Straight from the horses mouths:

The Barratt project (Echelon) on 11th and Island is on hold indefinitley. Can't get it to make sense financially. Thomas Jefferson Law School was planned to take up the bottom floors.

Library Tower has cancelled all of the exisiting escrows/reservations. Mothballed for now.

The Renaissance Marriott on 5th should break ground in January.

The land for Cosmo square is quielty being shopped.

Diegan is still looking for a hotel operator (flag).

Well that's just excellent news...



:no:

Uptown projects?
 

[QUOTE=bmfarley;2874179]There is a lot of focus on downtown, but let us not forget Bankers Hill. It may not be readily apparent because of the lack of information online, but Bankers Hill all the way up to Hillcrest is expecting more density too. And taller buildings.




Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone knew of a website or source with comprehensive information of projects in the uptown region as bmfarley commented? Some projects were cited here but are there any more?

Ouch!!!!!!!!!!!

When's the next boom going to occur? :(

Concernig the housing market... 4-5 years from now; after housing prices have signalled that they've landed and flattened. AB32 and the fight against global warming.... housing demand could decrease for the burbs relative to downtown areas.

I know you're just the messenger...but...

*shoots messenger*

:(

A few months ago, the salesperson told me they were looking at turning it into a condo hotel. I guess it didn't work out for them :(

What a bummer...This was the one project I was hoping to see go up. Perhaps the new buyer will see that the approved proposal eventually gets built.:shrug:

I've spoken to two different sales agents from The Diegan, and even they don't know who the hotel operator is going to be. Both did tell me that the "higher ups" were in the process of negotiating a deal and that an announcement was going to be made anytime now. They keep saying this will be the most high-end property downtown, so we shall see.....

I guess the W is in, and Mandarin Oriental is out. Since we already have a W, I was really hoping for the latter -



Source Says UTC May Get Ultra-Hip W Hotel

Project to Be Part of Mixed-Use Development Now Under Way

By CONNIE LEWIS
San Diego Business Journal Staff

The county is apparently slated for a repeat of “whatever, whenever.”

According to Joe Terzi, a Starwood Hotels regional manager, San Diego’s second W Hotel is planned. The wherever is University Towne Center.

The first W, which opened in the Marina District near downtown in 2002, introduced hip to the local lodging market with its jazzy décor and rooftop patio bar, a concept that has since been copied by other downtown hotels.

Terzi confirmed in late May that Newport Beach developer Makar Properties LLC plans to build a new W that will have from 200 to 220 rooms.

Houston-based Hines, an international real estate firm whose resume includes Petco Park, is also building a 15-story, Class A office tower as part of what is being called La Jolla Commons — a multimillion-dollar mixed-use project that broke ground in mid-November. It is bordered by La Jolla Village Drive, Executive Drive and the 805 freeway.

On May 30, a public relations representative with a firm representing Makar said that it hadn’t announced the new W Hotel because the contract between Starwood and Makar has not yet been signed. Officials of Makar did not return phone calls seeking comment.

However, Terzi said that base work construction had begun on the hotel and that details of the project, which includes some top-floor residential condos, were being finalized.

“We fully expect to open a new W in the latter part of 2009,” he said. He did not know the cost of construction or how many condos were planned.

Going Up North

While the bulk of the county’s hotel development has been centered in downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter in response to the demand for increased room inventory to feed demand from the 2.6-million-square-foot waterfront San Diego Convention Center, Terzi said UTC is as good or better a market than downtown.

The upscale UTC neighborhood that many refer to as the Golden Triangle includes a mix of biotech, technical, financial, educational and commercial firms.

“In terms of business, that market (UTC) is very strong because it does not have to rely on convention center business,” he said.

Conventions tend to be seasonal, sources say, with more taking place in the spring and fall and fewer in the summer. According to the latest report from the Los Angeles offices of PKF Consulting, a national firm that tracks the lodging industry, occupancy in UTC-area hotels averaged 80 percent in March, while room rates averaged $156 nightly. In downtown, occupancy stood at 82 percent during the year and room rates averaged $195.

Carl Winston, director of San Diego State University’s Tourism and Hospitality School, said the W “is a strong brand that will perform well in the UTC market.”

“I think Starwood, which includes the Sheraton, Four Points, Westin and Luxury Collection brands, is underrepresented north of Interstate 8 up to the Orange County line,” he said.

He added that the UTC area is “a wonderful example of a high-end suburban and lodging market.”

“I liken it to Orange County around the John Wayne Airport,” he said.

No Occupancy Report

The W San Diego does not report occupancy. Its Web site advertised a rate of $349 for a room for two with two double beds for Saturday, June 2.

When the 258-room W San Diego changed hands a little more than a year ago, neither the seller, Kennedy Associates Real Estate Counsel Inc. of Seattle, nor the buyer, San Clemente-based Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a real estate investment trust, cited the price. But a report by Atlas Hospitality Group, an Irvine brokerage, placed it at $96 million, or $375,000 per room, as opposed to the county’s 2006 sales average of about $143,000 per room.

