The Overdevelopment of Clairemont Mesa and Kearny Mesa

By Robert Welsh

Here is a quote from the City’s Clairemont Community Plan, dated 1989: “In summary, Clairemont Mesa is an urbanized community and for the most part is built out.” It must be said, that Clairemont has not gotten less “built out” in the 37 years since then.

Recently I was in a discussion about excessive apartment building development in Clairemont Mesa, noting 8 locations where significant developments had been completed, were under construction or were planned. I decided to visit each location in person, to get a first-hand view, and these are my observations.

I was both surprised and shocked with what I found.

I was surprised to find that 2 of the notorious cul-de-sac ADU builds (12 units @ Shoshoni, and 17 units @ Almayo) did not look as awful from the front as they did while under construction. You might easily drive by them without noticing the depth of their development, from front-to-back. Of course, you wouldn’t be driving past them because they are both in cul-de-sacs, and the parking problems are obvious and extreme. There simply is no parking for these locations.

I was shocked to see how many smaller (4-8 unit) ADUs existed or were under construction around Clairemont ! Unless you drive around and look, you will not fathom the incredible amount of construction that has been or is being undertaken.

My focus here will be on the large builds I had mentioned.

Completed – 404 units added Mt. Etna & Genesee

This doesn’t look too bad from the front. You can see that it is large, but until you see it from the side or from behind you will not appreciate how far back it extends. Some of this is “Senior Housing”, so I did not bother to note the price range. It does appear to have some parking, and I did not see any parking issues in the neighborhood when I drove by (Saturday at 9-10am)

Completed – 531 units added at Convoy & Ronson

This is the Alexan Camellia development. Intentionally placed on Convoy so as to avail of the Convoy District, this one is even larger than Mt Etna. You can see its front-to-back dimensions as you peer through the fence where new construction of some sort is taking place, the site of the old Zion and KM Bowl (and K-Mart if you have lived here long enough to remember).

Monthly rent is $2,703-$4,468 for a Studio-2 br, 1-2 ba, 588-1,133 sq ft. Parking is $100-$150/mo for a standard vehicle, $200 for an EV.

Not quite “affordable”, is it ?

Just getting started – 7000 block of Clairemont Mesa Blvd (site of old Zion and KM Bowl). Right next to Alex Camellia, I have not confirmed what will be built here, it has only been demo’d and leveled. I expect it will be another “Camellia”

Under construction – 251 units (7 stories) at 163 Freeway & Clairemont Mesa Blvd

You can see this one from far away as it is very tall. But since there is no existing residential in the area, and it is right next to the 163, it’s not really impacting anyone’s view.

I also see a parking structure being built. It seems the major impact of this development will be to traffic at this already messy and unfortunate intersection of Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Kearny Mesa Rd, Kearny Villa Rd and the major highway of 163

Completed? – 432 units 5550 Kearny Mesa Road

This is Broadstone Soren. Almost hidden from view driving eastward on Clairemont Mesa Blvd, it is tucked in behind the Hampton Inn.

The enormity of this site is not visible until you drive north on Kearny Mesa Rd. It is gigantic ! It does have a parking structure. It is partially complete and units show as availble on Zillow, but Broadstone’s web site says “Coming Soon”.

One thing that is very noteworthy, as you continue north on Kearny Mesa Rd, it dead-ends and that is the location of a very large Amazon warehouse. The *only* evacuation route is going south on Kearny Mesa Rd.

Similar in price to Camellia:
$2,615-$4,630 for Studio-3br,527-1,257 sq ft, EV parking $150/mo, standard vehicle $100/mo

Zillow gives a rating as to how easy it is to walk, bike or use transit, and they rate Broadstone as – 4.5 (out of 10.0) walk, 5.0 transit, 4.7 bike. You can see that this project did not score well in any of these categories.

Technically, this area is Kearny Mesa, District 6.

While in this area, I must point out the grandfather of large apartment complexes in the Kearny Mesa/Clairemont Mesa area –

Sunroad Spectrum

Built on 40 acres, Sunroad Spectrum in turn is part of a larger 232-acre site that used to house General Dynamics, up until 1995. GD employed over 12,000 people here in the early 90’s before they closed.

