A Harbor Drive Pedestrian suspension bridge will provide people with safe passage from Park Boulevard to the Convention Center without encountering car and train traffic. The project will complete a 100- year old vision of a Park-to-Bay Link, connecting two important regional assets: Balboa Park and San Diego Bay. The bridge will improve traffic circulation and access to and from the waterfront and Barrio Logan as well as connecting the 2,000-space Port of San Diego parking garage with Park Boulevard. Located next to PETCO Park, home of the San Diego Padres, the bridge will safely connect stadium visitors to the other side of Harbor Drive and the Bay. The bridge will include pedestrian barriers and enhanced safety crossing technologies. CCDC is selecting a contractor and will negotiate a contract by year-end so that construction could begin early next year. The bridge should take 15 months to complete.
Development officials say the suspension-style bridge – with cables stretching from end to end – will give San Diego a distinctive architectural statement and create an elegant gateway to downtown.

Located at 448 West Market between Columbia and State Streets in Downtown San Diego’s Marina District, The Olde Cracker Factory was built in 1913. This historic landmark is being restored into 11 live/work lofts, including four penthouse units, office, and ground floor retail space. Construction is under way and is to be completed by spring of 2008. This fashionable development will offer modern amenities and security as well as preserving the historic experience and atmosphere of early downtown San Diego. The building is both architecturally and historically significant. The Olde Cracker Factory was home to Bishop and Company Cracker and Candy Factory from 1913-1931 and the Nabisco Biscuit Company until 1941. The property has housed an antique emporium for the last four decades and has been remodeled only once in its 93 year history.
The Marina District is one of the older and more established Downtown San Diego Districts and developments are few and far between. The Olde Cracker Factory will provide unique living, office and retail space to the Marina District offering diversity and enriching historical atmosphere.
For more info visit The Olde Cracker Factory website

“A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.” Henry Ward Beecher

A new main library to serve San Diegans for generations to come is on the horizon. Construction is hoped to begin in 2008 and be completed by 2011. Located in downtown’s emergent East Village on the city block surrounded by 11th Avenue and Park Blvd. and J and K Streets, the new main library will be the icon anchoring the scenic Park to the Bay Link connecting Balboa Park with San Diego Bay. The library will include an outdoor Library Plaza and café, a 350-seat auditorium, a three-story domed reading room, 400-seat west facing multi-purpose room, a teen center, a children’s library, technology center and more! Funds are tight, and private funding is needed!! To see what you can do to help click here.

The form is certain to enhance San Diego’s intellectual, cultural and physical skyline. People outside will see people inside. At night, the dome will glow as a “beacon of knowledge.”

To me, one of the best parts of Downtown San Diego is that it is situated on the waterfront. With the year around gorgeous weather, there’s nothing better than being able to walk out my front door, down a couple blocks and cruise along the bay. With the year-round gorgeous San Diego weather, the bayside promenade is always chock-full with activity: families with children, joggers, seniors, tourists, dog-walkers, bike-riders, business men and loungers reading, drawing and napping. Due to the growth of our tourist and convention industry, what was once an urban wasteland in the early 80s is now the beautiful Embarcadero Park South.

Now it’s time for to revamp the northern part of our Embarcadero.

Welcome to the North Embarcadero Alliance Visionary Plan–a plan whose components will change the face of San Diego’s waterfront between Seaport Village and Lindbergh Field.

This visionary plan is the result of a synergistic and creative effort of the Unified Port District, the City and County of San Diego, the Centre City Development Corporation and the U.S. Navy. All five agencies had a hand in planning and designing a new vision for the North Embarcadero area.
This will become a one-of-a-kind waterfront experience that will attract visitors from around the world–while giving San Diego residents yet another scenic area to enjoy year-round.
In addition to the exciting Midway Carrier Museum, some thirteen other projects are part of this plan–projects that will deliver a true “city” environment to San Diego’s north harbor, creating an atmosphere and ambiance similar to San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.

View the Union Tribune Illustrations of the Plan

Having seen such revitalization projects work their magic in San Diego in the past, we can only encourage all parties involved in the plan to move forward enthusiastically and expeditiously to make this dream a reality.

