San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said Thursday he will aggressively pursue a new sports arena project despite legal challenges and will revive plans to transform the downtown Civic Center, starting with new college classrooms. Delivering his sixth annual State of the City address, the mayor also announce d that San Diego had permitted 7,500 new homes in 2025 — the third year in a row that permits have been nearly twice the city’s long-term average. The mayor also said he would try to increase national focus on the housing crisis this year as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the first time San Diego has led that group. Gloria’s annual speech, delivered at City Hall on Thursday afternoon, touched on familiar themes but offered less ambitious proposals than he had made in addresses earlier in his mayoralty. And as in last year’s speech, he continued to urge other government agencies to help San Diego solve its problems. He called on Caltrans to expand efforts to clear homeless encampments under freeways. He called on the state to better fund a crackdown on retail theft. And he again called on the county to address the mental illness and addiction problems that he said contribute to the city’s homelessness crisis. The mayor also touted recent accomplishments, such as substantially closing a large city budget deficit and reducing street homelessness with the help of new designated parking lots and legal camping areas for homeless people. Gloria, who has faced mounting criticism during his time as mayor, argued that housing construction across the city and the reduction in homelessness are visible proof that his efforts are working. “We are building! We are leading! We are a city in transformation!” the mayor said. “And if you want proof, you don’t have to look far. The markers of progress are all around — and there is even more ahead.” Gloria said a top priority this year will be pursuing the Midway Rising project, a controversial mixed-use development that aims to put 4,200 new homes, 14 acres of new parks and a new arena on the existing sports arena site. But that project was further complicated by last week’s decision by the state Supreme Court restoring the area’s 30-foot building height limit — despite a 2022 ballot measure to lift it. “Legal challenges have caused some to doubt the future of the project known as Midway Rising, so let me be crystal clear: The redevelopment of the Sports Arena will move forward!” he said. “We will get this done!” Gloria said he would bring the project forward this spring for public hearings and a vote by the City Council. The mayor also announced plans to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the San Diego Community College District for the redevelopment of Golden Hall in the downtown Civic Center. But he said efforts on the Civic Center — which appeared to have lost momentum — won’t stop with the deal at Golden Hall. “My office will continue to work diligently with the community and the Prebys Foundation on advancing the broader vision for this property this year which will ultimately allow for housing, public spaces and the revitalization of our downtown,” Gloria said. The mayor also touted his recent proposal to ask the City Council to spend $118 million over the next five years on modernization and upgrades to the city’s waterfront convention center. “The city of San Diego is moving — with intention,” Gloria said. “We are building — with purpose.” The new housing figures the mayor shared Thursday appeared to show momentum he attributed to construction incentives and new policies crafted by his administration. New neighborhood growth blueprints the city has created for several neighborhoods — University City, Hillcrest, Clairemont and the College Area — have created opportunities for 105,000 additional homes, he said. Gloria also touted a new city program scheduled for approval this year that would allow more townhomes and duplexes in single-family neighborhoods to make it more affordable to live in those coveted areas. The mayor stopped short of making the theme of his speech “mission accomplished,” instead acknowledging the city still faces some tough challenges — especially on homelessness and infrastructure. But he said there had been notable progress on infrastructure, including a record number of sidewalk repairs last year. “We replaced the most sidewalks in city history — over 1,500 locations — nearly tripling the previous record of 565 back in 2021,” Gloria said. Gloria pointed out that the city’s most recent budget negotiations had shrunk a $318 million structural deficit by about $270 million — but he conceded that many of the cuts and higher fees had fallen hard on city residents. “I know none of it has been easy to live through,” he said. “I hear the frustrations. And I share them.” But he said the process shows San Diego is confronting its problems, not running away from them as it once did. “The truth is that we cannot build a stronger San Diego on a fragile foundation,” he said. “First, you stabilize the ground beneath your feet. Then you build something better — and higher.” On homelessness, the mayor said he wants to build on the success at clearing freeway encampments achieved under a deal with Caltrans. “I am urging state leaders to expand it to allow city crews to cover more areas next to freeways where we know tent encampments exist,” Gloria said. The mayor — who endorsed state Proposition 36 — said more state money is needed so that law enforcement and prosecutors can follow through on the retail theft crackdown the proposition calls for. Regarding the county, Gloria repeated his request from last year’s State of the City speech for more resources for people struggling with mental illness and addiction. “We need more treatment capacity, more psychiatric care beds, more detox and long-term recovery options,” the mayor said. “We need faster pathways from the street into care.” Gloria also said the Trump administration’s recent immigration enforcement crackdown in Minnesota make it worth repeating that San Diego police officers will not participate in such enforcement operations, under an executive order the mayor signed in July. While  acknowledging many challenges, the tone of the mayor’s speech was mostly positive and hopeful. “We are a vibrant, diverse and dynamic place that people from around the world are choosing to visit, to invest in and to call home,” the mayor said. “That demands we don’t shrink from our challenges — but rise up to meet them. Rise up to match the scale, the responsibility, and the promise of who we are.” ...read more read less