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-   -   SAN DIEGO | Boom Rundown, Vol. 2 (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126473)

Leo the Dog Oct 21, 2015 3:12 PM

The Pendry Hotel - Gaslamp is above ground now. First floor looks almost complete. Already making a difference on that corner. Will be awesome once it's open for business!

mello Oct 21, 2015 6:49 PM

Yes Pendry and Ballpark Village are going to be very big for our downtown. Big out of the box idea for Horton Plaza: Why doesn't Westfield sell that white elephant to a Chinese Billionaire and have them totally start from scratch? Even renovating that place will be lipstick on a pig and I never really see it being a thriving retail area unless its is totally torn down and start fresh. Look at Brickell Center in Miami with mixed use towers and retail underneath. What do you guys think?


Oh and speaking of a 650 to 750 foot tower in middle of skyline, the space on broadway where old courthouse will be demolished would be perfect for that!

spoonman Oct 21, 2015 8:41 PM

Regarding the building height limit...if you look at pictures of the crane at the courthouse construction site, it is at least 600+ feet high...above One America Plaza. Looks very cool and is also a shame that an actual building can't be that high.

Northparkwizard Oct 21, 2015 9:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spoonman (Post 7206585)
Regarding the building height limit...if you look at pictures of the crane at the courthouse construction site, it is at least 600+ feet high...above One America Plaza. Looks very cool and is also a shame that an actual building can't be that high.

Speak of the Devil!

Look what the FAA is doing about those cranes...

SDCAL Oct 22, 2015 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Northparkwizard (Post 7206680)

I read this and was coming here to post it, you beat me to the punch :)

This is just outrageous. It's actually the County Regional Airport Authority who is suing, not the FAA themselves. This airport needs to be relocated so bad, it's really frustrating what the city is willing to put up with just to keep this airport in this problematic location. It impacts development, building heights and density in our core, and overseas flight options that can in-turn impact our local business economy.

According to this "news 10" article, a pilot will be on to explain how the cranes pose a risk to incoming flights. I usually avoid the local news but I'm going to record this to see what this pilot says. I have lived downtown for a decade and have never once seen or heard a plane flying low overhead to the point a 600 or 700 or even 800 foot building would ever pose a risk. I've also flown into San Diego "International" airport many, many times and have never gone over downtown. This is especially disturbing because no developer will challenge the 500 ft rule to build a building when people are getting sued just for having a CRANE that's over the height limit. SO frustrating :(

http://www.10news.com/news/lawsuit-3...oo-tall-102115

dtell04 Oct 22, 2015 12:41 AM

http://www.ideadistrictsd.com/groundbreaking/
They're at least having a party.....

dtell04 Oct 22, 2015 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mello (Post 7197148)
Or a developer with some balls or gravitas decides to challenge the FAA/City who ever enforces these silly rules. I think the lot behind Petco Park that JMI owns is very far from the flight path and a 750 footer there could get done, or 1st and Island is way south and BOSA could push for a 700 foot plus.

It is also determined by north island airfield flight paths.

IMBY Oct 22, 2015 5:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDCAL (Post 7204156)
When I drive by LA's downtown, though, I really get a sense for how large those buildings are. Not just height, but even the girth and overall size does have a certain wow factor. Not only are the towers in San Diego not that tall, they also seem much narrower (part of it is probably designed that way to make them look taller). Of course, height and size isn't everything and SD has LA beat in terms of downtown walk ability and street level experience. We are also a waterfront dt, something LA will never be able to compete with.

What adds to the Bunker Hill skyscrapers, is not only their height, but the fact they're up on a hill. That hill, in the back of the Central Market, how many floors does that hill represent? 10-15 floors or more?

Put those buildings down below that hill and they wouldn't be that impressive!

upward 2000 Oct 22, 2015 6:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IMBY (Post 7207255)
What adds to the Bunker Hill skyscrapers, is not only their height, but the fact they're up on a hill. That hill, in the back of the Central Market, how many floors does that hill represent? 10-15 floors or more?

Put those buildings down below that hill and they wouldn't be that impressive!

The elevation ranges from 280' at the AON building to 380' at the Wells Fargo Plaza. AON is 858' and Wells is 723'

dales5050 Oct 22, 2015 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mello (Post 7206412)
Why doesn't Westfield sell that white elephant to a Chinese Billionaire and have them totally start from scratch? Even renovating that place will be lipstick on a pig and I never really see it being a thriving retail area unless its is totally torn down and start fresh.


Would be wonderful to have a new take on Horton Plaza but I am not sure if I agree that you need to demo the entire mall to get there.

I think you need to clear the entire mall for a top down renovation but that, while still a huge project, is not as big as a rebuild. If this were done, what I would like to see is:

> Remove the food court.
> Move the gym to the top floor.
> Make the 1st floor a 'Main Street' of bars, restaurants, specialty food shops and entertainment options.
> Keep a single big store like Nordstrom, at that corner, but have the exterior all glass like union square.
> Take the 3 floors of Macy's and convert to 3 new things.
>> First floor would be a large restaurant or club.
>> Second floor something like a Crate and Barrel
>> Third Floor something like a Williams Sonoma
> Remove all of the tacky lower end stores and have your baseline be a 'gap' or better.

