After more than two years of exploration of its options, San Diego is now preparing to market the old empty central library of the eighth avenue and rue E for sale or for rental to maximize the redevelopment of the ownership of the downtown with half a block where the height limits are not a binding factor.
On Thursday, the San Diego land and housing committee voted 3-0 in favor of the declaration of the former central library at 820 th ST. as excess land.
The excess designation means that the city no longer needs installation and has excluded other options, such as the redevelopment of the property entirely for low -income accommodation. With the designation, the city can sell or rent the site for redevelopment – but it must follow the requirements for the remark and negotiation of the law on the excess land of California.
Under the law, tenderers must reserve at least 25% of the residential units proposed for affordable housing, which means that the limited units of acts have been rented to low and very low income families, which is 80% or less of the median income in the area.
Although the members of the Committee agreed at a high level with the decision of Mayor Todd Gloria to unload the assets, they were not ready to give him the power to request offers for redevelopment without a broader political conversation.
“I certainly believe that we should declare this surplus of property. What I am less comfortable is to give Carte blanche to the mayor and the staff of the city to issue the availability of the opinion without the municipal council no longer providing advice,” said the member of the Council Sean Elo-Rivera.
Elo-Rivera said he first wanted to see the availability notice, which is generally a short document in stock which alerts the affordable housing promoters recorded with the State that the city intends to sell or rent its property.
“This is an incredibly important property. It is an important action,” he said. “It seems appropriate that the council provides a clear direction, if we choose to do so as an organization, in terms of what is included in this availability notice and what is not.”
The action of the committee dates back to the entire council on a later date. Future discussion will probably focus on how advice members can add development obligations to the remark document without reducing market demand.
Opened in 1954 and closed in 2013, the old central library is a locally designated historical resource which was empty for almost a decade before being used intermittently as a temporary homeless refuge, from 2023.
Over the years, developers have considered various alternative uses, including a 42 -storey apartments proposed by the development of Bosa. The tower proposal was finally scratched by the prolific manufacturer in 2018.
More recently, the establishment has been enhanced in the conversation during the city on homelessness.
The old central library was analyzed as an alternative to the proposal of failure of Kettner and Vine. However, the cost estimated to renovate the three floors of the installation of 150,000 square feet and two levels of basement was recently set at $ 86.8 million. The place was excluded as a viable homeless refuge option in February.
The mayor’s request to unload assets belonging to the city dates from March 2023, when San Diego was preparing to put his property on the market.
At the time, some members of the council expressed their interest in bringing together the property with the blocks of the civic center and other land belonging to the city to solicit the interest of the developers for everything at the same time. The idea was to make the excess municipal land available to quickly stimulate the production of houses for people at different income levels. The city staff rather recommended that the old central library be assessed independently of other sites.
The Civic Center Blocks, which continued to be announced for lease or sale by the excess land law a few months later, has not aroused any interest.
San Diego, awaiting approval by the full council, will also request the interest of the old central library under the excess land law. The law was modified in 2019 to prioritize affordable housing when the land belonging to the government are sold or rented.
The process begins with the notice of availability, which begins the clock on a 60 -day window for tenderers interested in responding with redevelopment plans. After the window, the law forces the city to engage in a 90 -day negotiation period with respondents and to grant priority to the entity offering the greatest number of affordable housing units.
The City plans to publish the notice of availability of the former central library in summer, said Christina Bibler, director of the City’s Economic Development Department, at the Union-Tribune.
The calendar could be triggered if the members of the council dispute with the notification document, which was not included in the equipment of the agenda for Thursday meetings.
The current iteration of the document was described by Lucy Contreras, deputy director of the city’s real estate, in accordance with the excess land law. Interested parties will have to meet affordable housing requirements, as well as respect the directives concerning the redevelopment of historical properties. The historical elements of the old central library include the outside of the building, the Cidewalk with the city seal and two sculptures belonging to the city on the facade.
“The intention is for us to present (an availability notice) which puts the property for purchase or rental, in order to maximize the redevelopment potential of the site,” said Contreras. “If there were specific conditions that were to be proposed in (availability notice), it would be the time, as well as with the council, to have a conversation on (this).”
Elo-Rivera said he wanted to see the document before recommending additions.
“Forgive me not only for trusting the process here, but there is nothing to read,” he said. “The council can decide that before opening it on the market and seeing what capitalism does for us, we rather draw certain parameters and see if we can get closer to our objectives during our first attempt.”
The member of the Council Raul Campillo said that his ownership priorities were on -site guard and residential units large enough for families.
Real estate analyst Gary London, director of the local company London Moeder Advisors, warned against the city, adding more conditions in a low real estate market with limited access to capital and economic uncertainty.
The excess land law obliges to reserve 25% of residential units, as an affordable, already disputes the feasibility of any project, he said.
“Whenever the city interferes with the market, things go wrong,” said London. “Although I agree with (Campillo) in terms of the type of concept which should get out of (solicitation), the idea of pushing that the throat of a developer essentially invites lower offers or a lack of offers.”
The members of the Kent Lee, Elo-Rivera and Campillo council voted to adopt their recommendation for approval from the excess designation to the complete council. The member of the Vivian Moreno council was absent.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
