I like how the text in the linked story says he "IS BUILDING" an arena... As if all the permits are approved and he already has the go-ahead. Haha, good luck with that, slick. :)

If public money isn't involved it by far removes the largest obstacle of building anything here.

Buy the land, get the permits and then endure the usual suspects that complain or try and take it to court. Yawn.

At least you avoid endless delays because of use of public monies debates and when and how it needs to be put to a vote. Ugh.

Navy Broadway Complex just went through the same hoops of complaining and lawsuits but despite the delays it is getting built.

Does anyone have pictures of NBC? Or any other large projects?

I'm confused on Convention Center
 

Is it a citizens initiative as crafted now or just a plan from the mayor? I know Soccer City is a citizens initiative (obviously not requesting any taxes) so will the convention center measure have to be reconstructed as a citizens plan to meet the 50% threshold. Thanks.

There's not a lot to see yet. They started tearing down the old in April and when I was at a Comic Con last month they were still working on that. I'm guessing the actual construction start would be late this year or early next. It's a very big project. They are still sticking with a 2020 completion date which is pretty good considering the amount of high rises involved.

So for now we just have the project illos.
https://kpbs.media.clients.ellington...9/bg_video.jpg

From my understanding they have not announced the current plan for convention center expansion yet in detail. It's still planned for the late 2018 election date so they have plenty of time to adjust things if the new ruling will do anything for them. Like you I'm super curious if this new ruling can get them over the hump.

Thanks for posting the rendering, Nerv. I was hoping to see if someone had a shot of the actual construction site to see the progress. Does anyone know if excavation has finished?

I took this at comic con last month of the site. You can see the Intercontinental Hotel in the middle far right which is coming right along but the building next to it still needed to go. Everything else looked flat with clean up still needed in parts.

http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/a1...c1e948ce50.JPG

I can't say I'm super excited because of its design but I am super excited to see movement on the Chula Vista Bayfront. Nothing stellar but it will do to get their bayfront going into the future as a first step.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/08/31/p...elopment-plan/

Thanks for the pic, Nerv.

I can't believe the Chula Vista project is still 2 YEARS away from groundbreaking. This project could be dragged out longer than NBC when it's all said and done. When the project is eventually done I think that it, along with everything happening out at Otay Lakes and San Ysidro will help reinvigorate the South Bay area.

Pinnacle (11th & E)
Remember this? Looks like it's back from the dead: http://civicsd.com/wp-content/upload...h-E-9.1.17.pdf

Looks like they are opting for a single, taller tower vs. two shorter towers. (One 41 story vs. 2 31-story[s]. 462 units vs. 618. I couldn't find any new renders, so the one included here is out of date.

For the older version, see here: https://sandiego.urbdezine.com/2014/...iew-san-diego/

https://sandiego.urbdezine.com/files...t-Pinnacle.jpg

^ I've always loved this project and have been eagerly awaiting this to start. The style has a sort of Century City/mid century vibe. As much as like height, I'm a little bummed to see this go to a single tower. Any idea what will happen with the remaining land?

That's a bummer. I was hoping these towers would add some much needed height variations to that part of town. So far there are a number of 430'+ towers going up in the area, so it's going to be pleatu as fuuuuukc.

Funny how this project was always referred to as 11th and Broadway now they are calling it 11th and E. I just want to see more things break ground I thought this project and "The Block" at 7th/Broadway that BOSA took over were going to get going this year. So many projects are laaaaaging hard in SD right now.

Did you guys see the Roger Showley article on possible Arena downtown and one guy poo pooing it because it will take up "valuable land for tech office space". Let's be real how long have we been talking about an office space/tech boom in DTSD since 2000! And IDEA1 finally gets built and guess what 80% of the building is apartments with less then 80k sq. feet being for office!! :haha:

There are TONS of blocks sitting idle in downtown SD and its like when is this tech boom ever going to come? Year after year goes by and nothing significant happens. (In East Village, NBC has a big office building that will hopefully have some tech).

An arena only needs about 12 acres and I think it will be a vital mix to downtown and bring in tons of quality events.

I'm all for an arena, but hope it doesn't mess up the street grid. The city seems to think nothing of closing streets as long as someone owns the property on both sides of it. This has happened in Little Italy, the court district, etc. Hopefully the arena can be built to allow traffic to pass below, or perhaps the arena will fit on a single large parcel.

The only parcels large enough for an arena are the MTS yard and Tailgate Park

San Diego's downtown city blocks are already laughably small, an arena won't do any harm. Adding a plaza that benefits pedestrians in Little Italy and removing an unnecessary street that contributes to traffic is, in my opinion, a good thing.

Kinda ironic that downtown was designed to be ped friendly (small block sizes to maximize valuable commercial real estate on corners/foot traffic.) by none other than Alonzo Horton, an entrepreneur from the late 1800s. Downtown, then known as 'Horton's Addition', or 'New Town', was an expansion of Old Town. Yes, Horton Plaza shares this name. You can also thank him for setting aside land for Balboa Park (although other notable characters, such as Kate Sessions (famed botanist), would help make it what it is today.

That concludes today's history lesson! Have a great weekend everyone!:cheers:

Horton Plaza is embarrassing
 

I was at Horton Plaza yesterday to do some grocery shopping at the JIMBO's there, and I overheard some tourists inside Horton Plaza questioning why their guidebook had lured them to an "abandoned dump."

It's not good that visitors to our city are describing the main retail/shopping destination downtown as an "abandoned dump."

When you walk around you see pretty much every 3rd storefront shuttered and people seem pretty underwhelmed. I think the only people who go there anymore are people like me who have a single destination we want to get in and out of, or unsuspecting tourists who think they are going somewhere innovative and pleasant and then discover they've been duped into coming to a half-abandoned mall.

I realize that in the 1980s HP was a marvel. It was a new, innovative concept and it helped spur redevelopment downtown. There's no denial HP has historical significance to our city.

But now I believe it's reached the point it is hindering our downtown. It's a closed-in eyesore and the people who own/manage it seem to be in no hurry to improve it as they let it slowly bleed tenants.

What's the future for HP and WHEN will something finally be done about it?

The city needs to put pressure on Westfield to do something. Either revitalize it or sell it to someone who will. Having a bleeding, depressing black hole like that right in the middle of downtown isn't good for the city.

Impressive. Almost like a San Diego-style Rockefeller Center. The tallest building on the left looks to be in the 450-500 foot range, is that right? This is a mixed use project--office/hotel/residential/retail?