A nonprofit d with the San Diego Padres will soon take over the day-to-day upkeep of 22 downtown blocks surrounding Petco Park.
Starting July 1, an entity known as the Ballpark District Community Partnership will be responsible for the daily security, cleanliness and enhancement of the blocks around the Major League Baseball stadium. The blocks represent some of the highest-trafficked areas during baseball games and concerts, and often provide stadium-goers with their first impression of downtown San Diego and the Padres organization.
The territory is a newly created subdistrict within the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Property and Business Improvement District, a benefit assessment district designed to provide additional maintenance services above and beyond what is handled by the city of San Diego.
The ballpark subdistrict is bounded, in part, by Interstate 5 to the east, Sixth Avenue to the west, Commercial Avenue to the south, and Market Street and Island Avenue to the north. It includes Tailgate Park, two MTS trolley stations, the San Diego Central Library, the Quartyard container park and Sempra’s headquarters. Some of the blocks, particularly those along Imperial Avenue and near the library, are known hot spots for homeless people and drug use, and are often littered with trash and feces.
“We’re really committed to the whole fan experience for people who come downtown. We want to make sure that the streets are safe, that they’re clean, that it’s a vibrant and welcoming environment for people from the moment they get off (Interstate 5) until they come into the ballpark and back out again,” said Caroline Perry, who is the Padres’ chief operating officer and is chair of the nonprofit’s board. “But our goal is clearly not just Petco Park, it’s the whole 22-block area with a real focus on everybody who lives down here, works down here and spends time down here.”
Formed in July 2024 as a nonprofit benefit corporation, the Ballpark District Community Partnership is a subcontractor to the Downtown Partnership, which acts as the owners’ association for the downtown-wide property and business improvement district.
The new entity’s contract runs concurrently with the 10-year term of the larger district, which was recently renewed by the city through June 2035. The organization’s board is comprised of Perry, Padres public affairs executive Diana Puetz, Padres ballpark operations executive Ken Kawachi, Cisterra Development principal Jason Wood and SDG&E communications executive Brittany Syz.
The agreement between the Downtown Partnership and the ballpark district nonprofit was the outgrowth of an extensive community engagement effort during the property and business improvement district renewal process, said Justin Apger, who is the chief operations officer for the Downtown Partnership.
“One thing that kept coming back up was the neighborhood around the ballpark,” Apger said. “We (said), what can we do to partner with some of the people who know these spaces more than anyone on the ground, who understand the fan experience, who understand the resident experience? We really saw that the Padres, this ballpark partnership, would be a great subcontractor to partner with us to do that work.”
The Ballpark District is essentially replacing the Downtown Partnership’s Clean & Safe program for the ballpark blocks, with a focus on the daily cleaning and maintenance of the sidewalks and medians in the assessed area. The nonprofit will have a $2 million budget in its first year, funded entirely by parcel assessments on properties within the 22-block area.
Workers, branded as “The Cleanup Crew,” will be deployed on daily, dedicated routes, although some crew will be tasked to respond to issues submitted through the Downtown Partnership’s Clean & Safe application. The new entity will also tackle power washing, graffiti removal, tree trimming, public space upkeep and even attempt to rebrand the region with a street banner program and public art. The organization has hired New City America to oversee the ongoing maintenance and activation of the blocks.
The formation of the Ballpark District Community Partnership suggests that the Padres and partner organizations, Cisterra and SDG&E, are dissatisfied with the status quo.
“Anybody with eyes can see (the blocks) are desperately in need of better public services. They’re filled with drug addicts nodding out on the sidewalk and human excrement and everything in between,” said Brendan Bargmann, who chairs the Downtown Community Planning Council. “It’s my personal opinion that the Padres are starting to flex the influence they have, having long stood on the sidelines, and demand more for the weight and resources they bring. It’s pretty obvious that the condition over there is impacting their bottom line.”
Perry, the district’s board chair and Padres executive, did not blame the partnership for the condition of the 22 blocks.
“The area around the ballpark is a unique part of downtown. With the number of visitors that we have coming through this area for baseball games, for concerts, for events at the ballpark, it just sees much higher visitor traffic than any other part of downtown,” she said. “At the end of the day, Clean & Safe is responsible for all of downtown, so they couldn’t bring the specialized focus to this area because of their responsibilities to the other parts of downtown.”
Bargmann is optimistic that the new entity can do a better job cleaning up the blocks in its care.
“Anything that’s going to direct more resources there is a positive,” he said. “Two million dollars used well could make a meaningful impact, and it would nonetheless not be nearly enough.”
Some downtown community who spoke at a recent planning council meeting seemed a little wary of the new nonprofit and worried maintenance funds could be directed to Padres-specific marketing efforts, Bargmann said.
Kathleen Hallahan, the former president of the East Village Residents Group, told the Union-Tribune that she is troubled by the behind-the-scenes formation of the Ballpark District Community Partnership. The entity was not discussed openly during the Downtown Partnership’s property and business improvement district renewal process. And she is concerned whether her assessment dollars will be used fairly, noting language in a request for proposal document referring to the district as, “a live sports and entertainment district.”
“The Padres are the major player who will determine where the money is spent. They have a huge entertainment facility in the concert (venue). They have the only sports venue in East Village. So, yes, I’m assuming that if you’re promoting entertainment and sports, it will benefit the Padres,” Hallahan said.
The Ballpark District Community Partnership is in the process of mailing postcards to area residents and businesses alerting them to the change in management. The nonprofit is also inviting community to an open house on June 18 at 5 p.m. at Petco Park.
