Prebys Foundation unveils new vision for "heart of downtown" San Diego
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A rendering of the new Civic Center area, from the C Street view of the current City Hall. Photo courtesy U3 Advisors
The Prebys Foundation, the nonprofit organization that took on planning a future for San Diego's blighted civic core, unveiled its vision Tuesday.
Why it matters: The six-block area that is home to City Hall and the San Diego Civic Theater has become a lifeless eyesore that is stifling nearby revitalization efforts, but Mayor Todd Gloria walked away from redeveloping it citing budget woes.
Driving the news: The concept — presented by U3 Advisors, the planning firm hired by Prebys — calls for demolishing Golden Hall and rebuilding it into a cultural hub and performing arts center adjacent to a three-acre public plaza.
- That would allow the Civic Theater to continue operating in the meantime, and could eventually lead to a redevelopment of the current City Hall building into a hotel and residential tower with ground-floor retail.
- U3 said the entire area could support up to 3,000 apartment units, with 15% set aside for low-income residents.
- The Downtown Partnership, which is contracting with Prebys to oversee the effort, said it will begin activating the space with pop-up events in the fall, as the planning work continues to take shape in the coming years.
Between the lines: U3 Advisors did not estimate the total cost of the revitalization, nor did it say specifically where funding would come from.
- The group generally said private development could cover some of the cost, while philanthropic support, public-private partnerships and possibly direct subsidies from local, state or federal governments could fill out the rest.
- The San Diego Community College District is now enlisted as a partner, looking to establish learning spaces and cultural programming there.
- The city is in talks with a team to retrofit the 101 Ash Street office tower into low-income apartments. That project will continue in conjunction with the rest of the revitalization.
Friction point: The city in 2023 asked developers for bids to redevelop the project area but developers largely ignored the opportunity.
- Omar Blaik, CEO of U3 Advisors, told Axios their vision will lead to a better outcome.
- "We are leading with an idea, an opinion," he said. "The city went out several years ago without an idea, saying to the market 'you tell us what you want,' and the market said 'I don't think I know what I want.'"
- "Transformations don't happen by the market. The market responds to public investments, and philanthropic investments. We cannot create a great public space by hoping the market will create that."