Does anyone know when the city council will take up the One Paseo project?

Vue on 5th update
 

Bottom level pour in progress.... four mixer trucks on street at a time, plus base of tower crane in place..

Around 10AM:
http://www.custompuzzlecraft.com/San..._20141208a.jpg

Around 3PM:
http://www.custompuzzlecraft.com/San..._20141208b.jpg

Do you really think this will kind of be a watershed moment for San Diego County if One Paseo is allowed to go through as proposed by Kilroy? Between this project and Pacific Highlands Ranch a couple miles east of the 56 that area will be completely Orange Countified and make it feel rather bustling. I will admit the area is quite congested already I know it well having a dentist across the street from Ruth's Chris on El Camino Real. I do think that eventually SD will have to reach a point where traffic gets so bad major investment in transit will be needed. Kind of like what happened in LA ten years ago and they passed Measure R.

I hope One Paseo happens but I will be surprised if it does. IF it does happen though, developments like it or what's happening in Pacific Highlands Ranch won't be what's wrong with traffic in the area. The problem is there are very few ways to get from point A to point B. The only way to get north or south is on the 5 and the only way to get east or west is on the 56. Traffic wouldn't be so bad if there were a few other ways to get anywhere in that part of town.

Drove by Bosa's Broadway & Pacific Highway lot yesterday, and they were chewing up the asphalt surface. Looks like the precursor to an official ground-breaking...

^ That is good news. Pch and Broadway will look great when finally built.

Hopefully the council goes thru with this, not sure why we haven't hosted the All-Star game in Petco Park.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/...baseball-2016/

MLB gives preference to cities who haven't hosted in a while, but only if they build a new stadium (or significantly renovate/update an old one). The National League hosts every other year, and there's been a decent backlog of other teams waiting for their turn (SD last hosted in 1992 at the Murph). So, when you go down the list of other hosts since Petco opened, it's not as surprising as you'd think that Petco hasn't hosted yet.

Minute Maid Park (Houston) - new stadium opened before Petco
PNC Park (Pittsburgh) - new stadium opened before Petco
AT&T Park (SF) - new stadium opened before Petco
New Busch Stadium (St. Louis) - new stadium opened after Petco, but StL hadn't hosted since 1966
Chase Field (AZ) - new stadium opened before Petco
Citi Field (NY) - new stadium opened after Petco, but the Mets hadn't hosted since 1964
Great American Ballpark (Cincy) - new stadium opened before Petco

That being said, I think San Diego has an excellent shot at hosting in 2017. The only competition (i.e. city with a new stadium that has waited longer) is DC. However, Baltimore is considered the American League front runner for 2016, and MLB won't want to double up on that metropolitan area in consecutive years.

If Baltimore gets '16, I think Petco is a lock for '17.

http://live6.truelook.com/timages/li...0392471987.jpg

from cam http://www.destinationwebcam.com/Gas..._1APsouth.html

It's a novelty (at least for me) that this hotel will have a car lift off of 6th avenue.

While I imagine the hotel would be for a higher and better economic use, it says something positive about the economy that proposals include tearing down some buildings that outwardly appear to be in good shape (on Google Street View), rather than just building on empty lots.

Does anyone know the status of the empty lot on Park Blvd. just south of Sprouts next to a church? I find it hard to believe the Segal project on Robinson got going before this one. There was a rendering up for a 5 floor building (retail on bottom) but that isn't on the fence anymore. Thanks.

I saw the car lift as well. Seems kind of funny, but eh. And lets hope there are more infill projects to come. The economy is humming, so we should start to see more proposals come forward (and hopefully for residential development).

I searched the city's development website and found the permit history for the lot. There was a 36-unit project approved back in 2009, but the permit expired a few years later. As of now, the lot is owned or leased by the city, and will be home to a temporary fire station while a permanent one is being built at the old location (I'm assuming this is the Hillcrest Fire station remodel).

So for now, it's going to be a public facility, and thereafter no idea. The old mid-rise project is dead.

I searched to see what was going on at the recently cleared site at Normal Street and Harvey Milk, but apparently there is only a demo permit issues for the location.

Interesting tid-bit: where Jonathan Segal's Mr. Robinson project is going up at Park and Robinson, an older project called "The Memphis" (23-units) was set to be built before the recession tanked it. It would have been a complementary piece to "The Cairo" and "The Egyptian." I hope Segal's project has more units.

