I just want to point out that being the 28th Media Market does not make San Diego a small market overall. Its only on the smaller side when compared to 30+ team pro leagues. Despite being 28th, there are smaller media markets with multiple major league sports teams.

San Diego is 2 team market that only has 1 team. It was mentioned earlier but it should be repeated... The Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL are right there for the taking. They are going to playing their home games in a 5,000 seat college arena. They are trying to get an arena built in Tempe but there is no agreement yet and it is not a sure thing. A brand new 16,000 seat arena in San Diego might start to look pretty tempting to them.

That's actually an interesting idea in regards to the coyotes. I know bettmen and the nhl really want to make it work in Arizona but if not, SD should be the first choice

The bus stopover facility is meant for short stops, it's not the same as the bus depot in East Village where vehicles are stored an maintained. According to MTS/SANDAG's documentation, a location over by the airport is too far away from the existing bus routes.

"To ensure on-time transit service for downtown riders, the stopover must be located close to transit routes that terminate near Broadway and State Street. Because most transit vehicles at the stopover would park for a short period of time, the close location ensures that buses would operate on schedule. It would also minimize operational costs and the need for additional bus circulation on surface streets."

DOWNTOWN BUS STOPOVER AND MULTIUSE FACILITY FACT SHEET
https://www.sandag.org/uploads/publi...4483_23477.pdf

You know after looking at this list, I didn't realize the California Theatre condo development was actually approved. I know the developer recently pulled out, but the curious thing is I noticed last week some equipment showed up on site and some areas on the block are flagged off with demo company banners on site as well... Are they demolishing it? Is someone on board to move it forward, or are they turning it into an empty lot that will sit for another decade?

Plus, two of my cats over the years have been eaten by coyotes so the name is perfect for San Diego

I noticed that as well. There were no workers on site when I walked by, but a wall was already in the process of being demolished. This was on last thursday the 25th.

I don't have specific details about exactly what kind of structures will be built at the old Nordstrom building in UTC. But I work there and from word of mouth I believe it will become an entire designer wing. With from what I heard confirmed Gucci, Chanel, David Yurman and moving the Louis Vuitton into a bigger store. Hopefully we get different brands we don't have in SD like Balenciaga or Givenchy.

Also, did anybody watch the Louis Vuitton cruise 2023 show at the Salk Institute? It was amazing and cool to watch Architecture and Fashion come together. SD really needs more exiting shows like that.

All indications point to the building being demolished for safety reasons. The developer went bankrupt and listed the property with development rights for sale. As the building continued to decay, the City of San Diego took notice and referred multiple code issues to the City Attorney's Office.


San Diego will investigate California Theatre owner as it seeks building’s demolition

BY JENNIFER VAN GROVE
AUG. 12, 2022

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...ngs-demolition

Yeah I never thought of the Salk Institute as a location for a fashion show but judging by the videos it was perfect. Really cool to see.

• Video Link

• Video Link

God that would be tragic for you all down there to lose that gem. A couple hours North we've definitely lost a few historic theatres over the years (RIP Carthay Circle...) but by and large we've been able to keep most of them intact, including many taking on a new life (United Artist now as the Theatre at the Ace Hotel, and even the Tower Theatre as the new Apple store in DTLA).

Hoping you all get a positive outcome.

Very sad news for Downtown San Diego!!!!! Hole in the middle of downtown will be created and last for years. Possible another hole a block away since residents have emptied out the SRO on C street. The building is completely unsafe for occupancy and no intention of the building owner to rehab it. 2 holes in one scoop for downtown. Not good at all.

Don't even get me going regarding 101 Ash.

4th & B is getting razed to make way for a 32-story tower:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...d-office-tower

Anybody have more info?

Oh! So thats the lot on the same block as the old California Theatre... mystery solved. The demo equipment I saw show up on site is for this new "4th & B" (345 B), not the theatre. It just so happens the city is also eying demolition of the theatre for safety reasons, but it's unrelated to this recent activity nearby for a seperate development.

