Category: Economy

By: Marie Coronel / 10News / Feb 16, 2026

A growing trend in San Diego is helping address the housing shortage as companies convert vacant hotels into apartment complexes, offering residents new housing options at competitive rental rates.

Ambient Communities has been working for years to transform the former Consulate Hotel, which was built in the 1970s and sat vacant for years, into the Celeste Point Loma Apartments. The project will offer 127 units in an area that has seen limited new housing development.

Robert Honer, a principal for Ambient Communities, said the conversion provides an alternative housing option for young professionals and students in a desirable neighborhood.

“If you’re going to graduate school, if you get your first job this is a community that people like to live in. For me the only way we could afford it was we put a bunch of kids in a single family home and did it that way. So this is an alternative to that,” Honer said.

Ping ‘Jenny’ Gao took money from three firms; ‘went on a spending spree’ and bought $2.9 million home in Point Loma and new Porsche

City News Service — SDU-T / February 13-14, 2026

A San Diego woman who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $8.5 million from her employer and laundering the money was sentenced Friday to five years and three months in prison.

Ping “Jenny” Gao took money from three aviation investment firms and then “went on a spending spree” that included buying a $2.9 million home in Point Loma and a $160,000 Porsche, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

She was later sued by her employer in San Diego Superior Court upon discovery of the theft and prosecutors say her defense case included repeated acts of perjury, in which she claimed the actual owner of the companies was an imposter.

OB Rag Staff

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general public informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings and other city public meetings.

Wednesday, February 18: Rules Committee, 9:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Item 2: Amendments to Council Policy 000-21 related to the submission of ballot proposals by the Mayor, the Council, City Hall departments and public agencies.

Why it matters: This proposal by Councilmember Raul Campillo would place new requirements on City-initiated ballot measures

From Protect Point Loma

Jan. 23, 2026 Point Loma Community,

Protect Point Loma group wanted to update you on our fight to protect PL from the predatory developers.

The owner/developer, Michael Contreras, pushed his project to build an over-height, 4-story, 56-unit apartment building to be permitted and start construction in early 2026. He is there.

However, community opposition – coupled with the real threat of drawn-out legal action and the increased costs of environmental mitigation – is working. The community’s action appears to have paused the development of 1004 Rosecrans. In over a year, the community has stepped up repeatedly to voice our opposition in public, to our elected representatives, and to underwrite the work of a crack legal team. Community members provided essential historical data on the property that enabled us to initiate environmental actions to protect neighbors and Cabrillo Elementary students from exposure to carcinogens in the soil. The broad support of the community has been essential.

This pause is an opportunity. Community members have consistently offered to purchase the property from Contreras to prevent the project from going forward.  We continue to support those who are trying to make this happen.

Residents of Pacific Beach and other coastal communities who’ve been watching all the maneuverings by the developer, the city and mainline politicians around what’s called the PB Tower, (or Turquoise Tower, or Project Vela), may have become familiar with the name Matt Awbrey.

Matt Awbrey has become the face of Kalonymus, the developer of the Tower as he’s assumed the role of spokesperson. Just recently, Awbrey informed city planning officials that Kalonymus planned to resubmit plans for the 23-story structure, at 970 Turquoise Street, for a fifth time. This was in response to the ongoing dispute between the city and Kalomymus.

The in-your-face aggressiveness by Kalonymus over the past year has no doubt thrown Awbrey into a position that he savors, because this is not the first controversy he’s headed up. In a statement about the Tower to the Union-Tribune, Awbrey asserted, confidently:

By Kate Callen

The tangled saga of Mayor Todd Gloria’s decision to monetize parking in Balboa Park has taken a new and interesting twist.

San Diego County Crimestoppers is offering up to $1,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of suspects “responsible for multiple cases of felony vandalism to [52] parking pay stations located throughout the Balboa Park area.”

According to the February 10 announcement, “The suspect(s) vandalized the parking pay stations by spray-painting them, shattering the digital glass screens, and placing a sticky substance on the keypads deeming them inoperable. The total cost of the damages is estimated to be approximately $77,500.”

The notice included pictures of kiosks that were smashed and covered with paint. It didn’t include pictures of a more common sight around the park: kiosks plastered with Todd Gloria name tags and petitions for Gloria’s recall.

The OB Rag does not condone vandalism. Destroying public property as a form of protest is counterproductive.

A locally-based real estate company has just purchased a huge, 180-unit project in the Point Loma / Midway area — the site of the former Barnard Elementary School.

