Nice Map of Downtown SD
 

Found a nice little PDF map of the tentants of each downtown block, it looks fairly up to date.

http://www.sandiego-1031.com/newslet...tricts_web.pdf

I heard that this thing is dead.

The GSA put out an Request for Proposals for a new FBI complex. The area that they will consider is between the 52 Freeway on the north, the 15 Freeway on the east, the 94 freeway on the south and the 5 freeway on the west.

They are looking for land owners and developers to submit their land for consideration. The FBI wants a build-to-suit and will sign a 50 year lease.

Manchester boycott working?
 

AALS stands for American Association of Law Schools. I got this from the American Bar Association Website

AALS Moves Seminars Due to Profs’ Protest About Hotel Owner’s Views

Posted 5 hours, 7 minutes ago
By Debra Cassens Weiss

To avoid a threatened boycott, the Association of American Law Schools won’t hold its annual meeting seminars at a hotel owned by a gay-marriage opponent.

The AALS says in a statement that it will abide by its contract to reserve hotel rooms at the Manchester Grand Hyatt but it won’t hold events there, the National Law Journal reports. The group’s annual meeting will be held in January.

Several groups representing law professors had threatened a boycott because the hotel’s owner, Douglas Manchester, has donated $125,000 to an initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the state.

7th & Market Development
 

Got this email regarding 7th & Market project:

In light of documentation recently made available to Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), which included testimony made by its former President under penalty of perjury, and in the interest of preserving public resources, CCDC has suspended its internal inquiry of the Seventh & Market project effective today.

A discussion of the status of the Seventh & Market project will be placed on the Board's agenda for a special meeting on September 10. CCDC has contacted the Related/CityLink team to inform them of the suspension of the inquiry and the upcoming Board discussion on the project. CCDC sincerely appreciates their understanding.

Really? Too bad. Would have been nice to get a Lowes / Target downtown.

Yes, that news was on the VOC or Tribune site yesterday or Sunday.

I suspect that does not mean it's cancelled! It looked nice a nice building.... but better when the proposed African American Museum was going to be in it too.

Excellent. I noticed "Papa Hateful Doug" has dropped his room rates to $139... during some summer days... Ouch. Being a jerk can hurt the bottom line.

That project got me excited. :(

I notice that La Raza was welcomed there and I am sure that the owners dont agree with their views. It is funny who is for free speech and a group of lawyers are not. I thought this was not a political rag and was about buildings.

"The AALS says in a statement that it will abide by its contract to reserve hotel rooms at the Manchester Grand Hyatt but it won’t hold events there, the National Law Journal reports. The group’s annual meeting will be held in January."

They are still paying for the rooms. That doesn't seem to be a very effective strategy.

Well, wouldn't it be hypocritical of attorney's to go against a contract they had entered in to?

A typical attorney move would be to challenge the contract on the grounds that Manchester had created a hostile environment for gays and therefore affected the "quiet enjoyment" of the anticipated stay. They would want compensatory damages for "emotional distress".

Does anyone know what's happening with the Trolley Silver Line downtown? I remember reading that it should be open in 2008 in time for some national transportation expo.

I doubt very much the streetcars will be ready by then, but yes, that was the intent. Their rehabilitation, at least 2 cars, but no more than 3, is being done by a volunteer group of craftmen and such. If and when they do run... it'll be during off-peak times and weekends... and only in the clockwise direction. If there are only 2 cars... they'll be about 15-30 minutes apart... and no better.

It is effective strategy, there are other implications besides financial, namely bad publicity which Manchester has been getting.

In fact, I think it's good that they are still paying for the rooms, yet making a point that is getting publicity. This way the actual workers at the Hyatt are not suffering from lack of business but Manchester is getting bad press

Regardless of what anyone says, this gay protest of the Hyatt has had a significant impact. It's in the UT like every other day, and I would imagine any other would-be high-profile donor to the anti gay marriage ballot measure is thinking twice after seeing how much press Manchester has received -

Why would any high-profile donor think twice with what Manchester has gone through? Regardless of whether or not you agree with Papa Doug, politically, at least he has the guts to put his money where his mouth is, and stick with it even after he gets all of the bad press.

The publicity Manchester receives is actually good for his image, contrary to what you think, because the majority of the public is actually for keeping the definitiion of marriage the way it has always been. Average people could care less what a group of lawyers support. The UT is giving Manchester a good image. Maybe the dailykos and huffington post is where you guys belong since this thread is really just a couple of lonely people scratching each others nuts.

Yeah, and at one time the "marjority" didn't allow women to vote or let Blacks eat in certain restaurants. Times are a changin'....





Yet another cancellation. From today's SD Union-Trib -


Hyatt Loses Another Conference

Stance on gay marriage by owner draws objection

By Craig Gustafson
STAFF WRITER

August 22, 2008

The Manchester Grand Hyatt has lost its second major conference in a week in large part because of owner Doug Manchester's stance against same-sex marriage.

The county retirement board voted unanimously yesterday to move its October conference out of the downtown Hyatt after a board member raised concerns over Manchester's $125,000 contribution to a signature-gathering campaign to place Proposition 8 on the Nov. 4 ballot.

The ballot measure would change the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, thus reversing a court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in California. Manchester “profits from business at the Hyatt. So we would be using members' money to fund his discriminatory, personal practices,” said Dave Myers, a board member of the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association who pushed for moving the conference.

The retirement group joins the Association of American Law Schools, which opted this week to hold its January convention at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina and not at the neighboring Hyatt. The association had been asked by some legal education groups to honor a boycott against the Hyatt.

Manchester, a Catholic, said he supports Proposition 8 because he wants to maintain the tax-exempt status of the state's churches, schools and hospitals. Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that religious entities who refuse to treat same-sex couples equally with heterosexual couples could lose tax-exempt status and government contracts.

“I'm obviously disappointed that a select few would try to in fact undermine one of San Diego's leading businesses that has contributed so much to the community across the board in charitable giving,” he said.

Brian White, the retirement association's chief executive, said he is negotiating with the Hyatt and the hotel appears willing to waive a $35,000 cancellation fee – a key sticking point for some board members. The Oct. 12-14 conference will be moved to the San Diego Convention Center, but a bloc of rooms will remain at the Hyatt.

A similar deal was worked out with the law group.

Some retirement board members objected to the Hyatt but not because of the gay marriage issue. Unions have been boycotting the hotel over its labor practices and certain board members represent employee groups.

County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who sits on the board, doesn't support same-sex marriage but voted for the change out of respect to board members who may have been unwilling to cross picket lines.

She said she supported it because “we weren't losing any money, we weren't violating anything, and it seemed like a good compromise, so hopefully we don't need to discuss this matter again.”

Click here for more renderings and info on the the Gerding Edlen proposal - http://www.gerdingedlen.com/civiccenter/

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...%203/model.jpg