A 23-story high-rise building may soon be coming to the Pacific Beach neighborhood. It would be the second development of its kind to catch the attention of community members this year that will exceed the 50-year-old 30-foot Coastal Height Limit in the area.
The first project is called Rose Creek Village located at the site of a former sushi restaurant at 2662 Garnet Ave. It is the only Bridge to Home affordable housing project within San Diego’s coastal communities. During a San Diego City Council vote on July 30, six of the eight council members present voted in favor of a $4-million, 55-year loan agreement. The same day, council members, acting as the city's housing authority, also voted to approve an additional $2 million loan from the San Diego Housing Commission.
Vicky Jones, the chief of staff for Joe LaCava's office, emphasized that the council did not vote on the project itself, only the city funding. She said the project is "ministerial and requires no further city approvals.”
“This is, and I'll be blunt, the most egregious bait-and-switch that I've heard in my long private career in housing,” said Council President Pro Tem LaCava, who represents District 1, which includes Pacific Beach.
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LaCava is now expressing his disapproval of another project slated for 970 Turquoise St. in Pacific Beach. According to a letter he and Mayor Todd Gloria signed and sent to the chair of the Pacific Beach Planning Group, who is also concerned, the development is called Project Vela. It would feature more than 200 units.
Of those units, 74 would be residential and 10 of those would be for very low and moderate income households, and 139 others would be “visitor accommodation units, which are permitted as commercial uses typically operating as a hotel,” the letter read.
NBC 7 obtained the multi-use building permits submitted to the city of San Diego's Development Services Department. In them, it lists that the building also plans to have two levels of underground parking and a ground-floor commercial space.
“Pro-housing cities such as San Diego have gone above and beyond to address the affordable housing crisis,” the letter added. “We have long been advocates for creating more affordable homes for San Diegans of all incomes; however, this project does not align with State or City policies intended to build more affordable homes. In fact, as proposed, this project would mostly function as a hotel and will not help address the affordable housing crisis in San Diego’s coastal communities.”
In mid-September, the city reached out to the California Department of Housing and Community Development for “technical assistance” to clarify if this project accurately falls under State Density Bonus Law. Scott Chipman, a long-time Pacific Beach resident who is part of Save PB and the Pacific Beach Planning Group, is relieved it is on the radar of city officials because he feels it is a threat not only to his neighborhood, but others in San Diego as well.
“This is completely out of character to the community or the entire region,” Chipman said. “There’s nothing within miles that is even close to this height. This is more than double the height of the highest hotel in Pacific Beach around Mission Bay.”
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He planned to hold a community rally and press conference at 5:45 p.m. in front of the Pacific Beach/Taylor Library to raise awareness ahead of a planning group meeting.
"Where does it end? It’s not going to end on Turquoise Street. It’s going to be in every community and already is in every community,” he said.
