Navy Vets Proposals to Redo 70-Acre San Diego Site

The US Navy is considering proposals from four development teams to replace its NAVWAR facilities and redevelop a 70-acre site in Dan Diego’s Midway District.

The teams are competing for a 99-year ground lease on the site, which is adjacent to Interstate 5. The project, which may include a development of 20M SF, is shaping up to be one of the largest public-private projects undertaken by the Navy.

The Navy put the property on the market in November; in April, four development teams were invited to make detailed proposals. The Navy is offering the land for “in-kind” consideration, meaning it wants to exchange the property, in lieu of cash, for new facilities, according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Detailed bids on the project are due today, with developers required to submit site and design drawings for new government facilities, a demonstration of proposed private development concepts, financial models and a proposed schedule.

The winning bid will be awarded before the end of the year. A transfer of the property through a 99-year ground lease would be subject to approval by the Secretary of the Navy.

The Old Town Campus at Naval Base Point Loma is home to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command and Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific divisions.

The property, which has been owned by the US Navy since the 1990s and is referred to by its acronym (NAVWAR), consists of two large parcels straddling the Pacific Highway and encompassing 1.7M SF of administrative, lab and warehouse space that are contained in a series of WWII-era hangers.

According to the newspaper report, the Navy is modeling the project on a 2006 agreement with Manchester Financial Group for the 12-acre Navy Broadway Complex opposite San Diego Bay. That public-private partnership resulted in a 17-story waterfront office building for the Navy Region Southwest.

Manchester later sold off the remainder of the site to IQHQ, which is developing a life science complex.

For the NAVWAR site, the competing development teams are expected to propose mixed-use projects that include new Navy office facilities, as well as residential units, hotels and retail shots.

A preliminary environmental analysis conducted by the Navy involved a development concept encompassing nearly 20M SF, including 10K residential units, with the development spread across 109 buildings as high as 350 feet, the Union-Tribune reported.