The Centre City Development Corp., after many delays, on Oct. 25 approved initial plans for the redevelopment of the Navy Broadway Complex, a 14.7-acre site at Broadway and North Harbor Drive.
A development of the Manchester Financial Group, and renamed Pacific Gateway, the mixed-use project is expected to cost between $800 million and $1 billion.
In a 6-1 vote, the CCDC board approved the developer’s master plan as being consistent with the city’s 1992 development agreement with the Navy; and, in a vote of 5-2, the board agreed that the plan doesn’t trigger any new environmental concerns.
But another issue, involving the design of the Navy’s new headquarters , which would be built first , was tabled until Nov. 8. In this case, the CCDC staff found that the Navy building, as currently designed, wasn’t consistent with the development agreement.
CCDC will continue to monitor the development, and work closely with the Manchester group, said CCDC spokesman Derek Dangizer.
“Anything that happens on site has to go back to CCDC,” he said. “This is just the start of the process.”
On March 31, the Navy Region Southwest announced that developer Doug Manchester’s group had been tapped for exclusive negotiations to redevelop the prime site, located where West Broadway meets San Diego Bay. The group’s team has been tweaking the plans ever since then.
The Manchester group is expected to sign a lease agreement with the Navy next month, barring any “hiccups” along the way, said Jennifer Perkins, a company spokeswoman.
The clock is ticking. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission has set Jan. 1 as the deadline for the Navy to enter into a long-term lease, or the complex could be closed.
In addition to the Navy building, current plans call for Class A commercial and retail space, hotels, public attractions, such as a museum, about 3,000 subterranean parking spaces, and about 5.4 acres of open space.
Manchester’s development must follow the general guidelines established in the city’s North Embarcadero Visionary Plan.
, Pat Broderick
