Want farm fresh produce, artisan foods and specialty items? Come on down to Little Italy Mercato, the City Market for Downtown San Diego Condo and Loft homeowners, San Diego residents and visitors. The market opens every Saturday year around at 9am and continues until 1.30 in the afternoon, the place to go is Date Street from Kettner Boulevard to Union Street in the Little Italy District.

Curious about what they offer? Here’s a list of things to do and buy:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Herbs
• Flowers and plants
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Fish
• Bread
• Sauces
• Olives
• Pasta
• Coffee
• Pastry
• Crepes
• Paninis
• Smoothies
• Italian ices
• Local Chef’s specialties
• Live music

Don’t miss the CHEF DEMOS at the Amphi Theater at Date Street and State Street that is coming soon!

For more information visit mercato@littleitalysd.com and to read our former blog visit “Secrets of Downtown San Diego’s Urban Living“.

The Hotel Indigo in the Gaslamp District in Downtown San Diego will be the 1st hotel to be LEED Certified in Southern California. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  The Hotel Indigo is LEEDing the charge by:

• Eco-Roof. The rooftop and a portion of the Phi Terrace are planted with native plants to cut down on energy usage and eliminate storm water run off.
• Parking discounts for guests driving Hybrid vehicles.
• Showers and Bike racks to encourage/assist their staff in utilizing alternative transportation.
• Recyclable materials utilized in the construction of the hotel.
• Off site laundry services are being utilized to reduce energy costs and increase water efficiencies.

Hotel Indigo is a part of the local Art and Culture Community. Each guest room features a wall mural with images of native San Diego plant life, waterscapes, and flowers photographed by Ian Cummings, a local artist. In addition a 40 feet glass mural depicting the waves of the Pacific Ocean designed by Lisa Schirmer dresses the exterior of the hotel.

The Hotel Indigo is completely pet friendly! There is no additional pet fee or deposit and no size restrictions on you pet. Join Hotel Indigo for their Canine Cocktails, coming this fall Every Tuesday from 6.00 - 9.30, starting after Labor Day. Proceeds benefit the San Diego Humane Society.

To read our former blog about Hotel Indigo visit “Now Open! Hotel Indigo in the Gaslamp District in Downtown San Diego!” and for the Hotel Website click here.

According to ABC News, a market with cheap prices is not the only factor you should consider when you are thinking about investing in a new Downtown San Diego Condo, Loft or house. You should look for communities with a strong job market and stable housing values. Look for Cities with military bases, a strong tourism industry, state capitols and college towns because they are more “recession proof” according to Zilllow.

San Diego has a lot of what you would be looking for, the Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado, a lot of tourists and respectable schools and colleges like SDSU and UC San Diego and more. Are you thinking about investing in San Diego?

For questions about current market conditions or more information about condo and loft sales please go to the 92101 Urban Living website or call 619.677.2435 and press “0” followed by “7.” 92101 Urban Living can also be reached via email at info@92101urbanliving.com.

Early Tuesday morning the Star of India took sail and moved from its location at the Embarcadero in the Columbia District to a South Bay dry dock in National City for its yearly inspection and hull repairs.

The Maritime Museum is hoping to have the ship back by September 4th after blasting its iron hull with sand and water to prepare it for a coating that is expected to prevent it from rusting and to keep the Star of India from having to be painted every 10 years. The repairs will cost about $225,000 and the Maritime Museum is paying for it but they are hoping for sponsors to help with the cost. The museum says the work is expected to save about $4,000 per year.

The Star of India is the oldest operational tallest ship in the word  and The Maritime Museum says this dry dock is necessary to keep it that way.  To see the video of moving the ship please click here.

Street Scene is preparing to be better than ever with an all ages celebration in the streets of the East Village/Ballpark District in Downtown San Diego on Friday August 27th and Saturday August 238th, 2009 from 4pm to midnight. The East Village/Ballpark District offers easy parking and Trolley access in the heart of Downtown San Diego.

Come join the festivities and see 45 different bands playing such as the M.I.A., Zee Avi, The Faint, Public Enemy and many many more. See full list below.

Friday, August 28th

• Black Eyed Peas
• Modest Mouse
• Cake
• Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
• Band of Horses
• Girl Talk
• Devendra Banhart
• Chromeo
• Donald Glaude
• Mastodon
• Shooter Jennings
• Calexico
• Nortec Collective Bostich + Fussible
• Cage the Elephant
• Deerhunter
• Matt and Kim
• Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
• Dungen
• Wavves
• Holy Fuck
• Anya Marina
• Extra Golden
• Carney
• Dirty Sweet

Saturday, August 29th

• M.I.A.
• Thievery Corporation
• The Dead Weather
• Silversun Pickups
• Public Enemy
• Of Montreal
• The Faint
• Bassnectar
• Busta Rhymes
• Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Ozomatli
• Delta Spirit
• West Indian Girl
• The Knux
• No Age
• Ra Ra Riot
• Gram Rabbit
• Los Campesinos!
• LA Riots
• Blue Scholars
• Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
• Crocodiles
• Zee Avi

To get more information visit Street Scene.