I'm glad to see Bosa finally moving forward on PCH and Broadway. I wonder what he is up to here.http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2014/de...ding-purchase/

Thanks Fan: I felt that would be such a prime spot to live you can walk to easily to things on East Side of Hillcrest off University and to the University Heights strip on Park, obvioulsy easy access to Sprouts... That stretch of Park is so tired it really needed those exta residential units. You would think the market is perfect to move forward with a project there like you said the economy seems to be humming.

Oh I walked through Golden Hill extensively a couple days ago and I got to wondering about its density figures. It is just about as built up as City Heights or more but I'm sure there aren't as many people living in each unit as in CH. Golden Hill has a very unique feel. What are your thoughts on living there and where it is headed?

Planning Chair
 

I just got elected as Chair of the National City Planning Commission! WHOOO HOO! I really hope that this coming year we as a Planning Commission can be more proactive in trying to attract some high-quality, mixed use development in our Downtown. If you guys haven't checked out National City lately and all the public improvements, the road diets, bike lanes, street lights, bulb-outs, and expanded sidewalks, come on down!

http://smartgrowth.nationalcityproje.../IMG_05501.jpg

http://wac.nationalcityprojects.com/...8/overview.png

http://www.avrpstudios.com/wp-conten...owhomes-02.jpg
This got repainted btw. It looks better IMO.

http://www.tnetnoc.com/hotelphotos/4...rior-1-DEF.jpg
Not the prettiest building in town, but hey the lighting is an improvement.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...City%2C_CA.jpg

Great news Bushman! Glad to hear that someone representing our shared interest is on the planning commission. National City has amazing potential and seems to have come a long way. With what seems to be a progressive attitude toward mixed use and high rise development, great things can happen there as the gateway to South Bay.

Congrats bushman! It's funny, I just got back from visiting an apt I'll be house sitting at the end of the year in National City. Its actually in that converted hotel tower that's condos now. I walked around the area and I was surprised at how lively it was down there. I hope they get some new (high-rise) development in there soon.

I enjoy living here. It's very walkable, has an eclectic mix of incomes, with a balanced gentrified vs grittiness that I appreciate. However, it's nowhere near its potential, and the locals plan on keeping the neighborhood as tiny as possible to keep outsiders from having a piece. Eventually GH will end up a lot like Point Loma or Mission Hills, exclusive and unaffordable. The area has great bones and improving infrastructure, all the right pieces to become a great urban neighborhood. But that's not going to happen, at least not until these old farts die out and more progressive generations can update the community plan to allow for denser and more suatinable development.

Hooray for Bosa! He is moving forward on PCH and Broadway and he is optimistic about starting Kettner and Ash next year. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/...?#article-copy

More great news about Ballpark Village...pre-construction starts in March 2015.

"Preconstruction work on the Ballpark Village project is scheduled to start during the first quarter of 2015, with demolition and grading set to begin in March. Its completion is estimated for late 2017."

http://www.sddt.com/Construction/art...illage+project

Not to get everyone all stirred up about using downtown land for a stadium, but what does everyone think about the prospect of building a Stadium/Convention Center expansion?

The idea of course being to build a sports entertainment complex that centers around Ballpark Village and would provide a needed stadium and convention space (although not contiguous).

While this proposal does take up many blocks, it would provide commercial facilities that would keep the area from becoming overly residential. Also, it would help to activate the area south of Commercial street into Barrio Logan. Last, more recently it seems that developers are becoming smarter about land utulization and developing projects that fit great into very small footprints. This is encouraging as it means that we can do a lot with the land that we have. Also, while EV is somewhat booming I would imagine that we would see more high-rises around the new stadium instead of more 6 story buildings in that area, due to the high priced views into the stadium.

PS: Again, while this does take up some land, half of it is a bus repair facility that wouldn't move anytime soon without this project.

http://media.utsandiego.com/img/phot...241868f07e11e1

Any clue as to what a stadium in this location and of this size would hold? Would it qualify to host a Super Bowl?

Groooooaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Here we go again with the downtown stadium NIMBYs.

Build it!

Here we go again with the poor urban planning advocates...

Nope, not doing this again.

