Category: Economy

According to Lori Weisberg at the San Diego U-T, OB’s Breakfast Republic on Newport Avenue is set to close August 9th.

It and along with the company’s North Park and Encinitas locations will all serve their last meals that day.

Even if you will miss these popular eateries, don’t shed a tear for the San Diego hospitality company that founded Breakfast Republic more than a decade ago. Even though three older locations aren’t doing well, the company plans on opening a dozen new restaurants in Texas over the next five years.

The Ocean Beach venue is just not performing as well as the eight other Southern California locations that are. Weisberg:

The Ocean beach restaurant, at 5,000 square feet, is far larger than the locations [founder Johan Engman] is now opening, and it’s also on the second floor, which isn’t as convenient for customers.

Business declined at the North Park restaurant partly due to “the removal of 175 street parking spaces to make way for bike lanes several years ago.”

San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo says he has found a pot of money the city can use to re-open more than a dozen Mission Bay restrooms closed in early July as part of budget cutting. He wants the city to use “the $1.8 million in budgeted election costs that were freed up last month when a possible November ballot measure got postponed,” as the U-T reported yesterday.

The freed-up money became available last month when the council’s Rules Committee delayed indefinitely — but at least until 2028 — a ballot measure proposed by Councilmember Kent Lee to shrink the mayor’s power, reports the U-T.

By closing 13 of the 28 restrooms that serve tourists and locals alike at Mission Bay Park, the city is saving a whopping $546,000 in maintenance and cleaning costs.

Campillo says the closures are creating a public health hazard because park visitors have begun relieving themselves in grassy areas and other locations. In a July 15th memo to the mayor, Campillo wrote,

“Redirecting those funds would address an immediate community need and help restore a basic public service that is essential to the safe and enjoyable use of Mission Bay Park. Our constituents have asked for it.”

Yet Mayor Gloria rejects Campillo’s proposal. He claimed he shares the councilmember’s concerns, but says it would be financially risky to reopen the restrooms using the newly available money.

Four AP Reporters / July 26, 2026

What’s for dinner? Lately, at Apral Jack’s house, it’s whatever is on sale.

Jack, 50, scouts an app for deals at her local supermarket before she buys groceries. When she reaches the store, she looks in the weekly circular for coupons she might have missed. If shelf prices look too high, she tries to find lower prices someplace else.

“The apples went up here, the ones I eat, so now I’m not going to get them here,” Jack said as she pushed a cart into a Stop & Shop near her home in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Couponing, comparison shopping and cutting back on favorite foods are new habits for her and millions of other Americans as they absorb the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century. Buying food to eat at home has gotten 33% more expensive since the beginning of 2019, according to government figures.

With a conflict in the Middle East creating more price pressures, the cost of filling refrigerators, freezers and pantries has made affordability a central issue in the fall midterm elections.

by Debbie L. Sklar / Times of San Diego / July 22, 2026

Before there was Del Mar, there was another racetrack.

There’s no sign of it today, but Pacific Beach once had a racetrack — and for a brief period in the 1880s, it became one of the region’s most notable gathering places.

Today, Pacific Beach is known for its boardwalk, beach traffic, and nightlife. In the late 19th century, however, it was part of a developing coastal landscape shaped by real estate speculation, rail expansion, and ambitious efforts to create destination communities.

One of the most ambitious of those early projects was the Pacific Beach Driving Park, also known as the American Driving Park, a horse racing facility established during San Diego’s 1880s land boom.

The track was developed in 1887 after the Southern California Breeders’ Association acquired property for a formal racing venue. Located on what was then undeveloped land near Pacific Beach, the site included a racetrack, stables, and a grandstand designed to support organized races and public events while also helping promote surrounding land sales.

On Sunday July 26, the OB Task Force on Homelessness announced the results of a survey their volunteers performed of folks suffering from homelessness earlier that day. And they counted 65 souls.

They reported:

Observational Survey update:
– new high of 65 souls counted on just 15 blocks of downtown OB on a Sunday morning as tourists and families start going to church and breakfast.

Editordude: Nadia Lathan at Voice of San Diego just published a great read on the latest on Midway Rising and Senate Bill 958 — although she doesn’t mention NAVWAR — and it’s worth your time to catch up on this complex set of issues that will, if enacted, drastically affect all residents and visitors to the Peninsula. She hits most of the key issues, although not everyone, but does wet our appetites. So, try to get to it over the weekend. Here it is:

Voice of San Diego dated July 24, 2026.

