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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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LETTER: Village Visionary Editor

LETTER: Village Visionary Editor:

from Chet Lathrop

Developer Douglas Wilson, who is building his Parkloft condominiums in the East Village despite the suspension in construction of the ballpark, is doing what all real visionaries do.

He is staying the course, and putting his money where his vision is.

He is the poster boy for the redevelopment process and his project is living proof why the ballpark must be finished. It is the “anchor tenant” of a redevelopment district and the catalyst for a revitalized urban neighborhood.

The city of San Diego, the Padres and the Centre City Development Corp. entered into a public-private partnership to build a public amenity that will attract millions of people annually to a long-neglected part of Downtown and convince developers like Wilson to invest hundreds of million of dollars in projects that will make the East Village a new jewel of our region.

I have seen first-hand what redevelopment can do. I used to manage a plumbing supply business, Industries Supply Co., at the corner of Fourth and J. I witnessed the deterioration and then the renaissance of the area around Horton Plaza and the Gaslamp Quarter.

The ballpark district will be the cornerstone that stimulates a similar rebirth of the East Village. We have already seen a dramatic increase in property values and development activity , including Wilson’s project , since the ballpark site was chosen. The East Village will blossom when the ballpark is back on track for a 2004 opening, and then everybody who made it happen will be hailed as a visionary.

Chet Lathrop

San Diego

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