San Diego Development News

[embora]

Also on the Port's website, info about the Old Police Headquarters, adjacent to Seaport Village. The Port's website says it will be complete in October 2013. I'm pretty sure it currently under construction, but I haven't seen it personally to confirm:

http://www.portofsandiego.org/old-po...velopment.html

[-Corey-]

Nice ..
Have any one of you been to the new Ruocco Park?? It seems pretty nice. With more parks under construction!!!


The new County Waterfront Park is gonna be awesome too!

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...erfront-park-/

And let's not forget the new Horton Plaza Park..


Plaza de Panamá at Balboa Park


San Diego Convention Center Rooftop Park

[saiholmes]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Times

SeaWorld bringing Aquatica water park to San Diego
By Brady MacDonald
Los Angeles Times staff writer
8:00 AM PST, November 21, 2012

SeaWorld's Aquatica will introduce an innovative hybrid concept to San Diego in June that combines a marine park with a water park, allowing visitors to interact with animals like dolphins, stingrays and flamingos as they zip down water slides.

SeaWorld San Diego purchased Knott's Soak City in Chula Vista from the parent company of Knott's Berry Farm and plans an extensive renovation of the separate-admission water park about 20 miles south of the marine park.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/...,3956701.story

[-Corey-]

So Knott's Soak City would be converted into the new Seaworld's Aquatica?

[jcastro805]

The Orlando Aquatica, which set the high-water mark for water parks when it debuted in 2008, includes a tube slide that passes through a pool of dolphins. The San Antonio Aquatica, which opened in May, features a family raft slide that winds through an underwater grotto past stingrays and tropical fish.

Freakin' awesome! This will be really good for Chula Vista tourism.

[embora]

Here's an article in today's UT from Sandra Dibble interviewing Fernando Bosque Mohino, who is a person in charge of the Mexican side of project to build a bridge from Otay Mesa to Tijuana's A.L. Rodriguez International Airport.


http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/...to-the-future/

[jcastro805]

This bridge to Tijuana International has been in the works for many years, it is good to see some progress being made. This will really help alleviate San Diego International traffic, and provide more routes to Asia as opposed to having to commute to LAX.

[saiholmes]

Balboa Park December Nights this coming weekend
Participating Balboa Park museums open their doors free of charge from 5-9 pm both evenings and more than 300,000 visitors are expected to experience the joy of San Diego’s largest free community festival.
http://www.balboapark.org/decembernights

[desertpunk]

Earthtechling.com

A Vertical Farm For San Diego


evolo.us

It wasn’t so long ago we brought you word of the Plantagon, that ingenious Swedish innovation designed to bring large-scale urban agriculture to new and existing buildings on the vertical axis. Brandon Martella appears to have designed something along those lines for the city of San Diego, in the form of a mixed-use vertical farm (which comes to us via eVolo).

The project, designed for the city’s historic Gaslamp district, was conceived of to address the growing issues of population growth and food supply — San Diego’s in particular. With the majority of the city’s produce arriving from the Imperial and Central valleys, as well as neighboring states and other countries, this building-integrated vertical farm was designed to help alleviate dependence on these sources of food for the 30,000 plus residents of San Diego’s central urban core, via architecture that addresses food sustainability.


http://inhabitat.com/live-share-grow...iegos-produce/

This “farm tower” accomplishes many things at the same time. It exists, first, as a residential high-rise, adding to the city’s housing stock. Second, it acts as a tourist attraction, attracting greenies, urban planners and curious passersby alike. And third — of course — it produces vegetables, via vertical crops grown hydroponically, providing local residents with homegrown food.


http://www.good.is/posts/giant-verti...iego-s-produce

Martella’s design calls for the reclamation and recycling of the residential tower’s gray water and black water — the former via gray water-infused aquaponics, and that latter through compact combustion that creates thermal energy. The development would take the motto of the adjacent Children’s Museum — Think, Play, and Create — and change it in a way that embraces “a new level of social interface” in engaging the community with its urban farm-to-market model: Live, Share, and Grow.

[Dale]

Is it too early to tell whether the new mayor Filner is going to be good or bad for downtown development ?

[SDfan]

I think Filner is still up in the air. He's anti downtown interests, but pro-planning and smart growth development. I think we'll see less grandiose projects (stadiums, convention expansions, etc.) but more investment in transportation, community planning, and rezoning.

[SDfan]

Originally Posted by saiholmes

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/...,3956701.story

This is going to be interesting.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by SDfan

I think Filner is still up in the air. He's anti downtown interests, but pro-planning and smart growth development. I think we'll see less grandiose projects (stadiums, convention expansions, etc.) but more investment in transportation, community planning, and rezoning.