San Diego officials are moving full-steam ahead to get one of their chief policy priorities to the finish line before the legislative session wraps up next month.

Senate Bill 958 would make it easier to build a 165-foot-tall sports arena in the Midway District neighborhood by giving broad exemptions to building height restrictions in the California Environmental Quality Act, the state’s preeminent environmental law.

It allows the lawsuit-ridden Midway Rising project, which includes housing and the arena, to skirt the neighborhood’s 30-foot height limit for buildings near the coast.

Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a Democrat who represents Midway District, is authoring the bill.

Business and housing groups lobbying for the bill expect smooth sailing from here: It cleared a June hearing in the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources with unanimous support. That came after the bill was changed from its initial, more ambitious version introduced in February, when city officials sought to exempt all parts of the project from CEQA.

YIMBY Democrats of San Diego helped craft the legislation with the mayor’s office, which has been doing whatever it can to get the 16,000-seat arena off the ground amid yearslong local opposition.

By Debbie L. Sklar / Special to the OB Rag

Today, Encanto is one of southeastern San Diego’s best-known communities, with a history that reflects both the opportunities and challenges experienced by many urban neighborhoods.

First promoted to homebuyers in the early 1900s, developers envisioned a place of orchards, small farms, and country living connected to downtown by rail. The name itself—Encanto, the Spanish word for “enchantment” or “charm”—dates to 1889 and reflected the area’s appeal as an attractive place to settle. From its rural beginnings to its evolution into one of southeastern San Diego’s most recognizable neighborhoods, Encanto’s history mirrors San Diego’s own growth. Here are eight facts that helped shape the community.

1. It Began as a Community of “Suburban Homes and Small Farms”

When the Encanto Heights subdivision was created in 1907, developers promoted it as a place for “suburban homes and small farms.”

Buyers could purchase five- and 10-acre parcels where they could grow orchards, tend gardens,s and even keep livestock. It was a far cry from the suburban neighborhood people know today.

Meeting Organized by Several Local Planning Groups

A number of local community planning groups have organized what they’re calling a “Town Hall” to discuss and debate several key development projects facing this area of San Diego: The Peninsula Community Planning Board, the Uptown Community Planning Group, Old Town Community Planning group and Protect Pt Loma Community Association are co-sponsoring this event. (Interesting that the OB Planning Board is not included.) The issues:

• NAVWAR redevelopment project
• Midway Rising for the sports arena area
• Senate Bill 958 aiming to pave the way for Midway Rising

It’s all happening:

Tuesday, July 28th, 2026
6pm – 7:30pm
Pt Loma Library
3701 Voltaire Street
San Diego, CA 92107

Organizers say they will have a brief presentation on the background and serious consequences if the Midway Rising and NAVWAR projects are approved.  Then they will open up the forum to public comment and discussion.  This meeting will be recorded, and they say they will send this to each of the Assembly members who sit on the Appropriations Committee the first week of August.

Most people who spend some time in San Diego understand that it’s a coastal desert city. “Desert” being the main word here. Because of this understanding, many adjust their behavior into conserving a desert’s most priceless commodity: water.

People take out their green grass and plant cacti and succulents; they don’t wash their car as much; they use less water in their normal day-to-day living and chores. And up to now, those residents who use less water were rewarded by a city of San Diego water rate system in which customers who use less water paid a lower rate, and those who use more water paid more.

Now, all of that is going to change.

A recent court ruling against the city of San Diego and its tiered pricing system has prompted a proposed rate change that would eliminate the city’s tiered pricing system.

Which means, if enacted, San Diego residents who use less water could see their monthly water bills increase next year and those who don’t use less water will actually see a decrease in their monthly bills. If approved, all customers would pay the same rate, regardless of how much water they use.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Where would the incentive to save water go?

And critics of the proposed changes malign the idea as just one more cost being heaped on the average consumer.  One Kensington homeowner, Cynthia Hillman was quoted by local TV station 7SanDiego as saying the potential increase comes at a difficult time for many families.

“For somebody who’s having to pay higher gas prices, higher grocery prices, this is just one more thing that makes life very uncomfortable,” she said. She also expressed concern about who would bear the added cost. “You’re asking the little guy to pay more,” she said.

