downtown-san-diego-urban-lifestyle/new-downtown-developments-the-metro-center/120/
The Metro Center will be a commerical shopping center located on the 6.5 acre site bounded by 16th and Commercial streets and National and Newton avenues. This project site is an enormous vacant space that was formerly a UNOCAL tank storage yard and currently houses two MTS warehouses on the norhtern end of the lot. Soil remediation has already been completed, and developers are in negotiations with MTS for the purchase of these sites. This site is currently the largest single undeveloped property in all of downtown San Diego.
The Metro Center 5 story commercial project includes 475,946 square feet of multi-level, muti-tenant retail and commerical space. This will include two ‘big box’retailers, a home improvement center on the ground floor and another large retailer (Rumored to be a Target) on the 2nd floor, with a variety of other retail tenants on floors 1-5. This project will also contain elevated and subterranean parking with 1,368 parking spaces.
As more and more people move out of suburban sprawls and into diversified cities, developers are challanged, attempting to bring large scale retail into urban enviorments. As most structures in urban areas, they grow vertically. It seems like the developers and architects have successfully integrated this large retail complex into the urban fabric, providing an interesting and attractive center that interfaces and interacts with the surrounding neighborhood. The project’s central location provides convienent citywide access from public transportation, minimizing dependance on arrival by car.
For more information check out the CCDC meeting information.