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Monday, Mar 18, 2024
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Downtown Feels More Like Home With New Retail for Urban Dwellers

BY TOM GATCH

It really started 20 years ago, when Ingrid Croce, one of the original dreamers who recognized the potential of the Gaslamp Quarter as a candidate for development, opened the doors at Croce’s restaurant and jazz bar on the corner of Fifth Avenue and F Street.

She and a handful of likeminded restaurateurs held the line and, over the past two decades, have attracted enough gourmet eateries and fun nightclubs to establish the Gaslamp as a destination for fine food and drink.

Redevelopment continues to restructure the character of downtown San Diego’s waterfront and adjacent metropolitan district. To meet the needs of new residents, the Horton Plaza shopping center said it regularly upgrades offerings to adjust to demands.

The arrival of Petco Park and the San Diego Padres along with several high-rise condominiums a few years ago not only managed to increase the number of visitors, as well as new residents.

Long after America’s escape to the suburbs in the 1950s, urban living has not only become fashionable again, it is one of the must-haves of an upscale lifestyle. This phenomenon seems to be fueled by a number of factors. Rising transportation costs and freeway gridlock have prompted many to live and work within easy reach of downtown retail and entertainment venues.


Peaceful Coexistence

In the past, the idea of living in this type of mid-city complex was not popular. Potential residents perceived that they would be living in a noisy, unpleasant environment with honking horns and traffic jams beneath their windows. But today, mixed-use facilities can be designed and built in such a manner that both retail and residential interests can peacefully coexist, and many of the aforementioned issues can be satisfactorily addressed.

Catering to this trend, a number of new developments have either already been constructed or are in the works. One is the DiamondView project, developed by Cisterra Partners LLC, with offices on La Jolla Village Drive and downtown on C Street.

This type of multi-use complex offers accommodations to serve a new era in city living; exclusive, private residential units that are teamed with retail entities that furnish essential goods and services that are immediately available to those living within the multiplex as well as to the general public.

To be successful, however, downtown multi-use projects must be able to accurately forecast the needs of those who will actually use the property to make it more attractive to potential buyers, and to avoid making costly additions or alterations after the fact.

The new DiamondView situated near Petco Park will have a baseball theme; a floor-to-ceiling band of images depicting baseball will begin on the exterior portion of the building facing the Park, which will then weave through the entrance and down one of the lobby walls.

For years, downtown residents have had only one store from a large retail chain, Ralph’s, to rely upon for major food and grocery shopping. Since this urban population has skyrocketed, doubling from to 30,000 inhabitants today from 17,000 in 2000, Albertson’s opened the doors to a much needed retail outlet in East Village.

The 43,000-square-foot grocery store is on the ground floor of a new multi-use project known as Market Street Village, developed by Spokane, Wash.-based SRM Development, and locally managed by Pinnacle Realty. The complex features more than 200 apartments in the five stories directly above the grocery store.


Multiuse Pioneer

Closer to the harbor, Terry Hall, a representative of Seaport Village, points out that the retail complex was one of San Diego’s first nonresidential multiuse projects. Attracting a clientele of both local and visiting shoppers, its bayside location is within walking distance of downtown, and features specialty shops offering everything from high-end fashion wear to surfing gear.

Hall said there is no need for any of Seaport Village’s nearly 4 million annual visitors to go hungry. In addition to takeout fare, those searching visitors can enjoy a meal at San Diego’s Harbor House restaurant. This longtime local favorite is still run by its original owner, who also operates the village’s Pier Caf & #233; and Edgewater Grill. In the future, Seaport Village will add a new store that sells gourmet foods and fine wines, as well as several other retail additions of interest to downtown residents.

A few blocks away, the planned 2.9 million-square-foot Manchester Pacific Gateway project at the sight of the U.S. Navy’s old Broadway Complex is scheduled to begin construction in 2007. Along with a small park, the project will feature at least one new five-star hotel along with 1.2 million square feet of new office space.

Mixed-use facilities, which usually feature housing plus retail and office space, are gaining in popularity nationwide.

However, not all projects require new structures. In some cases, developers are turning to existing old office buildings. The addition of retail in these structures goes a long way in encouraging happy residential tenants.

But, whether the site happens to be new or remodeled, the trend toward urban multiplex living offers residents more than just an efficient and convenient lifestyle; it is also markedly changing the face of downtown San Diego for future generations.


Tom Gatch is a San Diego-based freelance writer.

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