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The San Diego Convention Center has announced its march to the sea. The San Diego Convention Center Corporation’s (SDCCC) board of directors voted unanimously to acquire a lease option on 8.5 acres of land and water adjacent to the 2.6 million-square foot-waterfront facility. The vote and purchase of a one year lease option of the land—at a cost of $1 million—is the first major step in the expansion process, a project that will essentially utilize existing land between the existing facility and the waterfront and ultimately add about 500,000 square feet of space to the venue.

"Many of our most lucrative clients who have outgrown the building, or are nearing capacity, have actually asked us when we plan to expand because they want to stay in San Diego," said Carol Wallace, SDCCC President and CEO. "I’m pleased to announce we’re acquiring land and moving forward."

Wallace was part of a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and Cheryl Kendrick, chair of the SDCCC board of directors where the expansion announcement was made.

"Without question, this signature building is one of our city’s greatest assets and investments made by local taxpayers," said Mayor Sanders, a long proponent for expansion, a subject he remarked on while welcoming attendees of the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership 2008 Annual Meeting and Exposition, held at the Convention Center in August. Sanders emphasized that the 2008 fiscal year resulted in a remarkable return on investment for the city. In 2008, the San Diego Convention Center generated $1.8 billion in regional economic impact, $751.8 million in direct delegate spending, $31.9 million in tax revenues for the city; 648,159 out-of-town attendees; and overall attendance of nearly one million.

"For every one dollar of tax revenues invested in the facility, it has returned $2.36 in tax revenues this past year," added Sanders.

. "San Diego has evolved into a leading destination and continues to be in strong demand," said Kendrick. "We turn away approximately a year’s worth of business annually and are operating at maximum capacity year round. It’s very simple—to remain competitive we must expand."

 Comic-Con International, whose annual confab in San Diego attracts upwards of 125,000, also attended the news conference. "We are presently booked in the San Diego Convention Center until 2012," said David Glanzer, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Comic Con International. "By then, it is our hope that the Convention Center, City and Port officials will have the expansion well underway."

The growth of the Comic Con event has been a major factor in the need for the San Diego Convention Center to expand. Comic Con International, the largest consumer trade show of its kind—and the biggest client of the San Diego Convention Center—began as a fan-oriented gathering of Comic Book fans, but it is now a major showcase of all media, including motion pictures, television programs and video games. The event began in San Diego in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention, hosted by the U.S. Grant Hotel and attracting about 300 attendees. Comic-Con International, which has been hosted by the San Diego Convention Center since 1991, is considered one of the major Entertainment Industry events of the year. In addition to the more than 125,000 attendees, exhibitors include major media companies as well as major toy and collectible companies. The 2008 Comic-Con International was so popular—the event is held in July and 2008 was the Summer of Iron Man and the Dark Knight!—that the convention was actually sold out weeks before and for the first time in its history, no onsite registration was available.

 During 2009, it is expected that there will be a design in-place as well as square footage specifications, cost and identify funding for the San Diego Convention Center expansion, although there are no renderings or images available yet. The proposed land site is owned by the Port of San Diego, the public entity responsible for managing San Diego’s tidelands property and owner of the existing Convention Center. The Port paid cash-in-full, $164 million, to build the original Convention Center, which opened in 1989. Along with the City, the Port also shares the cost of the $264 million expansion, which opened in 2001 and is being paid for with lease revenue bonds. Because the land is located along San Diego’s signature waterfront, there is ample opportunity to enhance bayfront public access and public-serving amenities to benefit visitors and locals alike.