Something like this would allow Horton Plaza to keep the first level open until 2am and they could just block access to the upper floors once the movies let out.

How cool would it be to have down by Jimbo's a butcher, cheese shop and bakery all in one location? With the ample parking, you could actually bring people down to this area just to do their weekly grocery shopping.

After 7pm or so, it would convert into another strip like 5th with people out and about. The big difference here would be you could have more of a connection to the moving people than on 5th.

I also think the balboa theatre is grossly underused. I don't know why they have such a hard time booking acts. I saw Elvis Costello there years ago and it was an amazing venue that helped with the show.

dtell04 Oct 22, 2015 3:35 PM

https://sandiegans4opengov.files.wor...ce_release.pdf

http://sdstadium.org/press-release-s...wn-initiative/

Start with the press release. It's a plan actually supported by Corey Briggs to raise the TOT and use the funds to build a convention center/stadium downtown. Conveniently right before the NFL public hearing next week.....

IMBY Oct 22, 2015 3:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by upward 2000 (Post 7207318)
The elevation ranges from 280' at the AON building to 380' at the Wells Fargo Plaza. AON is 858' and Wells is 723'

That seems about right! There's a cable car, in front of the Central Market, in the rear of the building, that can take you up to the top of Bunker Hill, so the equivalent of 25+ stories. And from that perspective, at Central Market, they're quite awesome to look at, more so for me, as I'm a complete sucker for curved glass buildings!

mello Oct 23, 2015 6:26 AM

Logic of 500 foot height limit: It just dawned on me how were Symphony Towers (approved 30 years ago) and Vantage Pointe (12) allowed to be built. Think about it planes fly even with the higher floors of these towers and then as they head NW towards Lindbergh's runway they move AWAY from all other towers downtown.

My point is as the planes move farther west they go away from downtown. The logic would be to have strict height limits near Vantage and Symphony in the NE corner of downtown that is obviously closest to the incoming flight path like maybe 300 feet if they were really that worried about it. Then to the west and south of Symphony Tower region of downtown heights should be allowed up to 850 or whatever. The only danger is in that NE corner.

A pilot would never pass by Symphony tower then make a crazy banking turn at the very last seconds of the flight and go near the new courthouse the idea is laughable.... So strange I just don't get it. Have you guys ever seen a plane flying over downtown's towers any lower than 1500 feet? I never have, not even close.

Bertrice Oct 24, 2015 12:58 AM

Taken today. pics don't due justice to the size of this place

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/722/2...8f348aea_z.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5659/...203c3730_z.jpg

SDfan Oct 26, 2015 3:50 AM

I passed Blue Sky today, i's about 5-6 stories above ground now.

dales5050 Oct 26, 2015 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertrice (Post 7209939)
Taken today. pics don't due justice to the size of this place

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/722/2...8f348aea_z.jpg

That place is going to be so awesome.

Does anyone know what the story is behind the Plaza Hotel just up the street on 4th between Broadway and C? Walked by it 1,000 times and always felt it could be converted to an amazing boutique hotel but I am not sure if that's even possible.

The Flying Dutchman Oct 26, 2015 2:51 PM

I've been inside. Never again. It's roach-infested, shit stained, and carries an air of many lives taken (either self-inflicted or otherwise). If you're someone that ever winds up here, may God have mercy on you.

Raze it.

IconRPCV Oct 27, 2015 2:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertrice (Post 7209939)

It is going to be an amazing space! A place the city can congregate to celebrate a Charger's Super Bowl Win! Oh wait that might not ever be a possibility; a place we can congregate to celebrate a Padres' World Series Win! Oh shit that might not ever happen either. Well its a great space none the less.

dtell04 Oct 28, 2015 12:58 AM

Does anyone believe the crap the NFL spits about not having 3 SoCal football teams? We have an abundance of professional sports teams.
Or is it three teams would be too much regional competition between owners?
Thoughts?

mello Oct 28, 2015 7:30 AM

Dtell: that is just a leverage play on the NFL's part to have that vague statement out there. This is not some documented guideline just something that has been said at one or two press conferences over the years. They didn't even specify if they meant 3 teams in LA or 3 in Southern California. (As you guys have noticed sometimes over the years SD seems to get left out of "SoCal" in the media and it is used as a term to describe LA metro)

I think it is pretty obvious the only one with the money and gravitas to pull off the LA is move is Stan Kroenke. Spanos is the cheap greek who can't even put in a new sound system and video board at his stadium while when all is said and done Kroenke will have put 3 BILLION in to this venture: 900 mill for Rams ownership, 200 mill for Inglewood land, 1.8 billion for stadium! Ahem, and Spanos bought Chargers for a song in 84 and hasn't done crap since all the other owners clearly see he is a speck on Kroenke's shoulder and just trying to "protect his market" so he can get a couple hundred mill kicked down for his trouble.

What Kroenke will invest is unprecedented in pro sports, remember dodgers sold for 2.2 billion but they did not build a facility. The big fish get the big pond, it takes money to make money, stay in your lane etc. All these cliches will ring true and Spanos will just have to make his paltry 2.5 billion in his team equity here in SD, I'm shedding a tear for the poor guy as I type this.


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