In January, the Downtown San Diego Partnership was awarded a 10-year renewal of its Clean & Safe contract to oversee city maintenance and safety. Without public notice, the DSDP has moved to create a “Ballpark District” in East Village that will be maintained by a separate entity.
Downtown property owners (in the 92101 ZIP Code) voted overwhelmingly (74%) to renew the Clean & Safe contract. The deal was then certified by a vote of the San Diego City Council.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued on March 4, 2025, seeking a “District Management Company, For the Ballpark District, a Subdistrict of the Downtown San Diego Partnership PBID.” (A PBID is a Property and Business Improvement District.)
Applications are being collected by Southwest Strategies Group and are due by March 25.
The RFP states: “The Ballpark District will operate as a subdistrict of the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s PBID and is funded through property assessment dollars. The Board of Directors (“Board”) of the Ballpark District Community Partnership will determine the selected Management Company, which will report to the Board.”
Local resident Kathleen Hallahan, former president of the East Village Residents Group, says the petition for the vote to support the renewal of the contract for Clean and Safe was deceptive.
“If it was known that the maintenance and security in our neighborhood would be given to a new company with no input from the property owners and approved by a committee whose members are still not divulged, the vote would have turned out much differently,” Hallahan says.
Hallahan notes the RFP describes a sports and entertainment district, a designation also not previously divulged.
“The area includes zones that are designated as Residential Emphasis, and Residential/Office Retail,” she says. “The residential properties have no guarantee that our fees will not rise to cover cleanup of the increasing number of large concerts at Petco Park and Gallagher Square.”
San Diego Padres officials did not return a request for comment from The Sun. The team is currently in protracted litigation with a group of East Village residents who say Padres-run concerts held at Gallagher Square, which is adjacent to Petco Park, are too loud and disruptive.
The offices of Mayor Todd Gloria and District 3 City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn referred questions about the new Ballpark District cut-out to the DSDP.
The DSDP didn’t offer many specifics on the Ballpark District, saying the concept still has a lot of moving parts to be settled and publicity will be forthcoming.
“We spent three years doing community outreach to get the Clean & Safe contract renewed,” DSDP Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Justin Apger says. “The ballpark is considered an asset and we want to elevate our assets.”
Apger says members of the Ballpark District Community Partnership will include “representatives from the Padres, Sempra Energy and other property owners who represent the district.”
He adds that decision-making on changes regarding maintenance oversight will happen after a management company is selected for the Ballpark District. On paper, the Ballpark District Community Partnership will report to the DSDP.
A map of the Proposed Ballpark District shows the area stretching from Sixth Avenue on the west to the I-5 Freeway on the east.
Sixth Avenue abuts the Gaslamp Quarter, downtown San Diego’s current entertainment district. Gaslamp Quarter Association Executive Director Michael Trimble didn’t express concern about a competing entertainment district next door.
“They are already an entertainment district in some respects with the Padres, Gallagher Square and all the concerts and events,” Trimble says. “We work with the Padres. Drives more people downtown.”
On the east side of Petco Park, it was a surprise to see Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets (near the I-5) included in the proposed Ballpark District map. That area has been ground zero for homelessness, drug arrests and safety issues.
In March 2024, local headlines noted Clean & Safe staff was hesitant to maintain the area until the San Diego Police Department stepped in to secure staff safety.
Robyn Spencer says getting a new group to maintain the area surrounding the ballpark and along entrance/exit corridors to East Village is a good idea.
“When visitors are concerned about safety, they don’t stay after baseball games and go to restaurants and bars,” says Spencer, who works with both the East Village Residents Group and the East Village Association.
The EVA is managed by San Diego-based New City America Inc., a multi-management firm that has established Business Improvement Districts and Community Benefit Districts in 90 communities around the country, including downtown San Diego’s Little Italy.
New City America is a likely candidate for the District Management Company contract overseeing the Ballpark District.
Dominic Li Mandri is a district manager for New City and executive director of the EVA. Through a spokesperson, Li Mandri declined to comment on the Ballpark District contract. SDSun