Kennedy Associates had arranged the purchase and renovation of the property formerly known as the Old Columbia Square for $62 million for a group of labor union pension funds.

Starwood has W Hotels worldwide. According to its Web site, the company counts 18 in North America, including five in New York City, two in Chicago and two in New Orleans. Los Angeles and San Francisco each have one. Aside from the second San Diego W, others that are planned or are under construction in the United States are in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Hoboken, N.J.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Miami’s South Beach.

^Well, I guarantee photo updates on that project. Honest! ;)

How depressing!! What "horses mouths" (or horses rear ends :) ) did this come from? Even though the news is bad, thanks for doing the research - - it's so frustrating trying to get the scoop!

Yet another article and rendering of the Columbia Tower proposal. The headline is misleading since it won't be the tallest (in actual feet) downtown.

From this month's SD Metropolitan Magazine -

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y12...sdscene2_1.jpg

Tallest Downtown Tower Is Proposed

A Point Loma-based company whose principals trace their origins to the Indian town of Chhatrala has submitted plans to build a 47-story tower of hotel suites and luxury condominiums on Columbia Street Downtown. At about 500 feet, the $200 million, 350,000-square-foot structure would be the tallest Downtown building. Jenish “JP” Patel, COO of the Chhatrala Group, a family owned hotel management and development company headquartered on Rosecrans Street, says the first 26 floors of the building would contain 364 hotel rooms and the remaining floors would be luxury condominiums. Each of the condos would have private entrances from elevators. Condos on some of the floors would have swimming pools and spas on their balconies, says Patel. Chhatrala Group purchased the land at 1270 Columbia St. (between India and State streets) for $10.1 million from Bay Structures. The property is being used as a parking lot operated by Five Star Parking.

“We’re very excited about the project. It should do well for us,” says Patel, 27. Plans for the building, which was designed by C.W. Kim Architects & Planners, were submitted to the CCDC last month. The company hopes to break ground in 18 months. Completion would be in 2011. Patel says the Chhatrala Group is “heavily involved” in construction projects in India and is building a similar 40-story structure in Surat. Patel’s uncle, Hemant Chhatrala, is president of the company and his father, Ashvin Patel, is director of operations. Another uncle, Shailesh Patel, is director of acquisitions and development. Ashvin Patel’s grandfather is from Chhatrala, located in the state of Gujarat.

The Downtown project is the largest undertaken by the company, which owns and manages several hotels in the county and in Victorville. The company also is drawing plans for new headquarters on Rosecrans at Hugo Street, where the Sun Harbor Motel now sits. The motel will be demolished and construction is to start in August, Patel says.

I think the writer of thie piece is biased toward UTC. I got that impression even before I read...
then 3 paragraphs later...

What point is being made? Because it's lost on me.

If demand for UTC hotels is year round, how could March hotel figures be lower than year-round demand for downtown hotels ... and still be considered stronger?

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but it looks like this new W won't replace the Mandarin Oriental at La Jolla Commons. It looks like it's instead going to be at UTC (i.e., the mall), I assume as part of it's reconstruction.

Is that what the rest of you read?


In any case, that's kind of exciting. I wonder if it will include a trendy new bar (there's hardly anywhere good to go up in this part of town).

I think the point is that a new W is being built in UTC. The writer didn't say UTC was as good or better than downtown...Terzi did.

"Terzi said UTC is as good or better a market than downtown"


If anything, the writer is pointing out the inaccuracy of Terzi's quote.

Alright... I'll give that to you. howdver, I felt the writer had some long-winded sentences prior to that section that seemed to try to pump up UTC. Maybe the writer is a high school intern or just graduated from school and is learning on the job.

^^ Between us, UTC seems like kind of an odd spot for a trendy hotel like a W (especially considering that part of UTC is closer to Miramar than it is to La Jolla) but I really didn't detect a pro-UTC bias from the writer when I read the article. I'm still trying to figure out if this W is going to be built in La Jolla Commons or if it's going to be part of the redeveloped UTC mall, so that shows you what I know! hahaha

First, E, I was trying to find an answer to your question and I realized after a few minutes its in the subheading of the Article's title:
"Project to Be Part of Mixed-Use Development Now Under Way"

So ya, it seems the W is in the Commons project.

I think, before you all pass judgement on this one, you should ask for more renderings. Call CCDC. I went to the design review meeting for this project. It is awesome. It contains a public parking garage, a high end hotel, ultra luxury APARTMENTS, a police store front, a cultural space, and room for a 10 to 20k square foot grocery store. The architect is Carrier Johnson. I think if you saw other renderings you would appreciate the top more. There are also a series of green roofs as well.

I look forward to the Related Companies doing a 1st class job in San Diego.

One other note, you all have excellent comments about new buildings why don't you go to the CCDC design review meetings and comment? Rarely does the public show up for these meetings. I think much more public comment would be appreciated.

I really don't see a problem with the top of the building as it is in that rendering. I think it is both unique and attractive.