MG Properties, a San Diego-based multifamily real estate investment firm, announced the purchase of Dylan Point Loma Apartments, a massive piece of property that opened in 2016 consisting of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. The colorful announcement states that the project is “complemented by a resort-style saltwater pool, a fitness center, community club house, a conference room, game lounge, demonstration kitchen, dog park and a volleyball court.”

It’s “colorful” because although the announcement claims the project is in “Point Loma,” it’s actually situated in the more problematic neighborhood of the Midway District, which is beset with a large homeless population, fast-food joints, malls and shopping centers, often described in negative terms by urban planners, police and developers. In contrast, the announcement asserts “Dylan Point Loma is situated in one of San Diego’s most desirable coastal submarkets, offering residents convenient access to major employment centers, beaches, dining, and entertainment.”

The purchase price was undisclosed. MG Properties bought the site which has a formal address as 2930 Barnard St, San Diego, CA 92110, from JLL Income Property Trust.

Marimar Martinez is the Chicago woman who was shot 5 times by an ICE agent back in October 2025 and who lived to testify about it before a Congressional committee last week.

Because her testimony was edited by every news network and effectively back paged for lack of a better term, we here quote verbatim Marimar Martinez’ testimony before Congress in it’s entirety, just weeks after getting shot 5 times and leaving 7 bullet holes by ICE. This is the testimony that should have been heard by every American and heard around the world. Marimar Martinez testimony should have dominated the news cycle last week:

To the Rag reader who sent us the following, “Marimar is strength and love personified. This is what courage looks like, and she is an example for us all.”

[00:00:00:30 – 00:00:01:57]

Thank you for having me here.

[00:00:02:57 – 00:00:13:55]

Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude. Thank you, Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to be here today, for taking the time to hear my testimony.

City News Service – Times of SD /  Feb. 6, 2026

A San Diego federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to return three families that he ruled were deported unlawfully.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw wrote in a Thursday, Feb.5, ruling that the deportations “clearly violated the spirit” of a 2023 settlement agreement that he approved, which sought to reunite and provide services for families separated at the southern border.

“Each of the removals was unlawful, and absent the removals, these families would still be in the United States and have access to the benefits and resources they are entitled to under the Settlement Agreement,” the judge wrote.

Sabraw, who has in previous rulings found that the Trump administration has violated the terms of the settlement, wrote that the family members were removed despite legally being in the U.S. on parole.

By Arturo Castañares – Editor-at-Large / La Prensa / Jan. 29, 2026

A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has launched a campaign for County Treasurer-Tax Collector against the person a majority of the Supervisors just recently appointed to the position, while his own Party is considering supporting another candidate to run against him.

Supervisor Joel Anderson, a longtime elected Republican, just entered the second year of his second four-term on the County Board of Supervisors, but recently filed to run for County Treasurer in this year’s election cycle.

Joel Anderson

If Anderson were to win the election in November, he would vacate his Supervisor seat halfway through his term and create a vacancy his Democratic colleagues could fill.

The race for a usually low-profile position comes after longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced his unexpected resignation on August 2nd after having been elected to the post six times over the past 24 years. McAllister’s current term expires in January 2027.

By Donna Frye / Op-Ed SD Union-Tribune / Feb. 8, 2026

On Jan. 5, the city of San Diego began charging residents and nonresidents to park at Balboa Park. To say that the rollout went badly is a gross understatement; the only way it could have been worse is if the city made everyone parallel park before paying.

There was extensive news coverage both before and after the paid parking was enacted showing widespread opposition to the parking fees for residents and nonresidents alike.

On Jan. 27, three City Council members who had voted in support of paid parking in Balboa Park held a press conference inside City Hall.

At that press conference, Council President Joe LaCava, Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera jointly announced their proposal to suspend paid parking fees for residents, but keep the parking fees for nonresidents.

LaCava said he was docketing their proposal for the council meeting that would be held on Monday, Feb. 9. There was no mention of a ballot measure as part of their proposal.

On Jan. 28, the Rules Committee had a meeting. LaCava, Lee and Elo-Rivera are three of the five members who serve on the Rules Committee; LaCava is the chair and Lee is the vice chair.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general public informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings and other city public meetings.

Monday, February 9: City Council, 10:00 a.m.

Agenda:

Non-Agenda Public Comment:  The Mayor and the Council just cut a ragtag deal to “reform” paid parking at Balboa Park (but still charge for the closest lots). So the topic won’t be on this week’s Council docket. But San Diegans can still express their views on the issue in person or virtually during non-agenda public comment. On Monday, non-agenda comment is scheduled early in the meeting at about 10:15 a.m. On Tuesday, the comment period is near the end at about 12 noon.