In other, bad planning news, Hillcrest leaders are trying to remove bike lanes from 4th and 5th ave because they're creating traffic (which isn't true).

https://twitter.com/sdurban/status/545019434218184704

Pretty cool time-lapse video of a concrete pour at the new downtown courthouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwq...ature=youtu.be

I am so torn on the downtown Stadium. One thing is for sure, I would want NO new parking garages, all of the parking would have to fit in to the footprint that is shown in Spoonman's rendering. Now what a nightmare that would be having 25,000 cars all trying to pour in to one underground parking structure.

I do agree that the only way the bus terminal goes away (then where would it go???) is a stadium or arena. I wish SDfan which I agree with on so many things can show us a way that the 4 square block bus terminal goes bye bye in the next 30 years with just private developers coming in and doing it peacemeal or one mega developer doing the whole thing.

I would want to see the Qualcomm Stadium site fully maximized and turned in to a great project in conjunction with SDSU as a trade off for losing some downtown land to a stadium. Would putting a stadium/convention center there also begin to put pressure on the 10th Ave. Marine terminal? Question to SDfan, if stadium is not put there which goes first bus depot or Marine terminal?

If we could say in 30 years 10th ave would be available for more development I would have no qualms at all about using 6 square blocks for the Stadium/convention space. Now regarding south of Commercial. I see a giant empty lot that I have walked past and is fenced off just south of Stadium and Imperial Transit center pictured in the rendering. If we could get two 450 to 500 foot plus towers there (possibly out of height restriced zone) I would be for putting in a stadium.

We would absolutely have to get an MLS team as well. I would not want this to be just for Chargers/Aztecs, MLS is a must to add those 17 plus extra dates of activity.

I haven't been able to find any breaking-ground announcements online, but after driving down Harbor Drive last night, it's clear that they've started working on the Marriott Marquis & Marina project:

https://www.portofsandiego.org/san-d...is-marina.html

I have no idea as to the project's timeline, but I'm excited to see that moving forward.

Priciest condo tower yet coming downtown

http://www.sandiegocondosin92101.com...evelopment.jpg
Bosa breaking ground on Pacific & Broadway, mid-2017 opening expected

==========================
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/...ific-broadway/

I'll throw in a couple grand and a yes vote.

It will be interesting to see where the Chargers Stadium search goes in the next year. We are going to find out the Chargers future in 2015. I think we will be looking at a special election sometime this year on a proposal from the Chargers/City.

The Chargers had been saying they wanted a vote in November 2016 for the past year. That timetable has been moved up due to interest by the Rams & Raiders in LA. Their doomsday scenario would be the Raiders & Rams back in LA and the Chargers stuck at Qualcomm with no leverage to get a new stadium.

That is why we heard so much chatter this past month about the Chargers possibly moving to LA. It didn't stop until the NFL came out and said no team will be moving to LA in 2015... although 2016 is very much on the table.

I'm intrigued to see how they plan on coming up with the money for a new stadium. We know they want to sell the Qualcomm Stadium & Sports arena sites. Unfortunately that won't be enough to cover the 500 million the city needs to cover their end.

Its a lost cause if the vote has anything to do with raising the hotel occupancy tax. There is absolutely no way they could get a 2/3 majority in a city or county wide vote. In fact, we will know they aren't serious about staying if they put a proposal on the ballot that requires it. When it fails they can then point to that and say we tried and now we can move to LA with no guilty conscious.

It has to be a county wide vote with a 51 percent simple majority. Its the only way it has a chance of passing. They have to find a way to come up with the money without raising a tax that would require a 2/3 majority vote. The mayor said he will have more information on a new stadium in January... I hope it will be positive movement towards a new stadium in San Diego.

I agree with what you are saying but what kind of County vote will only require a simple majority? If the sale of City land is involved how can the County vote on that? My concern is there are already 2 possible 3 mega projects going in Mission Valley right now. 1. Civita (UC) 2. The giant redevelopment of Town and Country plus River Walk Golf Course (Coming in next 2 years) 3. Talks of adding tons of units in Grantville/Mission Gorge Industrial area.

So are the Spanos and City late to the game with proposing another mega development at the Qualcomm site? We see how slowly Civita is coming along and they are entitled to build build build like crazy but they aren't doing it just going in slow little phases. What does this tell you? Not tons of demand at the price point developers want in Mission Valley....

