Looking forward to seeing this observation ferris wheel in downtown San Diego. I am very glad my favorite city is looking very beautiful.

lane field park

https://coolsandiegosights.files.wor...pg?w=474&h=350

courtesy of https://coolsandiegosights.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the pic Bertrice! That baseball diamond themed park is especially appropriate today as MLB has awarded San Diego the 2016 All Star Game!

Even if you don't care for baseball, it should give projects like the Pendry Hotel a hard deadline for completion. They won't want to miss that opportunity...

True. I guess my question is if it's reasonably possible to build a super tall downtown with some sort of "exception" that would need to be granted by the FAA and local government. Would one super tall downtown really create a safety hazard for incoming/outgoing planes? Has anyone tried to get approval for something over 500 ft? I guess I'm just surprised that no developer has, to my knowledge, at least TRIED to get approval for something taller. It would add a lot of prestige to a hotel or condo tower or office building to be the tallest building in the city. But developers seem surprisingly content just staying within the 500 ft maximum and contributing to the ugly plateau effect. Maybe its because they know the process of getting something taller approved would be too costly/time consuming/ difficult?

The developers of One America Plaza tried to get a 150' height variance for the project from the FAA back in the 80's, but they were shot down. Imagine if they'd gotten that extra 150'... uhhhh.

In other news, some nice (and not so nice) infill development is moving forward downtown and Encanto.

PS, as I suspected, the proposed project on F street is tragically underutilized.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/...to-apartments/

F-11 is a joke, article said developer is proposing smaller number of units to limit risk... Economy is looking good its time to strike while the iron is hot. That is such bs, that building belongs in Civita or North Park but not a prime location like 11th and F.

Walked around the 5th and Spruce project today in Bankers Hill. If that stretch had about another ten high rise to midrise projetcs it would be a sweet corridor of density. The one going up looks almost done. Nice from some angles pretty ugly when driving North and looking at south side.

Does the FAA actually have any power over local projects or is it just a guideline?

I've heard they have zero power before, but cities follow their guidelines to avoid pricey lawsuits from NIMBYS.

I know we've been over this issue a thousand times on this forum, but the 500-foot height limit seems pretty arbitrary, and I seriously doubt that anyone has really tried to challenge the FAA's authority on that.

Yes, the developers of One America Plaza might have originally submitted a design for 650 feet, but it sounds like they immediately gave up without any attempt to challenge it.

SDCAL is right, it doesn't make any sense why there's a blanket 500-foot limit instead of a gradual increase/step down the closer you get to the flight path. The other small runway at Lindbergh Field is defunct, so that shouldn't affect the height limits. And none of the Navy aircraft ever pass over Downtown so that shouldn't be an issue either.

This sounds like a classic case of the federal government over-regulating, and I'm surprised that our local republican leaders haven't taken issue with this over the past few decades.

I agree. The FAA should lift that 500ft height restriction limit so San Diego would get supertall skyscrapers in it's downtown area.

I know that Miami has fought and they have gained some ground on height limits. Although I know that the FAA has been giving them grief again over the past few years. I think with some aggressive lobbying that the FAA may give some concessions. The FAA didn't set the 500 foot blanket, that was actually the city. The problem is that the FAA can shut down the airport if they deem a building too tall or dangerous for flights.

As far as I know, they did try, and they didn't get approval. There isn't much you can do after that either. A public referendum wouldn't be popular (let's make the city liable for something we know is unsafe? NIMBYS?) and legally since developers aren't experts in aviation safety compared to federal regulators at the FAA (the whole point of the FAA) I'm pretty sure any challenge would be laughed out of court. So, yeah, case closed there.

While I would love to join this chorus it's been done too many times here. Thems the breaks folks.

The bigger issue is with insurance. If the FAA says that any structure is over a restricted height limit, the property owners is liable in full and no insurance company would dare do business with them. The FAA can't stop a project, but they can essentially condemn it financially. The city just adds an official level of oversight by enacting a local ordinance forbidding anything over 500', which can stop a project (as we've seen in Kearny Mesa at Spectrum Center).

