San Diego's strongest and most well known selling point isn't the Chargers. It's not the military. It's the weather, beaches and the physical geography of the area. Whenever I travel around the country and I tell people I'm from San Diego the first thing they always comment on is the climate or the physical natural beauty of the area. Nobody ever says "Oh yeah, San Diego home of the Chargers." Or, "San Diego, home of the west coast's largest navy fleet". I think SD actually has a pretty good reputation as a desirable city domestically. The problem is we have no reputation internationally. A lot of times in foreign countries people I meet have never heard of SD. They know SF and LA, but not SD.

I honestly don't care how San Diego is perceived (although I will add whenever I travel out of state, which is often, people always have something nice to say about SD). All I care about is how we sustain and grow our economy. The Chargers have never been a major economic factor compared to the military, biotech, healthcare, tourism and our universities and colleges. They are/were a useful marketing tool, at best. But we should focus on our key industries, and better transportation and housing policies. That's what San Diego needs to worry about, not some rich dudes play thing that roughly 30% of locals care somewhat about. Focus on what matters please.

Now, does anyone have any updates on local developments??

Just picked Gary London's brain for a few minutes to get some updates for you guys.

1st: He expects Manchester Pacific Gateway to break ground in 2017 barring a deep recession. He said the only hold up could be them getting financing for the office portion if they don't have a high prelease percentage.

2nd: He thinks AEG may be interested in building an Arena on the land East of Petco Park and they would probably need to utilize some of the busyard land so that could complicate things. Rumors are we could get the Anaheim Ducks to move down as they are sick of playing at the dumpy Honda Center and could jump at the chance to play in a vibrant downtown area which will have Ball Park Village and tons of new housing around it by the time an arena would open.

3rd: He expects a big announcement in 2017 on the giant Grantville redevelopment plan that has been in the works for a long time. Also the Vulcan Mining land in between Mira Mar Rd, and Mira Mesa blvd planned for a massive development will be in the news in the coming year making waves as the plan is very ambitious.

4th: One Paseo in Del Mar Heights will break ground in 2017 good news quality Kilroy project there.

5th: He hopes to see some more of a tech presence downtown in the coming years and some spill over from the Bay Area or even LA looking to come to our vibrant booming downtown, let's keep our fingers crossed on that.

Thanks for the updates

The thing about barring a "deep recession" seems odd to me. 2017 is less than a month away and I thought Pacific Gateway was supposed to break ground or at least start demo in February. If a deep recession were coming that soon I'd think we would be seeing signs of it already. Job numbers are up and so is the stock market so just confused by that statement :)

Anyway, any update on Ritz/ whole foods project at 7th and Market ? I hope that will break ground soon

Thanks for this! Was wondering when the bridge would be lit up. I think the California Tower gives a sense of orientation when in Balboa Park, I love that it's lit up at night.. along with the Cabrillo Bridge.

This is the kind of thing we need:

UCSD opening permanent downtown outpost
Roger Showley
San Diego Union-Tribune
December 12, 2016

http://www.trbimg.com/img-5849eb01/t...to/550/550x309

Link: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...208-story.html

Love it. So much opportunity comes from our universities. I wish it wouldn't take 4-5 years. Lol.

I agree, but at least the Blue Line Extension will be open by then (ideally) which could make the UCSD-Downtown connection even stronger.

I don't see why that tower at 12th and market would be done in late 2020 if it starts in 2017, it isn't that tall of a project. Seems like it should wrap up in 2019, strange.

SDCAL: Gary London was referring to a deep recession delaying Manchester Pacific Gateway if it doesn't get off the ground until later in 2017 and economic conditions look shaky mid way through the year for example. Of course if it starts in the next couple months it should be fine.

This is so, SO, SOoo needed. I think this will really help diversify the area and bring much needed tech and other non-tourism/ restaurant type jobs to EV!!

The UCSD move is some of the best news I've heard all year. The fact that they are buying the building, not leasing, is icing on the cake.

"The building would be part of Holland Partner Group’s $275 million proposed Park & Market project. The university expects to buy the building for an estimated $36.2 million and spend about $6 million in tenant improvements."

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...208-story.html

I didn't think about that but it makes some sense. "Door-to-door" UCSD via the UCSD Blue Line(sorta).

At least it's happening, albeit rather slowly(normal).

4 City Council members offer the Chargers a 99-year lease on the Qualcomm site for $1.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...212-story.html

RE: 7th & Market

"Gonzalez and his fellow plaintiff San Diegans for Responsible Planning are asking that a judge order a stop to the project until all environmental issues are addressed."

Briggs again? Doesn't seem to be any other coverage on this. Is this possibly just a normal occurrence that I'm reading too much into?

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2...ul-say-group/#

It's not normal, it's stupid. All of the development downtown has been guided through by an EIR that was developed the last time the downtown community plan was updated in 2006. The document covers a laundry list of issues, and is seen as a gold standard in the region for passing CEQA hurdles. This is the first time, to my knowledge, someone has tried to sue over the downtown EIR. If this case goes through it could upend a lot of the development being planned right now. I hate NIMBYS!

Announcement period + construction time. 4 years seems reasonable.

Of coarse if the economy takes the dive some are saying next year all bets are off.

Horton Plaza circa 1955

https://i.redd.it/zuea3dbtut3y.jpg

I wish they at least provided dates of when this would be heard by the judge. If it was something that was really putting the project in danger I would think other media outlets like the Union Tribune, KPBS, etc would be reporting it too. I'm wondering if this project is getting more scrutiny because it's on city owned land? And if this is Briggs, someone needs to expose this hack and prevent him from misusing our courts system.

Lookup the stuff inewsource has investigated on him, his whole parasitic suing enterprise is a self-glorifying, self-profiting sham. He doesn't care about the environment. He simply takes disgruntled crazies that are willing to sign to his pocket-lining lawsuits and makes up names for them like "citizens for _______" and then he clogs up the courts so he can make money. His proposition he had on the ballot went down in flames as hard as the Charger's did. He's a foul parasite.