Also, great news for a new office / hotel. This takes part of the sting out of the failed theatre development.

Some NIMBY clowns trying to kill off the new sports arena development.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...t-height-limit

I heard thru the grapevine that they're taking infrastructure (power/water equipment) out of the Fry's building.

Possible demolition to make way for something else?

Another demo???? Project most likely won't get built for awhile, if not ever.

An unfortunately too common San Diego phrase.

Though this is happening in North County/San Marcos I thought that is it an exciting project that doesn't get enough attention.

https://www.northcity.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVtIYfz99Eg
https://sdarchitecture.org/wp-conten...rth-City-2.jpg

Having walked through it myself it does feel more urban than the rest of north county. Their project focuses on walkability being a priority in the community which is rare for north county and it looks like they are going to be adding a bunch more housing/buildings/amenities. The only thing I think it is lacking is a grocery store or something because it is very resturaunt-heavy and there will be a lot of residents there that will still have to take a car to get groceries.

Yeah every TOD-style development needs a standard-fare grocery store as soon as possible. Not a boutique or artisanal cheese shop, just a regular medium-sized store with milk and eggs.

I'm glad to see more developments like this. Is it connected to the Sprinter? That would really help

Connected, no. But there's a station half a mile away.

New Airport Connections
 

SANDAG held a virtual information session earlier this week to discuss seemingly two distinct, but related projects.

1. Central Mobility Hub The project looks focused on building the multi-modal transit center Downtown.
2. Central Mobility Hub & Connections This project includes Caltrans as a partner, and more focused on developing a comprehensive multimodal corridor plan for Midway District, Old Town San Diego, parts of Point Loma, and Downtown San Diego.

The meeting materials posted publicly, 090822_CMH_Public_Meeting_Presentation.pdf include mostly updates on project #2 with attention to the Port Transit Center at Middletown. Nothing new about the downtown CMH.

I'm most interested in slides 30 - 32 describing 3 different routes for the trolley, people mover, dedicated bus routes, etc.

• Slide 30 is the most conservative, includes a trolley/people mover along harbor drive from the airport to the Port property and rental car center. A few dedicated transit lanes are also proposed for nearby areas.
• Slide 31, Concept 1 – Spur Along Pacific Highway, is the most interesting, proposing a trolley/people mover from the airport, to the Port property and rental car center but continues on along parallel to the 5 running through Sports Arena all the way up to OB. If they can make the frequencies work for a this alignment, I'm ALL for it. Not only will there be a direct rail connection to the beach, but you'll also connect the new arena and the thousands of proposed housing units to be built on that site. This plan includes dedicated transit lanes too.
• Slide 32, Concept 2 – Closed-Loop People Mover, proposes a people mover running in a big circle around the airport, MCRD, Liberty Station, turning on Nimitz to Harbor Drive and back to the airport along with dedicated transit lanes. I don't see how this concept serves the area better than Concept #1 and I hope it's sunset quickly.

What do you all think?

I'm glad they are considering a rail transit connection to OB via the Midway District. That's definitely preferred for me. That and a rail connection to Hillcrest/North Park was always a no brainer for me.

San Diego selects Midway Rising to redevelop sports arena site
In the real estate competition to lease and redo the city’s 48-acre sports arena site, San Diego has selected as its winner the development team proposing the most affordable residential units.

City Council members voted 7-1 on Tuesday to select Midway Rising. The vote came after a sometimes-heated discussion that put the team, its partners and even potential subcontractors under the microscope on a variety of topics, including allegations of deceptive labor practices.

Midway Rising includes market-rate housing developer Zephyr, sports-and-entertainment venue operator Legends and affordable-housing builder Chelsea Investment Corp. The team is proposing to develop the city’s sports arena holdings with 2,000 units deed-restricted for low- and very-low-income families at an average affordability of 48 percent of the area median income.

