San Diego: Projects and Developments

[dragonsky]

Bosa’s Pacific Gate development continues to rise at the southeast corner of Broadway and Pacific and is already selling units:

http://sdurban.com/?p=10428

[dragonsky]

Harbor Island vote delayed a month

The future of Harbor Island’s redevelopment has been put off until next month.

Tanya Castaneda, spokeswoman for the San Diego Unified Port District, said the staff report is virtually complete on which of two finalist developer teams should get the right to reshape 57 acres on the man-made peninsula opposite Lindbergh Field.

The finalists are Oliver McMillan and Sunroad Enterprises. But with a key member of one of the teams unable to attend the port board’s Tuesday meeting, the vote will be rescheduled for Sept. 13.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...redevelopment/

[dragonsky]

Hotel industry study critical of Chargers stadium plan

The Chargers’ plan for a downtown stadium-convention center will not generate enough meeting business to justify an increase in the hotel tax, concludes a new study funded by the tourism industry.

The analysis, which was prepared by a Chicago-based consulting firm and released on Wednesday, is at odds with rosier predictions by Chargers consultants who also have looked at the financial impact of a convention center built as part of a stadium.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...um-convention/

[dragonsky]

BAE gives $300k for Coronado Bridge art lighting

BAE Systems donated $300,000 Tuesday toward the long-delayed artistic lighting of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, which port officials hope can be completed in time for the span’s 50th anniversary in 2019.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...port-lighting/

[dragonsky]

Stone Brewing plans 99-room hotel in Escondido

Stone Brewing announced a 99-room boutique hotel Thursday tied to its Escondido brewery and restaurant, but with the caveat that it’s about more than beer.

It is believed to be the first of its kind — a ground-up property linked to a popular brand and the craft beer movement.

Stone founder Greg Koch said the $26 million, four-story building at 1990 Citracado Parkway will be developed under a license to a new hotel entity, Untitled Hospitality, in partnership with McMillin, an offshoot of the Corky McMillin Companies.

“It’s an environmental experience, a culinary experience, a cultural experience,” Koch said of the project’s vision. “It’s not really beer-themed — you won’t come in and experience flowing rivers of beer or hops motifs all over the place.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...brewing-hotel/
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...nap-story.html

[dragonsky]

Sample ballots may exclude full text of hotel tax hikes
Cost savings is goal of move affecting Chargers initiative, Citizens’ Plan
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...election-cost/

[dragonsky]

Fans of San Diego's Starlight Bowl hope to revive shuttered amphitheater

Under a blazing hot sun, nearly 300 volunteers swept, raked, shoveled and scrubbed the long-shuttered San Diego’s Starlight Bowl into near-shipshape this weekend.

The unexpectedly large crowd turned out Saturday to support the newly organized Save Starlight campaign, a grass-roots group of theater lovers and historians who hope to restore the Balboa Park amphitheater.

Built as The Ford Bowl for the 1935-’36 California Pacific International Exposition, the city-owned theater closed in 2012, a victim of changing theatrical tastes, budget gaps, disrepair and its unfortunately noisy location under the flight path for Lindbergh Field.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...nap-story.html

[dragonsky]

Creative offices aim for happy workers
By Roger Showley | 3:20 p.m. Aug. 12, 2016

Visit a sampling of newly redesigned offices in San Diego County and the takeaway inevitably is that cool space makes for happy workers.

It’s not just millennials who gravitate toward companies with free food, surfboard racks and dog-friendly policies.

There are also people like Trey King, 43, a technology operations supervisor at Verve Mobile who used to work in what he calls “cubicle city.” He said the open-space plan and abundant natural light promote an atmosphere of collaboration among the 105 employees in Cruzan development’s Make project in Carlsbad.

“Here’s a good feeling, being able to see outside and make you feel like you’re not having to work in a stuffy, nasty office,” King said.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...eative-office/

[dragonsky]

Hotel development booming in California

California, like the rest of the country, is in the midst of a hotel building boom, with more than 17,000 rooms under construction and 84,000 more in the pipeline.

The surge in development, following a years-long drought in new hotels, is captured in a mid-year report released by Orange County-based Atlas Hospitality Group, which tracks the hotel real estate sector.

San Diego County leads the state in the number of hotels that have opened so far this year — six — but Los Angeles dominates in the number of rooms under construction, with 6,772 in 37 hotels, reports Atlas. By comparison, San Diego trails far behind with four hotels accounting for 957 rooms in various stages of construction, the largest being a 400-room InterContinental on the downtown bayfront.

