and a nearby river park.


In November, voters approved Measure G from university backers that directed the city to negotiate the sale of city-owned land to the university. San Diego State hopes to have its first game in the stadium by 2022.

The university’s Mission Valley redevelopment plan calls for a new 35,000-capacity football stadium, 89 acres of parks and open space, 4,500 faculty and market-rate housing units, 1.6 million square feet of office space, 95,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail stores and 400 hotel rooms spread across two hotels. The Gensler design is only for the stadium.

Plans call for chair-backed seats, as opposed to bleachers found at many college stadiums.

