Having received proposals from redevelopment teams for the NAVWAR property last week, the Navy is absolutely mum on the number and types of proposals and who are the teams and their financial models and development schedules. It’s the final leg of the eating frenzy to select who will remake this huge prime piece of real estate.
Jennifer van Grove at the U-T reported late last week:
The United States Navy has moved into the final leg of a real estate competition to replace its obsolete NAVWAR facilities and remake the rest of the 70.3-acre military campus that bumps up against Interstate 5 in San Diego’s Midway District.
The Navy is expected to select a a winning proposal before the end of the year. The parties would then enter into an exclusive negotiation period.
After receiving a harsh backlash “to conceptual models that depicted a wall of skyscrapers towering over Interstate 5,” van Grove reports, the Navy is fairly sensitive. She reports:
Although Navy officials have repeatedly stated a desire to be good neighbors, the agency has taken a closed-door approach to its solicitation process in an effort to maintain the confidentiality of negotiations. Participating teams, bound by a non-disclosure agreement, have been barred from talking to the media or openly discussing their plans for the site with community groups.
Van Grove surmises:
Teams participating in the NAVWAR competition are likely proposing mixed-use projects with new Navy facilities and a substantial number of residential units alongside hotels, office buildings and retail shops.
A preliminary environmental analysis conducted by the Navy studied a development concept with 19.6 million square feet of development — including 10,000 residential units — all spread across 109 buildings as high as 350 feet. The development intensity is possible because the Navy’s land is not subject to local zoning laws or building height restrictions.
Because of all the secrecy and the Navy’s earlier redevelopment models, plus that last sentence “the Navy’s land is not subject to local zoning laws or building height restrictions,” there is deep anxiety among residents over what will eventually come down. Some have pleaded that affordable housing be built. Others have expressed concerns about the potential loss of an important part of San Diego’s character and visual nature.
Meanwhile, many eyes are on this process.
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Affordable housing in an area of prime real estate. LOL
The Navy is expected to select a a winning proposal before the end of the year. The parties would then enter into an exclusive negotiation period.
With who?
A preliminary environmental analysis conducted by the Navy studied a development concept with 19.6 million square feet of development — including 10,000 residential units — all spread across 109 buildings as high as 350 feet. The development intensity is possible because the Navy’s land is not subject to local zoning laws or building height restrictions.
10K units in a very high priced land area. Is this another red herring?