The group’s plan also calls for 250 middle-income units, 2,000 market-rate units, a new 16,000-seat arena, a 200-room hotel and 4,500 parking spaces. The project includes 20 acres of plaza and park space, including 4.2 acres of rooftop parks.

Team members from Midway Rising’s now-eliminated rivals also sought to call attention to perceived flaws in the winning bid.

“I’m perplexed why we are not asking tough questions regarding the arena proposals. A new 16,000-seat arena with parking (and) 4,000 new residential units does not fit on this site. This is putting 20 pounds of stuff in a 10-pound bag that will crush the Midway District and the surrounding communities,” said Erik Judson, who is CEO of JMI Sports and is part of the HomeTownSD team.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...rts-arena-site

HomeTownSDTeam was probably the best example of trying to go backwards. I would like to have seen a arena closer in size to 18,000 but at least 16,000 is better than 14,500 and going down to a 10,000 figure for an arena is a joke since the arena was the main feature intended for this development.

Even the new Frontwave Arena opening in Oceanside next year will seat 6,000-7,500 and it’s hardly a major replacement project for the cities main arena. 10,000?:slob:

I have my issues with the designs and the winning design, but this project being too dense is nowhere near one of them. Sounds like he's trying to drum up NIMBY support against the City's pick.

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It fills in the gap in the middle pretty nicely!

Agreed, it adds some nice bulk to the skyline there

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Construction starts on Mission Valley’s Riverwalk, now a $4B project

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...mer=googlenews

Great pictures, can't wait to see this one rise above ground. That area is densifying nicely.

How tall and how many floors will 9th and B be? The skyline behind the outfield wall at Petco is becoming increasingly impressive and dense. Petco has been a wonderful catalyst for growth in East Village. But the other side of downtown near the Embacadero and Little Italy is also growing up. I'm losing track of all the construction downtown. Could somebody make a list of all the buildings under construction right now downtiown, at least those over 25 or 30 floors? Floors and height and location (if you have that).

If they ever lift the height limit to 600 or 650 feet in the part of downtown away from Lindbergh, it would complete the skyline with a few 600+ footers. A while ago somebody said that might happen. Are actual discussions on this issue taking place? It would be nice to have a few buildings above the "table top" 500' height. A new city hall at 550-650' along the waterfront for example, with a striking non flat crown lit up at night. A developer could put it up and lease it to the city. No city funds required for construction.

P.S. wish list... I still want a downtown sports arena with at least 18,000 seats so we can attract an NBA and hockey team (or convert the Gulls to big league with expansion draft). Instead we get a smaller instant white elephant in Midway. Missed opportunity. Pro football can wait a bit. Too bad they didn't make the SDSU stadium a bit larger, at least 50,000. Pro team and SDSU could have shared it. Maybe in the future they could expand it. Could a football field be squeezed into Petco? Maybe it would tear up the baseball field, or maybe not. They have those monster truck rallies there, and that is much more damaging...they fix it. Petco holds I believe 45,000. Add another 5,000 temp seats.....football! Lambeau Field in Green Bay is only about 50,000 I believe. The Padres are so popular that adding some seats is a good idea anyway. Better idea....add 10,000 to SDSU. Or play the first few games in SDSU until baseball is over in October, and then switch to football in Petco. Wouldn't even interfere with baseball.

Is this it?

https://thinkbosa.com/project/ninth-avenue-b-street/
https://thinkbosa.com/wp-content/upl...-1920x1765.jpg

The NFL has no need for baseball stadiums. Every dual-purpose stadium from the 80s/90s/andtoday were built as NFL-first stadiums, with baseball essentially being allowed to share... NFL is king, they'd laugh at any proposal to stick a football team into a baseball stadium. And there was no chance SDSU was going to front the money to build a stadium that would be NFL-friendly... the cost would have gone up 10x from what it actually cost them. San Diego is just going to have to hope that a group of investors with deep pockets and deep connections will buy up some land and sit on it until the NFL is ready to come back. They've already proven with the SoFi stadium construction that they'll let a team play in a college or soccer stadium until the NFL stadium is ready, but San Diego has to be ready to go with a site, a plan and the money.

