Entrance to Barnard Apartments territory
Occasionally, the OB Rag publishes an update on local development projects – just to keep our readers and ourselves informed. Here is the first of two:
190 Barnard Apartments Being Readied
The huge project that is being built on the site of the former Barnard Elementary School in the Midway District – just outside OB – has made great gains since our last visit.
Photo by Shawn Drake.
Nearly 200 units are being constructed on almost 10 acres at the site of the school sold by the School District in 2012. The Monarch Group bought the site at auction for a reported $16.5 million.
A peak over the fence.
The sale of the land and the price ultimately paid to the school district was roundly criticized by the community at the time.
Coming Fall of 2015?
Here is what we reported on the project a little less than a year ago:
The San Diego School District sold the property of the former Barnard Elementary School over in the Midway area about 2 years ago. Now, it’s the site of a massive construction project that will when completed host 180 apartment units and 10 townhomes.
At the beginning …
The project – called the Barnard Apartments – is on 9.5 acres and will be a gated apartment complex. A company called the Monarch Group bought the site at auction for a reported $16.5 million, and plan to have the project completed by January 2016.
The apartments will include one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, as there will be 19 residential buildings. In addition, plans call for a rec building with a fitness center and “teaching kitchen”, and there will be a swimming pool and an artificial-turf dog park. Each apartment will have their own garage space as well.
Inside the gate.
Also, as we have noticed in the past, this is one of the largest projects in the Peninsula, and it’s surrounded by 2-story apartments and condos in one of the most dense – and forgotten – neighborhoods in the Peninsula if not the city.
And we also noticed that even thought these new apartments will usher in another – what? – 500 people into the area, there are no apparent additions to the local infrastructure to accompany those new folks. No new roadways so the new hundreds can access the main road in the area are being planned, no new libraries, no new anything.
And hopefully, there won’t be too many school-age children, right?. Barnard Apartments
“Think Positive”
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Conservative voice here:
Seems like an awful lot of people for that already dense area.
From the $2000’s ..worn like it a badge of honor. My how far rents have come.
I hope they add to the infrastructure somewhere along the line with taxes or other ways.
Hmm…I don’t sound too conservative at all. There is truly a need for balance whichever side of the political spectrum you sit on.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the development is applying for a map waiver to convert the “apartments” to condominiums. This will be heard at the Peninsula Community Planning Group meeting on October 15. The developer has taken advantage of a loophole by applying to build “apartments,” which does not require a public review. While the “apartments” are under construction – too late to influence the design – the developer goes in for a map waiver and everything magically converts to condominiums. What will happen is investors will buy them up and either resell them or rent them out at the highest rent they can possibly get.
Building new apartments “does not require a public review”? Since when?
Pete R – This has been the case for as long as I’ve been involved in the community planning board process. On the PCPB we regularly got action items for map waivers that did exactly this. The construction is underway and then the developer requests a map waiver to change the project from apartments to condos often on projects we knew nothing about. I will have to look up the the Municipal Code but the development permit for apartments does not require a public hearing.
and what about young families desperately wishing to stay in the area but are being marginally pushed out by rising housing prices? I can’t afford a home in OB but I can likely afford a condo there. Affordability is relative.
Perhaps a map or a link to one of where this is exactly would be helpful.
$2,000+ to live next door to Taco Fiesta?!?
does anyone know what the result was of the planning meeting are the units going to be converted into condos or what ????
Yes, the Peninsula Community Planning Board voted for the map waiver in October. By the time they get to hear about the project via a map waiver request, the projects are under construction and it is just a moot point. Even if they voted against it, the Planning Commission would grant it. It is a trick in the system.