I've seen Phoenix maps of FAA height limits and its a stepped system. Literally a block to the west or north will result in higher height limits in their downtown.

What is strange, is how San Diego has a blanket height limit, whereas Miami's tallest proposals are reviewed on a case by case basis.

What I've heard is that the 500 ft limit isn't even based on the standard flight paths but rather on secondary paths that might need to be used for extenuating circumstances like weather problems or something. Agree with SDFan that no developer would touch anything > 500 ft due to the liability issues and some sort of higher limit would need to be approved by the FAA and the city for a developer to proceed. It does seem like a daunting task for one developer to take on for a specific project, but I'm surprised many developers on a general level and thinking of the future haven't come together to petition the city to re-evaluate this. It looks like that did happen in Miami based on what Tyler posted. I just think it's ridiculous to think that the last time someone raised the issue was 30 years ago. Wow things turn slowly in SD.

This would make WAY more sense!

Old article on San Diego high-rises from SD Reader 2006

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2...chines-living/

On the topic of 7th & Market, here is a link to a rendering from Austin Veum Robbins Partnership. Though would this be the project that was contemplated several years ago before being killed in 2008 by CCDC, or would this be a current proposal?

http://www.avrpstudios.com/portfolio/item/7th-market/#!gallery[1378]/2/

Embora: that is an old render. Hopefully CivicSD gives us some information soon regarding this and Park and Market.

Ummm, you guys Roger Showley from the UT(@rogershowley) just tweeted,

"Wait till I show you the incredible blue sky plans from the port!!!! 1000 ft skyscraper!!!!!!"

I hope he's not pulling our leg. He's not that cruel.

I'm guessing he was, or was mistaken, because it now says "Nevermind"

Can someone with twitter pester Roger to figure out what that was all about?

I asked, no response. At least somebody else saw it, I should have taken a screen-grab. I wonder what that was all about?

There is still good news...Bankers Hill is exploding...

Fourth Ave Lofts - 4floors U/C
Broadstone - 7floors. Nearing completion
Vue - 7floors U/C
The Regent - 10floors - pending final approval
The Park Bankers Hill- 13floors U/C
Fifth & Palm - 150ft twin towers (14 or 15 floors?) entitlements complete. No timeline yet

Can someone help with renderings??

http://www.sddt.com/Construction/art...l#.VL3ox97TnIV

Island/K
 

What's happening at Island and K Street, across the street from the 12th and Imperial Transit Center? The area is now fenced off, equipment inside.

I am guessing that you are talking about the Ballpark Village development. They should be breaking ground on it before too long. Is it across the street from petco? Here is a render.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7459/...da80ff4e_c.jpg
Ballpark Village by tylerfagan, on Flickr

Spoonman:
Here is a render of the Park Bankers Hill.
http://theparkbankershill.com/wp-con...5/building.jpg
The Vue
http://colrich.com/wordpress/wp-cont...h-1024x768.jpg
Fourth Avenue Lofts
http://www.sddt.com/images/news/2015...m-20150116.jpg

Within the past few days I noticed that the block between 11th, Imperial, Park, and the trolley tracks was fenced off. That's the site in the lower right corner of this photo you posted. I seem to remember the lot in question being the site for a hotel project.

it might be used for monster trucks. there is a second show on the 31st
:shrug:

I wonder if he has inside info and got reprimanded for letting the cat out of the bag which is why he got rid of it and remains silent ? Unlikely, but we can fantasize, can't we ? :):). It just st seems odd that a journalist would tweet that for no reason. Maybe there's a very small chance SD is actually planning something big and bold for once.

I thought the new Chargers stadium was going to go on the lot where this ballpark village is going.