SamFlood found the link for 9th and B. It's 40 stories but I don't have the height in feet. I know what you mean though about losing track of the construction. Occasionally I'll drive through downtown and I'm always surprised at the construction sites even though I've technically seen them online before. Just the other day I drove down Broadway, and that street is really canyon-izing nicely. Courtyard Commons, Diega, and 800 Broadway are really adding to the effect.

As for a list of buildings, there is a website that's been linked here previously I think that shows u/c projects. I should really bookmark it.

I agree that the NFL has no need for baseball stadiums, and we won't be seeing an NFL team playing in one, but College bowls could. The Holiday Bowl will be held at Petco Park this year. This is what it looks like when you shoehorn a football field into Petco's baseball field:

https://www.petcoparkinsider.com/ima...liday-bowl.jpg

I think the SDSU stadium can expand up to 55,000.

Believe they did it on purpose to end just under the NFLs minimum capacity for a team.

You're correct according to SDSU documents. I think that makes sense honestly, there's only so much expanding of an existing non-NFL stadium that you can do, at some point the expansion just doesn't work. According to the EIR:

"The new Stadium/concourse design, however, will not preclude future expansion capabilities from a capacity of 35,000 to approximately or up to 55,000. Nonetheless, the proposed project does not include, plan, or contemplate an “expanded” stadium at this time or in the future; and no foreseeable development proposals, plans, or projects for an expanded stadium are known, pending, or contemplated."

It just doesn't make sense to try and get a state-of-the-art 65,000 seat NFL stadium out of a 35,000 college stadium. So I think it's safe to say anyone of importance or power who proposes to expand Snapdragon to entice the NFL is going to be a non-serious proposal from the start.

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Somebody on Reddit is saying that the Costa Verde Shopping Center redevelopment hasn't started construction.

Anybody know what's the holdup?

Guessing permits as always.

It appears to fit nicely, although field goals could reach the stands. They could put a net up. I like it. Not just another cookie cutter oval. Add a few seats, temp or permanent, and I think it is feasable. The Chargers played in a 20,000 seat socker stadium in Carson. The NFL should embrace individualistic stadiums with personalty, just like baseball has. Instead they want these massive sterile ovals, usually with roofs. Boooooring! Football should be played outdoors, with fans in racoon coats and hip flasks of gin to ward off the autumn/winter cold.

Just like they kept the proposed new Midway sports arena at under the minimum to entice a NBA team. The mayor and other leaders don't seem to want pro basketball or hockey, and they oppose a bigger downtown arena apparently. I don't understand. The Midway arena will probably be a white elephant, empty most of the time.

Seaport San Diego developer seeking up to $550M in public funding

"The developer looking to redo downtown’s Central Embarcadero with hotels, attractions and new marinas is considering a handful of public financing options to help fund a sizable chunk of its $3.5 billion Seaport San Diego project.

Developer 1HWY1 informed the San Diego Unified Port District that it will be seeking up to $550 million in public money to pay for site infrastructure and amenities, such as the proposed urban beach, that are connected to the public realm, according to a staff report published ahead of the agency’s board meeting on Tuesday."

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...public-funding

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UCSD Amphitheater is almost complete

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...61964d0a_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8f821912_h.jpg

Pretty nice amphitheater!

Why couldn't they have it when I was a student? :(

Then again there was Porter's Pub that always attracted decent artists

Dodgers done in by the Padres & the Curse of the Goose
 

Padres year to win it all. Thank you goose.

Dude, Gaslamp was crazy! :notacrook:

The Goose has become a thing...San Diego Goose T. Shirts common sights on Padres fans at game. First the SD Chicken, now the goose. Padres won.