Affordable housing goes downtown
23-story tower was to be luxury condos
http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/...95d379f58af1c4

High-rise living with expansive bay and city views, ample outdoor terraces, easy access to public transit and, most importantly, deeply affordable rents are what await 229 low-income households next month when a 23-story tower opens in downtown San Diego.

Billed as the tallest affordable-housing development on the West Coast, the $90 million project known as Ten Fifty B metamorphosed from what was to be a luxury condominium complex before the real estate market tanked.

While the apartments in the redesigned project are smaller than the planned condos, the rents for the studio and one-, two- and three-bedroom units are one-third to one-half of what apartments are renting for in pricier downtown areas.

Indistinguishable on the outside from downtown’s luxury high-rises, the stylish urban tower has attracted more than 3,200 applicants. Each is being evaluated based on income level, supplemented with rigorous credit and criminal-background checks. The first approved tenants are expected to be notified next week.

Heavily subsidized with public dollars, the project is being hailed by affordable-housing experts as a model for not only low-income housing projects, but also urban infill developments located in walkable neighborhoods close to employment centers.

“We do feel it’s extremely important to have housing that’s affordable and well-located near jobs, transit and amenities, and this project certainly meets those criteria,” said Lynn Jacobs, who heads the state Department of Housing and Development. “That’s not only a criteria to get points (for state financing), but it’s also the future of planning in California, given the state’s greenhouse-gas-reduction and sustainable-planning requirements.

“This project is a little bit ahead of the game.”

When San Diego affordable-housing developer Affirmed Housing Group learned more than three years ago that national developer KB Homes was likely to abandon plans for its 184-unit condo development, it seized on the opportunity to develop the East Village site, and the city’s downtown redevelopment arm was willing to oblige.

It turned out to be a fortuitous move, given the troubles faced by two high-profile condo projects nearby — Smart Corner and the 679-unit Vantage Pointe, both of which have struggled to sell units and are having to rent out many of the condos.

The Centre City Development Corp., which had approved design plans for the KB project, ultimately authorized a deferred, low-interest loan of $34 million, the largest one-time subsidy it has allocated for an affordable project. The CCDC loan, along with other state subsidies and contributions from tax-credit investors, allowed Affirmed to offer rents as low as $535 a month for a two-bedroom apartment.

To qualify for residency in the high-rise, individuals and families can earn anywhere from 25 percent to 60 percent of median income. At the upper income range, that translates to $49,560 for a family of four.

Officials with the CCDC, which oversees downtown renewal, point out that dense high-rises such as Ten Fifty B go a long way toward meeting a state-mandated requirement that at least 15 percent of market-rate units in the downtown redevelopment area be affordable to low- and moderate-income households. As more condos were developed in the past several years, it became increasingly challenging to meet that goal, said Jeff Graham, vice president of redevelopment for the CCDC.

More than 3,200 affordable units downtown have been financed using property tax revenue generated by redevelopment, and the CCDC has helped finance 900 additional units outside its core area.

“In 2002, we were at 24 percent affordable housing, and we’re now at 19 percent, so that’s one reason to keep it downtown and also to create a balanced area,” Graham said. “We don’t want downtown to be just for wealthy people in expensive condos. It just makes for a healthier neighborhood.”

In an effort to keep Ten Fifty B’s construction and operating costs manageable, the project used recycled construction materials and energy-efficient lighting, as well as rooftop photovoltaic and solar hot-water panels. More than half the units have balconies, and large, landscaped terraces on the seventh and ninth floors are equipped with barbecues, fire pits and play areas for children.

“We used many aspects of KB’s initial design but made significant alterations to the building,” said Affirmed President James Silverwood. “We increased the number of units by reducing the square footage of each unit, and we reduced the height of each floor by 8 inches, which created enough room in the building to insert an additional floor.”

As the project’s opening nears, anticipation is building among the hundreds of applicants awaiting word on whether they will be able to call Ten Fifty B home.

Many of the prospective tenants work downtown, and some have been forced to double and triple up in apartments because they cannot afford market-rate rents, said Gianna Solari, vice president of Solari Enterprises, property manager for the project.

“We’ve leased up a lot of units in our experience, and there’s more excitement for this building than we’ve seen in the past,” Solari said. “The applicants are eager to get in and start their lives there.”

New Courthouse Update

Watched the crane go up today at the site of the new courthouse. They have been making a lot of progress there, pretty recently. It was fun to be so close to this crane. Sorry for the crappy lighting, but I was kinda looking into the sun when I took these with my iPhone.

It looks like they are done with the parking garage that went down 2 stories or so.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/...9c7e72776a.jpg

This crane is massive, and they don't even have the top on it yet. I have never been this close to one of these things. This thing is gigantic, and must be somewhere between 200 - 300 feet.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/...71c01d0cdb.jpg

Here they are lifting up the last piece.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/...9ae6ff7703.jpg

The crane itself is a welcome site to the sky-line.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/...0673d85924.jpg

This is what the base of the one putting it together looks like, in case anyone cares.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/...5ff8444157.jpg

I like that 777 Beech proposal. I'm sure the El Cortez residents don't.

Thanks for posting the pics! I had no idea 777 is still alive! Ay, I've never been a fan. I could see the appeal, but I don't think it'll age well as it'll be stuck with this modernist angular nonsense that they've proposed. I also find it unfortunate that it gets in the way of the El Cortez. If it actually looked like a real building I wouldn't mind as much. So be it I guess.

S.D., port to revise rejected bayfront plan
 

San Diego port and city leaders on Thursday said they will retool their ambitious, $228 million blueprint for the downtown bayfront now that the state has blocked the first phase of an overhaul that local officials spent 12 years and as much as $15 million to craft.