It would be next to ballpark village. It is currently an MTS bus depot.

http://s23.postimg.org/rrr62uevv/cha...t_village2.jpg

In regards to the new Chargers stadium:
It would be nice if the NFL realized that building a stadium in CA is a bit more difficult because of the required 2/3 majority approval vote. If the NFL really cared about helping San Diego build a stadium they would kick in more money on a loan. These stadium debates always seem to point out how greedy the NFL and its owners really are. I think any city in the country would have a very hard time getting 2/3 of the people to vote for a stadium. I should really read into the voodoo pulled to get Petco approved with a simple majority.

I was sorta thinking the same thing. Might be more likely than him being mistaken about getting the height of a building or the city wrong, probably wasn't supposed to say anything about it just yet. Gives him some time to write a nice piece on it first. At least that's how most press privileged info goes.

Excited + couple glasses of wine = Twitter time?

Let's hope so.

I don't understand how the Chargers Stadium in the East Village would somehow be sold as an expansion of the convention center.

I don't think the city should try to sell and mold two separate projects into one.

Just as a side note. I like the Stadium whereever it can get built, but I would love to see a project like this get built in South Bay. A stadium or arena would bring large project to South Bay where today the area is sort of off the map to visitors, etc.

New renders of IDEA1 are up. More residential units now and far less office space. http://www.ideadistrictsd.com/wp-con...l-1030x579.jpg

I'm intrigued by the courtyard being accessible from surrounding streets. I guess that's not exactly the same thing as saying it is open to the public, but nonetheless, its an intriguing concept to me.

http://www.ideadistrictsd.com/idea1/

http://www.ideadistrictsd.com/wp-con...1/Commons.jpeg

"FAA's initial findings of proposed Discovery Point Ferris Wheel-- presumed hazard to air navigation"

http://twitdoc.com/view.asp?id=17414...MfhWhbHShlaCPe

This follows why we can't have stepped or case by case height limits. The runway is basically sunk in a box with 3 sides (Point Loma, Mission Hills, and Bankers Hill), the open side being the Bay...and downtown. Just speculating but I think for that reason in any emergency situations, that's really the only way planes can go, and that is probably why the limit is so strictly enforced on downtown.

Yeah I saw this on Fox 5 news last night.

It was under the 500ft height limit. The FAA recommends something around 280 ft at this location. how did that parking garage on Laurel ever get approved!?

They've got the triangle lot fenced off and they are breaking up the parking lot.

Looking forward to see this built in San Diego in the future.

The FAA is why we can't have nice things.

Actually it is our reluctance to change the airport to a less foolish location

So my question is how far does this "emergency flight path" go? It obviously includes the north waterfront, but what about East Village? Is ballpark village still under this "flight path"? Obviously nobody wants to build super-talls if they present a safety problem, but it seems like SD's blanket 500 ft "rule" encompasses are larger swath of downtown than necessary. When it was first enacted, downtown's skyscrapers were concentrated around the financial center/one America Plaza area. Now that we are expanding east and building highrises like 15th and island are still abiding by this height limit, does that mean it includes all of downtown? Where does it end?

I agree. The East Village seems like it should be granted higher height limits.

Has anyone ever flown into Laguardia or Logan? I feel like Boston and NY have many more obstacles than SD.

Our problem is that we have antiquated policies and no one who cares enough to challenge them.

Kind of off topic but just drove around TJ today mostly Zona Rio and then past the big Caliente Casino and up in to the hills. It almost feels like a mini West LA in this strip with a linear layout of midrises and a couple long boulevards packed full of tall shopping centers. Then with the big hills that are steep and covered in homes looming just to the south it has a very cool vibe. Some of the new midrises that have gone up in the last few years are decent. Of course it is not a very pedestrian friendly place at least the areas I saw today.

I did go up to the top of the hills and it was a really clear day, jaw dropping views! Border wait was 1hr. 5 minutes even though the line was not long at all it was just verrrry slow moving. Ate at Tacos Kokopelli. Just wanted to update you guys because I know TJ is never really discussed here.

No pics?