Some have suggested that we should not divert our attention to the North Embarcadero while the redevelopment of East Village and a completion date for the Ballpark remain uncertain. While these projects are indeed important to our industry and our community, they should not detract us from moving forward with the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan as part of our relentless efforts to revitalize San Diego’s urban core.

All of these projects are part of a bigger puzzle which, when completed, will create a downtown San Diego whose natural beauty, cosmopolitan ambiance, and variety of attractions will combine to make it a paradise for residents and visitors alike.

New and current residents of the Downtown San Diego area…talk about property value rising!

Thousands pass by the Balboa Theatre daily, rarely noticing the once thriving cultural center at the corner of Fourth Avenue and E Street. Opened in 1924 by the Balboa Building Company, the 1,524-seat venue cost $80,000 to build. The theatre was host to nationally recognized vaudeville acts and major movie stars throughout the 20’s. In 1930, the theatre was renamed El Teatro Balboa and began showing Spanish-language flims and stage productions. When WWII hit the theatre housed sailors until in 1959 it was transformed into an action movie venue.

Over the next couple decades the building fell into decline. In 1985, the Centre City Development Corporation aquired the property by eminent domain but it wasn’t until 2002 the CCDC authorized rehabiltation of the historic venue. The original grandeur of this building was restored as this building is listed on the Register of Historical Places. Renovation and restoration began in early summer of 2006 and is expected to be completed at the end of November.

This new performing arts center will surely breathe new life, and old charm, into San Diego’s theater district.

For more info visit Balboa’s Website or CCDC’s site

Wine and fine food enthusiasts from all over gather for the annual San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival. This week long festival (November14-18) features 160 wineries, 60 fine-dining restaurants, celebrity chef demonstrations, wine dinners, cooking and wine tasting classes and more!

Brian Malarkey: Executive Chef of Ocean Aire

New to this year’s scedule is a Tommy Bahama Rum VIP Party, a luxury champagne and jewelry event called Bling & Bubbly, and the Chef of the Fest competition, in which 60 chef’s compete for $50,000 in cash and prizes. For a full schedule, ticket prices and more information visit SD Bay Wine & Food Website

 

Solara Lofts received the top award for Best Model Home Interior Design for an attached home with an average sales price of $500,001 and over, at the countywide 2007 SAM Awards held at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina in September.
Unique among its competitors, Solar Lofts began its sales process just prior to completion of the midrise tower, as opposed to a year or more previous.
The SAM Awards program is sponsored by the San Diego County Building Industry Association and its Sales and Marketing Council. The acronym stands for sales, advertising and marketing.
The SAM Awards is the building industry’s annual awards program to honor the county’s most outstanding projects.
Solara Lofts was also recently named on of the Best Selling Attached Projects for the First Quarter of 2007 by the Building Industry Association’s Builder magazine in the June 2007 issue, based on weekly sales rates. It was one of only two downtown projects to be recognized.
Solara Lofts is located at 1551 Fourth Ave. in Cortez Hill, on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Cedar Street.
A development of Skandia, Solara Lofts is not ready for move-ins. Prices range from the mid-$200,000s to more than $1 million.
For more information, visit the onsite sales office, visit the website SolaraLofts.com

The temporary homeless shelter, that was planned to be erected on Market Street, in the heart of the East Village and surrounded by highrise loft and condo buildings, is now being moved over to Tailgate Park near Petco Park. The homeless shelter continues to be pushed out of it’s home. Once housed in Barrio Logan, residents complained of the mass increase of people with mental illness and drug and alchohol problems. So now it is brought Downtown…

The East village has had a face lift over the past couple years, but still continues to be he home to many of Downtowns half-way homes and other social programs; an interesting dichotomy in that the East Village, once a run down area with mostly old warehouses and a large homeless population, has rapidly grown into a wealthier, trendy, urban area with highrises being erected everywhere you look, not serving the purpose it once did. The problem is that there needs to be something done about the homeless situation, perhaps a permanent place to house them, rather than a tent jumping from one neighborhood to another.

Read more about this current situation in this San Diego channel 10 news report …ARTICLE