Santa Clara, a small city located between San Jose, the 10th largest city in the country, and Sunnyvale a dominant force in the Silicon Valley tech community, fought to claim its space as something more than a bit player in the very competitive environment of major league sports. A home stadium for the San Francisco 49ers was hanging in the balance. When an opportunity presented itself Santa Clara city leaders quietly, strategically pulled together a plan to outsmart the bigger, better, richer, infinitely more prestigious city of San Francisco. This is the story of how the little guy prevailed, and was completely underestimated in the process, pulling off a coup!
One clear fall day in 2006, Jamie L. Matthews, mayor of Santa Clara, members of Santa Clara city council, and a group of civic leaders met with decision makers from the San Francisco 49er’s for a trip on a Ferris wheel. At stake was the perspective home of the championship team.
In 2006, the future of the San Francisco 49er’s remained uncertain. The only certainty was that the team needed out of the cold, old, and ill-equipped Candlestick park. The 49er’s organization had struggled for 10 years with the City of San Francisco to locate a site for a new stadium. The city’s only suggestion was the “historically blighted” Hunters Point, which the 49ers never considered a viable option. The site required significant toxic cleanup, and was surrounded by incompatible development. The 49ers were looking for alternatives when the Santa Clara City Council, said, “Come check us out.”
An amusement park might not be the first place that comes to mind as a location for hammering out a multi-million dollar deal. However, the host committee believed that once the 49ers bought into their vision, clearly visible from that perspective, everything else would fall into place. Up on the Ferris wheel they went. The heart of Silicon Valley spread out before them. To the east was a vacant parcel large enough to accommodate a new stadium and the auxiliary business it would require. To the south and west, over two million people, many already 49ers fans, hungered for a local team. For their bird’s-eye-view, they saw major freeways and a light rail system ready to accommodate lots of traffic. They could visualize parking for the potential 70,000 vehicles required to host a Super Bowl, easily assessable to the proposed stadium site. Most important, they bonded forming camaraderie and discovered that they shared a results-oriented attitude. The willingness to do whatever it took to bring 49ers to Santa Clara enticed all concerned.
So began the journey to the 49ers’ new home, an endeavor that is jaw-dropping in magnitude.
The vision established on the Ferris wheel ride was put before the voters, Measure J, a measure once passed allowed the City of Santa Clara to lease land to a newly established entity the Stadium Authority. This entity was tasked with a constructing a new football stadium where the 49ers would be the primary tenant. This private/public entity was formed to ensure that in a worst-case scenario, the entity would take the financial hit, not the city or taxpayers. The City of Santa Clara enjoys a high level of public trust that city leaders have diligently cultivated over the years-a relationship that ensured that Santa Clara voters approved Measure J easily. This successful outcome was strategically accomplished through hundreds of meetings from living rooms to town hall settings with all key players participating – Judd & Jeff York from the 49ers plan to build a $937 million stadium in their city.
Let the work begin. The stadium site, which had long been vacant (its primary use a shooting range for local law enforcement) is now a bee hive of activity. A deal was hammered out, between both parties, agreeing that local labor be used exclusively for the project, thus ensuring the highest quality labor force ahead of all the other large, local projects on the horizon such as the Apple Spaceship and BART.
“By entering into labor contracts with the Stadium Authority we locked up high quality labor, and ensured no work stoppages providing both sides (labor and 49ers) the security that helps garner high performance and commitment,” Mayor Matthews said.
Builders Turner/Devon were given an incentive by the Stadium Authority with a $35,000,000 performance commission for meeting the opening deadline, and a significant fine was to be imposed, per day, for missing the mark.
The stadium when completed is set to be the greenest, most sustainable stadium ever built in the U.S, featuring solar panels, green roofs, and sustainable renewable materials. One hundred percent American steel is being used on the project.
“We re-opened several steel mills so the steel could be milled on U.S. soil, and we hit our goal of one hundred percent U.S. manufacturing,” Matthews said. “Five of the largest cranes in the world were flown in from Dubai to simplify the process of handling the steel, ensuring that it was not double handled, and could be set in place directly upon delivery to the site.”
How is the project coming along? It is 20% complete on track and on budget to hit its original schedule – opening season 2014. Another bright spot is that the stadium, even as it is under construction, is one of two finalists to host the Super Bowl 2016. The collaborative nature that permeated the relationships in securing the stadium deal is again evident in the partnership Santa Clara forged with the city of San Francisco. A Super Bowl would benefit a region, not just a city, so in order to maximize the opportunity and work toward another successful outcome both cities are working together to make that a reality.
“The economic activity generated by a single Super Bowl game exceeds other major professional sport championships, including a 7 game world series. In most years, both Super Bowl teams come from somewhere else so virtually everyone attending the game is a visitor. This is much better for hotels and restaurants,” County Assessor, Larry Stone said. “Since the game is played in Santa Clara, that city will receive major economic activity and benefit. My guess is every hotel room from San Francisco to San Jose will be booked solid. The Super Bowl may be just one game but the events and festivities go on for almost a week. While we would all love to see the 49ers play in the Super Bowl here in 2016 or 2017, the chances are not that great. The NFL and local businesses, particularly hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions don’t want that to happen either.”
This is a win for the whole region – no metropolitan area is complete without a major league team, so why not the world-renowned Silicon Valley? What an outcome from a Ferris wheel ride at Great America to a new stadium, and potentially hosting a Super Bowl.
“We believed from the beginning this could become a reality despite several roadblocks. Securing the 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, took teamwork, coordination, and focus. It is a great story in terms of collaboration between multiple parties, and a clear vision of how that empty parking lot could become a site for a stadium that beautifully, and naturally fit into this community. No one person, or group, can claim responsibility for this outcome. It truly required a sustained effort and courage of an entire community and its leadership – it was the greatest of team efforts,” Matthews said.
No one could have predicted this triumphant outcome when the talks began – in 2014, this stadium will be a reality. The City of Santa Clara and its council members did indeed pull off a coup!
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