“At the end of 2015, the average price per room for hotels sold in San Diego was $197,000, and that is well above replacement cost for select service hotels so that’s why you’re seeing a building boom,” Reay said. “That sort of product is going to cost you about $100,000 to $120,000 per room, so if I’m going to pay $120,000 for a 30-year-old product, I’m going to look for a site where I can build a hotel.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...building-boom/

[dragonsky]

Downtown construction nears record levels

The downtown planning agency reports 27 projects under construction with many more approved or planned.

“Looking back historically, it’s probably close to our busiest time,” said Brad Richter, assistant vice president for planning.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...uction-update/

[dragonsky]

Start with the media game. It will soon become more important in the Stadium Game, because a large number of voters say they're either undecided about the initiative or have yet to give it attention.

The Chargers have far more media clout than do the initiative's opponents, giving them a better chance of reaching more of these voters.

The team will outspend the plan's opponents on political advertising, and several outlets in San Diego's mainstream media are sure to provide pro-initiative coverage, at length.

Four local TV stations work under parent companies that are NFL broadcasting partners.

Another San Diego TV station, the independent KUSI, was the first to interview Chargers chairman Dean Spanos when stadium issues boiled over last winter. However, in a break from standard practice in mainstream journalism, KUSI first agreed to the Chargers' request that Spanos not be asked about past events.

Pro-Chargers content will dominate both local sports radio stations. Because few listeners care about the Padres, whose game ratings on 1090 AM are dreadful, the Chargers will warrant even more coverage in months ahead. (The Bolts-Padres gap is only widening. Local stations employ three former Chargers players as regular talk-show commentators, with the recent additions of Nick Hardwick and Rich Ohrnberger to 1360 AM. No former Padres hold similar roles, save for a postgame host.)

Bolts game telecasts, which tend to draw solid to good ratings, will provide another outlet for pro-initiative talking points.

In a political campaign, size doesn't matter so much as proportion.

If one side can dominate the messaging, it can make sizable gains with voters.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...philip-rivers/

[dragonsky]

CHARGERS DISPUTE RISKS OF STADIUM MEASURE
Team calls money, tourism concerns misleading, overblown

Chargers spokesman Fred Maas said in a recent interview the team’s plan has a large financial "cushion" for cost increases and that Comic-Con’s objections to the proposed stadium and convention center annex are based on misinformation.

Maas also said money for tourism marketing would only shrink if there is an unprecedented economic crisis, and that the proposed project is a smart use of land because it would spur a flurry of downtown economic development.

The No Downtown Stadium coalition also says the city might struggle to pay for essential services like police and firefighters if the plan’s hotel tax increase from 12.5 percent to 16.5 percent fails to generate enough additional revenue for construction and maintenance.

"If hotel spending drops for any reason over the next 30 years, San Diego residents would have to pay the difference," the coalition says in its online material. "And there are many reasons hotel spending could drop, including lost conventions and an economic downturn."

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...lot-measure-c/

[dragonsky]

Chargers measure fiscally sound -- if estimates are accurate
San Diego's independent budget analyst says team may be underestimating costs

San Diego’s independent budget analyst says the Chargers proposed hotel tax hike would generate enough money to cover the team’s projected price tag for a combined stadium and convention center annex, but that the proposal may be underestimating those costs.

In a report released Monday about the team’s Nov. 8 ballot measure, the budget analyst also says that low hotel tax revenues in a particular year could prompt the city to cover project-related expenses with money normally used for public safety and other core functions.

Meanwhile, a separate analysis by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association released Monday says projected revenues from the Nov. 8 ballot measure would fall more than $400 million short of what’s needed.

That analysis, which the Chargers immediately called biased and "rubbish," says the projected shortfall would force the city to either contribute the missing money or risk its credit rating and reputation.

The independent budget analyst, Andrea Tevlin, estimates the team’s proposal to raise San Diego’s hotel tax from 12.5 percent to 16.5 percent would generate $120 million in additional revenue annually.

While $20 million would be diverted to tourism marketing each year, the remaining $100 million would be enough to sell bonds that would generate between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion in capital.

That money, combined with a $650 million contribution from the Chargers and the NFL that the team proposes, would put the capital available somewhere between $1.95 billion and $2.25 billion – and somewhere between $150 million and $450 million above the Chargers $1.8 billion estimate.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...lin-taxpayers/

[dragonsky]

Chargers stadium study finds boost to hotel industry

The Chargers released a study Wednesday that forecast 900,000 new visitors each year to its proposed $1.8 billion stadium and convention center in downtown San Diego, boosting the region’s hotel revenues by $750 million over the first decade of operation.

City government could expect an average of $12.5 million a year in higher taxes on hotel stays, said the report by Hunden Strategic Partners, a tourism economics consultancy.

Both estimates, and others, were substantially higher than those projected in separate studies commissioned over the last year by the city’s convention center and tourism marketing agencies.