The state Coastal Commission late Wednesday stunned backers of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan when it deadlocked 5-5 on the initial phase, scotching plans to build a paved esplanade at the foot of Broadway, where a nearly 2-acre oval park had originally been contemplated.

“It’s frustrating,” San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said. After all the time and money invested in the project, “to have it scuttled by a few (commissioners) is disturbing.”

City and port officials say they will basically have to start the planning process from scratch, and that it will take at least two years to revise the waterfront master plan for the stretch of bayfront from Lindbergh Field to Seaport Village.

Robert “Dukie” Valderrama, chairman of the San Diego Unified Port District board, worries that the delay will jeopardize financing for the revamp, which was to include money from the Centre City Development Corp., the city’s downtown redevelopment arm.

“It just really hurts that we have to wait,” Valderrama said. “Times are just going to be tougher.”

Critics believe that city and port officials have themselves to blame for the project’s unraveling — a view shared by several state commissioners.

Commissioner Esther Sanchez, an Oceanside councilwoman, chided the port Wednesday for dropping plans for the oval park. She said the esplanade would have fallen short of what the community deserves — a sizable gathering spot where Broadway meets the water, on what has long been labeled San Diego’s “front porch.”

Port officials say the oval park never got past the concept stage. They say there’s no way they could resurrect the idea, even if they wanted to, because of the cruise-ship terminal under construction on Broadway Pier.

Part of the paved esplanade would have been used as a pickup and delivery point for vehicles serving the two-story, $21 million terminal, which the Coastal Commission approved in 2009.

A large green space at that same spot wouldn’t work, port spokesman Ronald Powell said.

“You’re going to have big ships rolling in there,” Powell said. “Once you do that, you can’t have a big park at the mouth of it.”

The first phase of the North Embarcadero overhaul would have transformed the asphalt parking lots near Broadway, and parallel to Harbor Drive, into a broad walkway with gardens, artwork and benches. Other phases would have included pier and wharf improvements.

Port officials say many of those proposals may be included as they revise their master plan — a two-year process that will require multiple public hearings and an environmental impact report.

Waterfront activist Diane Coombs, co-chair of the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition, said open-space advocates plan to hold their own forums to gauge public opinion on a revised master plan.

“Let’s tell the port and the CCDC and the mayor what we want, rather than them telling us what they want to impose,” Coombs said.

The port and other local agencies began planning the overhaul 12 years ago. Powell estimates that the port and the CCDC have spent $12 million to $15 million since then on studies, consultant fees, engineering plans and related expenses.

Port officials scoff at the notion that they don’t value green space. They boast that there are 17 parks on the tidelands they manage in San Diego, Coronado, National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach. But port officials acknowledge that any master-plan revision will need to address Coastal Commission concerns about a lack of prime parkland.

Coombs believes the esplanade idea underscored the port’s skewed priorities, saying it was designed more with cruise-ship passengers in mind than San Diegans.

Fred Maas, the CCDC’s board chairman, called the collapse of the initial phase a “travesty.” He hopes community leaders will craft a plan that can draw broader support, because “clearly we all care about our city.”

http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/...34634cbc5420f3

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...g-their-sails/

You ask me, that's what they get
 

Is it really so hard to have the oval park AND a drop off curb? Can't the remaining part of the Broadway pier, that isn't built on, serve as that plaza/walkway?

Here is UT article discussing the conversion of Plaza de Panama into a public square from the parking lot it is now:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...park-plaza420/

And here is an article on a possible roofed stadium for downtown:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2...m-makes-sense/

Roofed????? Uh......

Actually after reading the article I kind of like it. :laugh:


As long as the damn thing is retractable. :P

Roofed...Yes. Don't think of it as a dome like roof, but a roof like Warsaw is getting for their new stadium for Euro 2012. It actually should be called a "Retractable Membrane" cuz the roof would be canvas.

I love the idea for increasing the function and use of the site for conventions and basketball, soccer, etc. but i do say that with a huge BUT

i would say i love the idea BUT it must be done so that the location (downtown) is viewable from inside the stadium providing fans views of the surrounding city or waterfront.

I would say i love the idea BUT it must be done to minimize its appearance so that fans can still enjoy the san diego environment with an outdoor feel when the roof is open (rain or shine) for san diego charger football games.

Love the idea probably won't happen.

Sad but true... :(



Excellent points though crackertastik!

excellent point, sort of like Qwest field with a retractable roof (or in other words, what the cowboys have with that huge window)? maybe a hybrid of those ideas? anyone else have any other examples?

it is going to be quite a challenge id say, but if pulled off, might be the coolest stadium in the USA

very small footprint
downtown location so views need to be incorporated from inside
downtown so preferably an activated ground floor for the area
san diego so the facility needs to have a multitude of function to fly meaning a roof is likely necessary
san diego so it needs to be big enough to house a super bowl and bowl games



all i can say is ... GOOD LUCK ARCHITECTS!!

i was looking at the new meadowlands stadium for ny and saw pictures of the lost manhattan ny jets stadium that was to be in manhattan if NY won the olympic bid. that stadium was extremely compact, on a 10-12 acre site much like this san diego stadium would be. it had a retractable roof and was quite amazing looking.

thatd be a good model to improve upon for the chargers and san diego.

Do you have a link or photo of what it looks like?

Here it is. Pretty spiff!

http://www.tradeshowexecutive.com/da...20Corridor.jpg

Awesome.

Too bad that didn't happen. :(


It would be nice to have a "New York" team actually in New York...(Besides Buffalo, the only New York team in my book.)



The Jets should just change their name to the New Jersey Jets. It kind of rolls of the tongue...


Or the New Jersey Jets of New York. :laugh:

Meanwhile Los Angeles has proposed a new football stadium in it's downtown w/ a retractable roof and all. Things are going to heat up now.