Kensington resident Connie Kirk also was quoted: “That doesn’t sound very fair because if they’re using more that means they’ve got more property, which probably means they’ve got more income period.”

Rag readers have also expressed outrage.

The proposed changes stem from a legal decision in a case against the city of San Diego that requires the city to move away from a rate structure that incentivizes lower water usage.

David Garrick at the San Diego U-T wrote an analysis of the current City Council races on July 12th, and here is a summary of some of his findings.

First, they “attracted an unprecedented amount of cash this year from groups funded by labor unions, business interests and statewide organizations,” and he found “the results were decidedly mixed.”

For example, in the District 2 race, “A committee supporting Josh Coyne … spent $300,000, but Coyne didn’t come close to making the November runoff.” In contrast, “Richard Bailey finished first in District 2 thanks partly to more than $200,000 in committee support.”

Yet, candidate Rafael Perez in the District 8 race finished last despite $150,000 in committee support. One of the candidates who made the primary run-off was Gerardo Ramirez “after benefiting from more than $200,000 in committee support….”

Overall, the monies spent on these races “are dramatically higher than typical San Diego council race contributions from independent committees, which allow supporters to exceed the $800 maximum an individual can contribute directly to a campaign,” reports Garrick.

By Dorian Hargrove and Andrew Keatts / Times of San Diego / July 16, 2026

A 40-yard green dumpster sits in front of 1461 Hilger in Encanto. Trash and debris tower over the railing. Less than 40 feet below sits a dilapidated wooden shed, or, as neighbors describe it, the makeshift garage where stolen cars are stored and disassembled throughout the night. The two-story house on the other side of the dumpster is littered with appliances and trash.

At least, that was the scene at the home until Wednesday morning, when the property owner, San Diego police and code enforcement officers executed a massive clean-up on the property two days after Times of San Diego asked for comment on the derelict property. Squatters had been living there and engaging in lawless behavior for nearly 8 months, neighbors say.

The home, and a neighboring property that was also occupied by squatters, are owned by a company formed by Christian Spicer, whose companies have been at the forefront of capitalizing on the city of San Diego’s accessory dwelling unit regulations, which are among the most permissive in all of California.

His companies have specialized in converting single-family properties into large apartment complexes, capitalizing on the city’s ADU rules. That includes the Chalcifica project in Pacific Beach, which would have turned two parcels into 136 units.

In an investor brochure for SDRE, Spicer’s company, before he rebranded it to Infill Innovation, the ADU developer promoted his plans to convert 53 single-family homes spread throughout San Diego into 1,178 total units.

The total cost to acquire the 53 properties, according to the brochure, was just under $62.8 million. If all of his projects were built according to plan, Spicer predicted revenue from adding the 1,100-plus ADUs would be more than $538.8 million, a 750 percent increase.

But Spicer’s plan hit snags. Residents in Encanto, Pacific Beach, and the College Area pushed back, delaying the projects from starting, and in some cases, such as the Chalcifica project in Pacific Beach, the projects wound up in court, where a judge temporarily halted the project from moving forward until a trial is held.

By Beth Demmon / San Diego Magazine / July 14, 2026

After 10 years of rooftop dining and brewing award-winning beers, OB Brewery is for sale. A local fixture on Newport Avenue, OB Brewery owner Mike Tajran is ready to retire and hand over the reins. “It’s got so much potential,” he says, pointing to the accolades the brewpub has collected throughout the last decade (it’s more than a few).

At the 2017 Great American Beer Festival, OB’s Hidden Gem Dunkelweizen won silver in the German-Style Wheat Ale category, followed by a World Beer Cup silver medal as a South German-Style Dunkel Weizen in 2026. In 2018, GABF named OB Brewery Small Brewpub of the Year, brewer Jim Millea earned Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year, and the B. Right On pale ale nabbed a gold medal in the American-Style Pale Ale category. The Elevator Red IPA also took bronze that year at the San Diego International Beer Festival, and earlier this year, they won gold for Couple’s Therapy chili beer and silver for Rauch Me smoked beer at San Diego County Fair Craft Brew Competition.

It’s a solid foundation for the right buyer, he says—someone with brewing and business chops ready for a turnkey operation in a favorable location a block from the beach on Ocean Beach’s busiest street. (And while he’s letting go of the brewpub business, he’s also open to selling the building as part of the deal.)