I do like the "SDSU West" idea that has been proposed at the Qualcomm site maybe that could get tied in. There are so many moving parts here and opportunity for ancillary developments not just a stadium. What will be asked of the County? What are the rules for County referendums regarding the percentage needed to get a tax passed?

An update to my previous thought that San Diego would host in 2017:

http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#secti.../p2p-82417302/

It appears Baltimore is no longer the front-runner for 2016, and the American League could be passed over all together. As a result, various outlets are reporting San Diego as the new front-runner for the event in '16.

15th & Island rising over Sherman Heights, you can see Sempra in the background too:

http://i.imgur.com/iRmThsR.jpg

Lane Field FINALLY going up!

http://i.imgur.com/aAxnYHD.jpg

Unknown Project on C Street & Front (?), don't know how tall it'll be
http://i.imgur.com/Bujxwc7.jpg

Thanks for the photos. The project in front is the new state courthouse.

It looks like another pretty rough winter day in San Diego...

Re: stadium downtown

I won't re-hash opposition to a chargers stadium downtown, I still think it's a terrible idea for reasons posted previously.

I am, however, also troubled by the convention center expansion. Doesn't being non-contiguous defeat the whole purpose of the expansion? Large convention planners prefer venues where everything can be in one contiguous space, I don't think we will lure those big clients here with this disjointed plan.

And then what happens when a large convention and a football game are happening at the same time? Is the parking shared? Will there be noise concerns for certain conventions?

A vote should be done separately on whether to expand the convention center and whether to build a chargers stadium downtown.

Or, we should have a choice of this project or the original contiguous convention center expansion that was put on hold when the city's hotel funding scheme lost in court. Despite the court loss, a public vote in favor would still allow that plan to go through and I think it's the best plan for our convention purposes.

I would vote yes on a convention center expansion but would vote no on a combined chargers stadium/convention center. It seems like JMI, the huge development company who stands to make mega profits if they are awarded both a stadium and convention center deal are using the situation with the convention center to try and bolster their chances of getting a stadium built and also bolster their chances of getting awarded two huge projects. While this plan is in the best interest of JMI's finances, it's not in the best interest of downtown or our potential future as a major convention city.

I think a downtown stadium would have a lot of benefits. The current idea seems like it has too many issues though. I don't like the convention center pairing at all for the reasons you stated.

Remember this plan? I like this plan a lot. Lots of public space and parkland on the waterfront. A new stadium and a new arena. Would be sweet. Plus the terminal is totally unnecessary and not even close to the best use give the location.

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...?itok=3PPGpCpO

http://media.sdreader.com/img/photos...ebf11d604414e5

This plan is no longer valid. Dole re-signed a 25 year deal which is the area depicted in the rendering.

I like that stadium plan, but let's be real. Even if it were still a possibility, this city can't accomplish a project of that scale. Maybe 30-40 years ago, but the days of SD being a "can do" city capable of pulling together to do big things like that are long gone.

I'll be shocked if there's a new stadium or arena built in this city at all in the next 20 years, but if by some miracle it happens, it will be the most bare-bones stadium project possible.

Even though that plan would never happen, it is by far the best option/proposal I've seen. Stadium-Arena combo would be awesome. We could probably snag an NBA team.

This would create open space for the public, not eliminate it like the current East Village proposal does.

I completely agree. I'm not against an East Village stadium (I'd rather have a stadium/the Chargers in a less-than-perfect location than not at all) but I think something like this old proposal could be pretty close to a best case scenario.

With that new arena, I hope San Diego will get an NBA basketball team and also an NHL hockey team as well.

Editorial in the U-T by Bill Fulton, former City of San Diego planning director
Jan 3, 2015:

San Diego Must Embrace Urban Future

A handful of Nimbys went berserk in the comments section. One of them even complains about cyclists and how she has to dodge them with her car because the streets in Golden Hill and South Park aren't wide enough. One hick even wants to install gates at the 5,8, and 15 freeways so that people can only enter the county as another leaves. Unbelievable, literally. See for yourselves and feel free to comment.

Haha wow!

there is still so much available land to be developed and redeveloped in this city.

Visit Boston, they maximize every single inch of available land.

I'd like to see PB slowly redevelop. So much wasted opportunity on a gold mine of real estate.