Nearly three years ago, a powerhouse sports and entertainment venue developer approached influential affiliates of San Diego State University with a proposal to design, build, finance and operate a state-of-the-art arena on the school’s Mission Valley campus. In December 2021, Oak View Group laid out its vision for a $425-million, 16,000-seat arena near Snapdragon Stadium in what the company called an “indication of interest” document. The proposal, marked private and confidential, was delivered to Erik Judson, whose real estate firm JMI Sports is partnered with SDSU’s athletics department and co-managed the development of the university’s new stadium. The document, released Monday by The California State University in response to the Union-Tribune’s public records request, reveals new specifics about a high-level arena plan first reported by the Union-Tribune in February 2022. In the document, the developer floated a public-private partnership, modeled after its deal with the University of Texas for the Moody Center in Austin. The idea presented was to construct a new arena, potentially at no expense to the university, in exchange for a long-term ground lease of the land. “OVG would target exploring a design concept that would have up to 16,000 seats for basketball, 40 suites, and 2,000 club seats,” the four-page indication of interest document states. “OVG is prepared to invest and devote its entire development team to the exploration process of building a world class new arena in Mission Valley with SDSU.” Judson, who shared the proposal with CSU Board Trustee Jack McGrory and former Padres co-owner Ron Fowler, declined to comment for this story. Oak View Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the document. University executives, including President Adela de la Torre, had not seen the document before Monday, said Gina Jacobs, an SDSU executive in charge of development at the Mission Valley campus. Although school officials were aware of Oak View Group’s interest, they never formally entertained the arena proposal, she said. “We are aware that there have been conversations about (an arena at SDSU Mission Valley), and we’ve been adamant that it doesn’t fit into our master plan,” Jacobs said. “It’s inconsistent with the vision that we have for the site. We don’t need a new arena. We want to improve our existing arena.” Los Angeles-based Oak View Group was started in 2015 by ex-AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and music mogul Irving Azoff. The sports and entertainment venue developer and operator has spent billions in private capital on arena projects, including Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. The firm was at one time attached to the losing Midway Village+ sports arena proposal for the city of San Diego’s Midway District property. Oak View Group backed out of the Midway Village+ plan in late 2021, citing antitrust concerns. The timing, however, coincided with the arena developer’s conversations with university affiliates — Judson, McGrory and Fowler — around the Mission Valley site. Oak View Group also operates the Moody Center arena on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The firm has held up the venue, which opened in April 2022, as a model of a success. The developer partnered with the school to privately finance development of the venue in exchange for a ground lease. “It is privately financed, roughly about a half a billion (dollars) all-in to this arena, including the infrastructure. And then the building was donated back to the University of Texas. … It is a unique contribution in partnership of land from the state and infrastructure from the state and then the private sector putting up the money to go build the arena,” Leiweke said in October 2022 at his firm’s VenuesNow Conference. “I would love to do 10 of these because they’re that successful with that good of vision.” The developer sought to replicate the deal in Mission Valley, according to details included in the newly released December 2021 document. San Diego State purchased the city of San Diego’s former Mission Valley stadium site along Friars Road in August 2020. The school’s board-approved master plan for the 135-acre site includes the completed stadium and river park alongside 4,600 residential units, 1.6 million square feet of office and research space in an Innovation District, 400 hotel rooms and 95,000 square feet of campus shops. The arena concept was believed to best fit within the Innovation District area, which is just south of Snapdragon Stadium, the Union-Tribune previously reported. In the indication of interest document, Oak View Group said it would use private debt and equity to finance, “a world class, live entertainment facility,” and said the university could invest as an equity partner in the project. Oak View Group also said it was interested in a ground lease of up to 49 years. “Coupled with the under construction SDSU football stadium, the new arena would serve as a complementary catalyst of economic and cultural development for Mission Valley and the university,” the document states. The proposal, however, never graduated beyond the concept stage, primarily because university decision makers were not on board. “This document went to a member of our Board of Trustees. He could have brought it up through the (appropriate) channel. … We’ve never seen (the document),” Jacobs, the SDSU Mission Valley executive, said. “We’re sticking with our vision for Mission Valley that the people of San Diego wanted. This is about our commitment to keeping our promises, not shifting gears for potential shiny objects.” Jacobs is referring to McGrory, who was also a driving force behind the Friends of SDSU ballot measure that led to the school’s purchase of the Mission Valley property. “As a trustee, I only get involved in so much,” McGrory said. “I think the decision was that (the university) didn’t want to pursue (the arena) just because of those issues: the master plan, the vote, the purchase and sale agreement, the (environmental impact report). A lot of things would have had to be changed to make that work.” The Mission Valley arena concept also appeared unworkable in light of San Diego’s effort to secure its own new arena on city-owned real estate in the Midway District. In September 2022, San Diego City Council selected Midway Rising to redo the city’s 48-acre property at 3220, 3240, 3250 and 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. The development team, which is still negotiating lease and deal terms with the city, is proposing a 16,000-seat replacement arena alongside 4,250 residential units, 130,000 square feet of commercial space and an unspecified number of acres of parks, plazas and public space. McGrory said he spoke to Mayor Todd Gloria before the Midway Rising selection to gauge the seriousness of the city’s intention to secure a new arena. “There were just so many hurdles to make (an arena) happen in Mission Valley and Todd put the icing on the cake when he said, ‘hey we’re going to build an arena,’” McGrory said. McGrory and Gloria spoke in January 2022, the Union-Tribune previously reported. In May 2022, school officials, including President de la Torre and Athletics Director John David Wicker, visited Moody Center with university boosters, including McGrory and developer Tom Sudberry, records show. The visit was first reported by La Prensa. Jacobs said the school was primarily interested in renovation ideas for Viejas Arena, the 27-year-old facility where the San Diego State Aztecs currently play. The Mission Valley arena conversation resurfaced earlier this year as part of a lawsuit seeking documents related to the Mission Valley arena proposal. In March, Arturo Castañares, who is the publisher of La Prensa, sued San Diego State University over alleged withheld public records. The university has maintained it does not have records responsive to the Castañares request. The indication of interest document was provided to the Union-Tribune by CSU and not the university. The records appeared to be linked to personal email accounts, as opposed to official university- or CSU-administered accounts.