“I started out as a skeptic,” said Robin Hunden, the firm’s managing partner, referring to his hiring by the Chargers in May to conduct an independent review of the concept. “They have a pretty sound proposal here.”

“This is not going to be competitive to the existing convention center,” he said. “The focus is on making the pie bigger.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...ention-center/

[dragonsky]

DEAN SPANOS ON WHY SAN DIEGO CHARGERS NEED NEW STADIUM

Thirty-two years ago, my family completed its purchase of the San Diego Chargers, and I remember my father explaining that a sports team is not a “conventional business.” He said it’s about helping bring people together and it would take a long time for us to realize what a great opportunity this could be for everyone.

Dec. 20, 2015: The Chargers played the Miami Dolphins. This was a game many thought would be our last in San Diego. I saw loyal fans and lifelong friends disheartened as they contemplated our uncertain future.

Another view
How a Chargers stadium jeopardizes San Diego Comic-Con

It was a difficult time. There did not appear to be a viable option in San Diego, but I knew in my heart that San Diego should be our home as my father and family have envisioned.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...tadium-spanos/

[dragonsky]

HOW A CHARGERS STADIUM JEOPARDIZES SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON

With San Diego as its backdrop, Comic-Con continues to thrive. It has grown into an international event, a focal point for everything comic-related including Hollywood blockbusters. More than 135,000 people attended this year’s event, which brought us a regional economic impact of $136 million.

Thousands of complimentary tweets from Comic-Conners, including A-list celebrities, confirmed what many San Diegans know: Comic-Con is nothing short of gold for San Diego!

Why would we ever do anything that risks San Diego’s relationship with Comic-Con and the tens of millions of dollars it brings to our city every year?

Unfortunately, that is exactly what we would do if voters support Dean Spanos’ plan to raise our taxes by more than $1 billion to build a new NFL stadium and convention center annex.

Comic-Con has been very clear — it does not support an annex several blocks away from the Convention Center — but that is what Mr. Spanos is asking voters to approve this November. He attached the annex to his stadium plan to try and build support for the stadium, but the annex does not give Comic-Con and other large conventions what they want: an on-site expansion of the existing Convention Center.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...rs-opposition/

[dragonsky]

Rosarito Beach desalination project moves forward

Baja California’s ambitious plan to build the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere took an important step forward this week with the signing of a public-private partnership for a project in northern Rosarito Beach.

At full build-out, the reverse osmosis facility would produce 100 million gallons of water per day, a volume twice the capacity of the Poseidon desalination plant in Carlsbad. While the aim is to reduce the Tijuana-Rosarito Beach region’s heavy dependence on the Colorado River, some of the water could be sent in the future across the border through a pipeline to the Otay Water District in San Diego County.

The contract signed Monday commits a private consortium to build the plant in two phases and operate it for 37 years before turning it back to the state, according to the Baja California Secretariat of Infrastructure and Urban Development. The plant’s first phase would launch in late 2019 or early 2020 and produce 50 million gallons a day. The plant’s capacity would be doubled under the second phase in 2024.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...l-moves-ahead/

[dragonsky]

Stadium measures have stark differences

Two initiatives on the November ballot could bring a combined convention center annex and Chargers stadium to downtown San Diego, but they differ in several significant ways.

Those differences include their relative complexity, how ambitious they are, whether taxpayers would subsidize the stadium, how much local hotel taxes would rise and the likelihood the project would actually get built.

CHARGERS STADIUM: COMPLETE COVERAGE

Another key difference could be their vulnerability to lawsuits, which may delay construction or end up stymieing the project completely.

Complexity and certainty

Measure C, which the Chargers are promoting, is less complex and appears to be less vulnerable to litigation than Measure D, a proposal known as the Citizens’ Plan that was created by a coalition of community leaders and environmental groups.

Measure C also gives the Chargers more certainty that the higher hotel taxes will be used to construct the combined facility, and allows the project to move forward without the Chargers negotiating a deal with local hotel owners that mostly oppose the project.

Measure D essentially only increases the hotel tax, forcing the team and hoteliers to subsequently work out a financial partnership, and also requiring each to contribute more money than Measure C demands.

One possible negative of Measure C, at least with some voters, is that it would partly subsidize construction of the Chargers stadium with the higher hotel taxes. Measure D expressly prohibits any such subsidy, beyond providing land and some infrastructure.

Another potential issue with Measure C is that it would raise hotel taxes from 12.5 percent to 16.5 percent, which would be among the highest in the nation. Measure D would raise the rate to 15.5 percent, making it less of a threat to adversely impact local tourism.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...re-c-d-ballot/

[dragonsky]

UCSD ranks No. 2 in graduate success measures
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...-success-rank/

[dragonsky]

• Video Link