I worked at GD when I first moved to San Diego in 1985, and became familiar with Kearny Mesa and Clairemont Mesa, and especially Convoy St as an eating destination. I’ve seen what has happened to Convoy through the years, leading to its current incarnation as “Convoy District”, one of “the largest Pan-Asian business districts in the United States and is part of the thriving economic hub of Kearny Mesa.” (This is from their own website). Since I’m focusing on large builds here, I won’t belabor the negative effects of becoming the “Convoy District” instead of simp[ly Convoy St where great (and inexpensive) meals could be had.

The closing of General Dynamics was a tremendous blow to the local economy. All of the commercial businesses in the area were affected, and especially so the Black Angus and the Butcher Shop, two prime next-door watering holes which were always filled at lunchtime or right after work.

Along came Sunroad with a plan to develop the property, and develop it they did.

You may remember the controversy from 2007 when their Centrum Tower was constructed 20 feet too tall given its proximity to Montgomery Field. Ultimately they were forced to demolish the top 2 floors in order to achieve FAA compliance, but the entire year of 2007 was filled with controversy as Mayor Jerry Sanders, who had started out siding with Sunroad, saw the controversy tarnishing Sunroad’s and his reputation, and so he switched sides and came out against it. The city had issued the permits, so Sunroad sued for $40 million, but they lost.

The Sunroad saga certainly shows “how things work” with big developers and City Hall.

Now having said all this, I find the Sunroad to be a very pleasant development. It was the only place in my 3 hours of driving around where I saw any significant numbers of cyclists. I saw 3 in the 10 minutes it took to circumnavigate the complex as it is quite large. Apart from contributing to the traffic at the poorly implemented Clairemont Mesa Blvd & 163 intersection, I see no noticeable negative effects from the Sunroad development. It appears to have been planned thoughtfully, unlike the other large-scale developments currently taking place. It is a unique location in that Kearny Mesa is exclusively commercial and industrial in this area, with no residential until you get south of Aero Drive, or east of I-15, transitioning into Tierrasanta or military housing east of I-15 at Balboa

In the works –

600 units at Balboa & Clairemont Drive

This is the north-east corner, where Goodwill is located. Nothing has been done here yet, and I could not find a “hard” source, like a permit, to confirm it. Thus, it remains a rumor, as it has since a burst of news activity one year ago. Recent rumors have stated “None of the existing retail has been given an offer to come back. He told me only the liquor store and good will are currently there and must be out by 8/31.” and “the thrift store is closing September 1st”

If it ends up being 600 units, that is crazy, just insane. This intersection is already one of the busiest in Clairemont, with traffic coming up from PB as well as from teh Balboa Transit Station (ie trolley). Clairemont High School adjacent and Clairemont Drive having its lanes reduced from 2 each way to 1 to accomodate the virtually unused bike lanes. This intersection is often the site of accidents as vehicles try to speed through and not get stuck at the interminable light. The speed limit on Balboa approaching Caliremont Dr from either side is 45mph, but speeds in excess of 60mph are routinely seen as the road dips/rises from the canyons nearby.

I didn’t have room to cover the ADU plague afflicting Clairemont, but from my first-hand observations it is far worse than you think. You have only to drive around and you will see new projects sprouting up weekly. Other communities would be well served to see how things have been panning out in Clairemont, because until somebody puts a stop to the Mayor’s Madness, they are up next.

photo list

01-shoshoni4 4602 Shoshoni Ave
02-almayo1 4601 Almayo Ave
03-alymayo-rd View of street as seen from 4601 Almayo
04-mt etna-a Mt Etna complex including Paul Downy Senior Residence & Judith Selz Senior wellness Center
05-mt etna-b Rest of Mt Etna complex
06-mt etna-f Mt Etna complex view at rear
07-camellia1 Camellia viewed thru fence of now leveled 7500 CMB (old KM Bowl)
08-8300cmb1 163 & CMB viewed from west
09-8300cmb2 163 & CMB viewed from across CMB
10-5550-km1 Broadstone Soren south side
11-5550-km2 Broadstone Soren south side
12-5550-km3 Broadstone Soren east side
13-5550-km4 Broadstone Soren east-most portion not yet finished
14-spectrum1 From west side of 163
15-spectrum2 North side just before Lightwave Ave
16-spectrum3 Eastern edge at Paramount Dr
17-spectrum4 View heading west on Lightwave towards Kearny Villa Rd