Rendering of proposed project
Campground operator Campland on the Bay has formed a public-private partnership with the City of San Diego to clean up and improve the De Anza area of the Northeast Mission Bay. Campland's “short-term clean up and improvement project” includes removing asbestos-infested mobile homes and repairing visitor amenities.
“We developed the partnership to help the city address a number of serious challenges,” Jacob Gelfand, VP of Operations at Campland on the Bay. “First. the existing operator is planning to terminate its current contract with the city, leaving no one to operate the property during the busiest time of the year. The second major challenge is that there are 160 mobile homes that have been abandoned at the De Anza site. They have asbestos and other problems that are creating an environmental and public safety hazard.”
For the clean up project, Campland will provide $8 million in interest-free financing to complete the project. In exchange, the city will provide rent credits on a five-year land lease for Campland to operate the site. “The idea behind the short-term cleanup is that Campland will take over operations of the campground at Da Anza and provide interest-fee financing to perform asbestos abatement to make the site safe and remove all of the homes from the site,” says Gelfand. “We will also make some additional improvements, including repairing the bike and pedestrian path.”
Campland managed the De Anza property from 1969 to 2003, so it understands the site's history and customer base. As an experienced campground operator, the company has also seen the demand grown for affordable accommodations, which will also bring value to the site. “Demand for affordable coastal access continues to grow and the popularity of camping continues to skyrocket,” says Gelfand. “Millennials are discovering different forms of camping as an alternative to hotel accommodations.”
Campland will perform the clean up over the next 24 months, and the company has already received tremendous support for the project. “This is a huge win for the public,” adds Gelfand. “The public loves the property and wants to see it be a safe place for families to enjoy. It has been challenging to develop this project given the urgent timeframe that the city is working under. Normally, this deal would take the better part of a year to put together. We have gone out of our way to make the rounds and speak to councils and community groups to explain the nature of the project.”
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Kelsi Maree Borland
