San Diego Moves Forward on Civic Center Redevelopment

San Diego is moving forward on what may be the biggest economic development prize in the city this year, a competition for five downtown, city-owned blocks.

Last week, the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee voted 3-1 to clear the way for the city to solicit bids for the sale or lease the property under California’s Surplus Land Act.

The committee’s action, if approved by the full council on April 24, also will allow San Diego to undertake a second process to build a new City Hall on a sixth, adjacent block to the site that is being put on the market, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Land Use and Housing Committee resolution also allocates $2M to pay for consultants who will conduct due diligence and evaluate bids for the city-owned land.

Mayor Todd Gloria has championed the project, known as the Civic Center Revitalization, which envisions replacing the six-block, 8-acre City Hall complex with new facilities for city worker as well residential units reserved for low-income families.

“This is really an exciting opportunity to take an area that many have viewed as having serviced its useful purpose already, and to create a Civic Center for San Diego that will be a point of pride for our entire city,” Councilmember Stephen Whitburn told the newspaper.

To facilitate the redevelopment, the city will declare the five blocks of downtown property as surplus land that is no longer required for municipal use and is therefore subject to the state’s Surplus Land Act, which is a form of eminent domain.

The Surplus Land Act requires the city to distribute a notice of availability to affordable housing builders registered with the state who then have 60 days to respond with interest.

The city is required to engage in a 90-day negotiation period with the respondents and give what is known as first priority to the bidder proposing the highest number of affordable housing units—those that are deed-restricted for families making 80 percent or less of the area median income.

The minimum number of residential units for low-income families must be equivalent to at least 25% of the proposed units in a project.

The surplus blocks will include four blocks bounded by A Street and C Street to the north and south, and First Avenue and Third Avenue to the east and west. The fifth block is occupied by a vacant office tower at 101 Ash St.

The four blocks currently are occupied by the City Hall, known as the City Administration Building at 202 C Street, the Civic Center Plaza office tower, Golden Hall, a public plaza and the 3,000-seat Civic Theatre.

Bidders will be encouraged—but not required—to preserve the Civic Theater, which the operator has said is in need of a $150M renovation, the newspaper report said.