Too bad, at least partially. Smart stuff is good. So is big stuff.

[jcastro805]

Originally Posted by SDfan

I think Filner is still up in the air. He's anti downtown interests, but pro-planning and smart growth development. I think we'll see less grandiose projects (stadiums, convention expansions, etc.) but more investment in transportation, community planning, and rezoning.

Agreed. Filner hasn't said much about the Navy Broadway Complex or other downtown development, let alone a (desperately needed) new football stadium. However, he has strongly supported port expansion and infrastructure upgrades, as well as the biotech industry.

My guess, if he is successful in expanding the port, it will bring in other development and will have an overall positive effect.

[SDfan]

Merry Christmas!

[desertpunk]

Oops, says state, SD can have housing money

Connections Housing, 9th & Broadway projects get belated green lights


9th & Broadway project studioarchitects.com

Two downtown redevelopment affordable housing projects worth more than $100 million got belated green lights this week to proceed, 10 days after the state vetoed them.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith announced on Friday the reversal of state Department of Finance decisions involving partial funding totaling $24.5 million for the Connections Housing at Sixth Avenue and A Street and Bridge Housing's 9th & Broadway.

Both had been denied the funds Dec. 17 as part of the state's review of spending plans for the first half of 2013, following the end to 401 local redevelopment agencies, including San Diego's.

"Adapting to the new world of redevelopment has been very challenging for the city," Goldsmith said in his announcement, "and we decided to file the lawsuit to test the boundary of redevelopment law in this state."

Mayor Bob Filner issued a one-word reaction, "Yay," followed by 10 exclamation points.


Connections Housing site sandiego.urbdezine.com

The Connections Housing project is a $36.6 million remodel of the 12-story historic San Diego Athletic Club Building at 1250 Sixth Ave. Starting next month, more than 200 homeless people will be able to live there until they find permanent residences. Others will get access to a variety of social services.

The city sued the state Dec. 21 over the project, saying a $4.2 million boost in the budget, covered by federal historic tax credits, would not violate the redevelopment dissolution law. The same argument had been advanced over the last few months to no avail.

"We would have to sue the state because that was just a wrong decision," said Connections CEO Joel Roberts, if the state had not changed its mind.

Deputy City Attorney Kevin Reisch said the 9th & Broadway project was not included in the lawsuit but was the subject of persistent phone calls and correspondence from Civic San Diego and other city offices.

The $67 million, 250-room project was days away from getting final construction loans and other financial commitments when the state denied $20.2 million in housing bond funds, saying various deadlines had expired.

Reisch said the city provided duplicate copies of documents to the state Dec. 24 and the state conceded that the funding was legal because it involved unexpended bond funds set aside for affordable housing.

"We're very pleased," he said.

[...]

[desertpunk]

Hines La Jolla Commons II: America's Largest Net-Zero Energy Office Building?

[embora]

Here's an article about Sempra considering building a downtown office tower:

Sempra Weighs New Downtown Office Tower:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...-office-tower/

Sempra Energy, downtown’s leading corporate headquarters company, is thinking of building a new office tower, even as it weighs renewing the lease at its present site.

Downtown office brokers are betting that Sempra stays put at 101 Ash St., where it has been based since 1998. It was built in 1968 as the headquarters of San Diego Gas & Electric, which moved to Kearny Mesa after being bought by Sempra.

But they say Sempra also is thinking of moving to another downtown building or building a new one downtown, near University Towne Centre or in Kearny Mesa.

[-Corey-]

I hope is as tall as One America Plaza.

[embora]

Originally Posted by -Corey-

I hope is as tall as One America Plaza.

I would hope they build something, but we shall see.

On the other hand, it seems like we do not have to hope about four other developments happening in the East Village. A Civic San Diego representative recently reported to the East Village Residents Group that the following projects are all under way:

• Urbana (near 10th & J)

• 13th & Market: This one is across 14th Street from Albertsen's and is getting close to its 6 floor height.

• 15th & Market: This one share the block with Albertsen's and would be 7 floors tall.

• Park & G: the Civic San Diego representative said that this one was about to start, and the block has since been blocked off. This is across 13th street from the 13th and Market project. Civic San Diego's website says this would be 5 stories tall

• Phase 1 of 15th & Island: The is the Yellow building. This would take about 3 years to be built, and the 14th & Island park would have to open by the time the tower is complete. I seem to recall him saying that it would be about 40 stories tall.
  http://www.ccdc.com/projects/major-d...-a-island.html