The San Diego City Council endorses plan to include the San Diego Unified School District to lease the sixth and seventh floors of the new Downtown San Diego Central Library located in the East Village/Ballpark District right next to Downtown San Diego Condos in Park Boulevard West and Park Boulevard East.

The City Council voted 5-3 to authorize the mayor’s office to enter into a letter of intent with the San Diego Unified School District. The plan would be for the Unified School District to pay $20 million dollars in bond money from voter approved Proposition to leave the two floors available for the School District that would serve about 400 students.

City Council members Donna Frye, Sherri Lightner and Carl Demaio are questioning the accuracy of the estimated $185 million total cost of the new Downtown San Diego Library.  Demaio says “We do not, let me repeat, we do not have the funds available to complete this project”. He says the City is at least $35 million short.

San Diego News Network says that “The City has raised about $37 million from private donations for the new library. A $20 million state grant is also on the table. The bulk of the remaining cost would come from redevelopment money.” There is a lot of work that is still to be done, but Counsilman Kevin Faulconer beleives they should take this to the next step.

Read our former blog “San Diego’s New Central library on YouTube! ” and “What do you think of downtown San Diego’s “School-In Library” Concept in the East Village?” for more information.

Anyone who wants to buy a foreclosure in Downtown San Diego better act fast or you might end up with nothing. Foreclosures are put back on the market and they are often selling in a week - sometimes in less.

Downtown San Diego Condo and Loft buyers are facing a trend where agents have one or two foreclosure listings now, compared with 15 to 20 a year ago. As a result of less inventory and higher demand, there is almost no negotiating with the banks…no back and forth or counter offers. This is not to say that banks will not make deals, but due to the fact that there are competing offers on the same property.  The seller is pretty much asking for the highest and best price…and cash is king.

For example, we just put an offer in for an investor client of ours on a bank owned Treo unit (2bed,2bath,2parking) located in the Columbia District. One of the offers was at full price all cash, the second over asking all cash, and finally the third $15,000 over asking price but financed.  In fact…in the second quarter of sales for Downtown San Diego Condos, 109 units or 37% of the total sales were all cash purchases.

Please refer to the following graph where you can see Downtown units sold, Financing vs. Cash the second quarter of 2009. Financing is leading the way with 186 units sold or 63% and Cash has 109 units sold or 37%.

On Tuesday August 4th, the groundbreaking celebration and the first day of construction took place of the $22.4 million Broadway Pier Cruise Ship Terminal located in the Columbia District in Downtown San Diego.

The 52,000 square foot, two story steel and metal framed terminal will be able to handle 2,600 passengers and will include spaces for ticketing and baggage and U.S. Customs & Border Protection.

The Cruise Ship Terminal is scheduled to be completed in December of next year.  

To visit video from 10News click here 

Read our former blogs “Broadway Pier Cruise Ship Terminal & Lane Field Plans Receives Approval!” and “Broadway Pier Cruise Ship Terminal” for more information.

Hotel Indigo in the Gaslamp District in Downtown San Diego is an experience unlike any other. The colors invite, the imagery excites and the architecture delights. Hotel Indigo is designed for style conscious travels who wants more than a beige box. All rooms offers a refreshing experience with plush bedding, hardwood floor, spa inspired showers and all the amenities you have come to expect.

Downtown San Diego Condo homeowners in The Mark and Diamond Terrace and Downtown San Diego Loft homeowners in M2i and Fahrenheit and San Diego visitors take the change to experience something new, visit Hotel Indigo’s Phi Terrace fir an evening cocktail and enjoy the breathtaking views over Downtown San Diego.

The hotel is located on 509th Avenue  across the street from Park Loft and just a short stroll away from Petco Park. To get more information about Hotel Indigo please visit their website here.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

92101 Urban Living has been following the development of the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge in Downtown San Diego. The bridge is located right across the street West of Petco Park and East of the Hilton Hotel in the East Village/Ballpark District. We have new pictures to show above of the construction taking place of this exiting development.

Downtown San Diego Loft home owners in M2i and Parkloft and Downtown San Diego Condo home owners in Park Terrace and Icon and San Diego residents will soon enough be able to cross the trolley and train tracks from Park Boulevard over to Harbor Drive.

Read our former blogs Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge Breaks Ground and Downtown San Diego Harbor Drive’s View is Now Forever Changed and also visit ccdc.com for more information.