IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Riverside wants to build a sports and entertainment complex in its Northside Neighborhood, a long-neglected part of the city that city officials are trying to restore.
If things go as planned, the Riverside Sports Complex & Entertainment District will be built on the former site of the Ab Brown Sports Complex, a multi-field facility once used by the AYSO that has sat vacant for about seven years.
Riverside owns the 56-acre site, which is near Main Street and Garden Road. The property is immediately north of the 60 Freeway/91 Freeway/Interstate 215 interchange.
On Aug. 19, the city council voted unanimously to begin exclusive negotiations with GCS Development in Riverside. Those talks will last no longer than one year, with an option for one six-month extension.
Besides helping Riverside’s economy, the Sports-Entertainment District will help the city’s attempts to revive the Northside Neighborhood.
“This project provides recreational opportunities that Riverside, and our greater region, have never had,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “It will create a destination that will energize our local economy and make Riverside the premiere hub (in the Inland Empire) for sports and entertainment.”
This is the second time this year the council has agreed to pursue a major recreational-entertainment project in the Northside Neighborhood.
In February, the council voted to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement to develop the Riverside Adventure Center, which will include a recreational facility, hotel and conference center, housing, a grocery store and restaurants.
That project will be built on a 126-acre site that was once the home of Riverside Golf Course, which has been closed for 20 years. The developer, Adrenaline Sports Resorts Collaborative, will buy the property, which has been vacant since the golf course closed.
City officials are reviewing the Adventure Center development agreement. Although they’ll be separate projects, Riverside officials hope the Adventure Center and the Entertainment District will help the economy in that part of then city.
“Pairing the Sports Complex and Entertainment District with the Riverside Adventure Center represents a generational opportunity in the Northside area and the entire city,” Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Conder said in the statement. “We are honoring our sports history while launching Riverside into the future.”
Plans call for the Entertainment District to include:
- A 5,005-seat stadium – expandable to 15,000 seats – for soccer, rugby, football and lacrosse;
- A 108-room hotel;
- Riverside Live, an indoor-outdoor concert venue;
- A complex of approximately 130,000 square feet for pickleball, panel and gaming;
- Two multi-sports fields and four youth soccer fields;
- Four mixed-use buildings with 1,148 residential units. Twenty five percent of those will be priced for lower-income buyers and renters;
- 193,000 square feet of retail
- A dog park, and a separate park in the middle of the the development;
- 3,500 parking stalls, and approximately 100 electric vehicles charging stations.
Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2026, with the project expected to open one year later.
How the Entertainment District will be paid for, how many jobs it might create and how much revenue it might generate has not been determined, said Regine Kennedy, Riverside’s senior planner and the Entertainment District’s project manager.
Riverside officials want the Entertainment District which is still in its early planning stages, to be a major part of the Northside Neighborhood revival. The Northside Neighborhood covers approximately 2,000 acres and includes Riverside, Colton and unincorporated parts of Riverside County.
“This is this going to be one of the biggest investments Riverside has ever made, especially in that part of the city,” Kennedy said. “We’ve held meetings, and we’ve heard from a lot of people who want to see (the Ab Brown property) restored. It’s one of our top priorities.”
That restoration process started in 2020. After three years of speaking with residents and gathering data, the council adopted the Northside Specific Plan, which establishes development guidelines for public and private properties in the Northside Neighborhood. It also identifies areas for possible development.
One such site was the former Ab Brown property, which hosted youth soccer games from 1985 to 2018. The AYSO declined to renew its lease because not enough people were enrolling for league play.
Riverside officials hope the entertainment district, especially the stadium, will attract patrons from outside of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
“We want something that will get people from more than just the Inland Empire,” Kennedy said. “We definitely want something regional.”
Done correctly a regional sports complex can be a “powerful economic engine” that creates jobs and improves the quality of their community, according to The Sports Facilities Cos., a Clearwater, Fla.-based company that plans and manages sports and recreation destinations. Parks, recreation and community centers generated more than $201 billion in economic activity, and support approximately 1.1 million jobs in 2021, according to Sports Facilities, citing data from the National Recreation and Park Association.
A regional sports complex can also make neighborhoods more attractive, which can lead to more home sales and increased property values.
“Amenities like park and recreation centers are often cited as key reasons families choose to move to or remain in a particular area, supporting long-term economic growth and stability,” according to the statement.
Developing the Entertainment District is a chance for Riverside to “take a great leap forward,” according to Councilman Sean M. Hill.
“This project could transform not only the Northside Neighborhood but the city as a whole,” Hill said during the council meeting. “It’s going to bring in parks, hotels and retail, it’s going to create jobs, and it will have affordable housing, something Riverside needs. This is a potential game changer, and voting for this proposal is how we get it done.”
