REAL ESTATE: PROJECTED COST HITS $3.5B ON DOWNTOWN MEGA-REDEVELOPMENT
By Ray Huard
Monday, March 14, 2022

The price tag on a massive redevelopment that will replace Seaport Village on San Diego’s downtown waterfront has jumped from $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion under a revised plan.

The $1 billion increased cost of Seaport San Diego is due partly to a surge of new development downtown focused on job creation, which prompted Seaport developers – 1HWY1 – to rethink the project, adding hotel rooms and expanding other portions of the project that will include a 500-foot-tall observation tower that will itself contain a hotel.
 
The project also has grown from about 70 acres to 105 acres of land and water – and now includes about 36.6 acres of land and 68.5 acres of water stretching from Embarcadero Marina Park North to just south of the USS Midway Museum.

Concern over climate change also has led to some design changes that include raising the overall site an average of three feet, said Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, the founder and CEO of Gafcon, who formed 1HWY1 to develop Seaport San Diego.

SEAPORT VILLAGE (KUSI) – After many years of planning and designing, the Port of San Diego will finally consider a major makeover for Seaport Village.

The developer has finalized their plans and the Port of San Diego released those plans Tuesday morning.
 
KUSI’s Dan Plante was live from Seaport Village with more information.

$3.5B Seaport San Diego project grows to include 105 acres of land, water
BY JENNIFER VAN GROVE

With a more fully baked site plan and an estimated cost of $3.5 billion, the long-awaited Seaport San Diego project from developer 1HWY1 is now available for public examination.

Today, the Port of San Diego released the Seaport San Diego project description, a 167-page document with development specifics and narrative descriptions for each of the project’s seven land blocks and five water zones. The document, which is more than five years in the making, will go before port commissioners at the March 8 board meeting where they’ll get to weigh in on — but not approve — the latest iteration of the mega project that promises to substantially alter the city’s front porch.
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“We’re breaking the pencil, as I would call it, and cementing in place the final project,” said Yehudi “Gaf ” Gaffen, who runs 1HYW1. “It’s a one-of-a-kind, transformational mixed-use project on the water that I truly do believe is going to set the bar for other projects, if not in the United States then in the world.”

Backed in part by San Diego’s famed Jacobs family, Seaport San Diego is a total reimagining of downtown’s Central Embarcadero — the expansive, bayfront area that includes Seaport Village and follows the coast from Embarcadero Marina Park North to the G Street Mole, just south of the USS Midway Museum. Following a competitive bidding process, the port selected 1HWY1 in November 2016 to redevelop the subdistrict.

Over the years, the redevelopment effort has swelled in size and now includes 105 acres of land and water area — and 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use development — in and around San Diego Bay. It’s also ballooned in price, adding billions to the bottom line with each iteration presented to the port.
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Today, the program envisions a total of 2,058 hotel rooms spread across seven properties, including 400 rooms taking up 24 of the 34 stories planned for a 500- foot, skyline-defining observation tower at the foot of Pacific Highway. Additional features include 597,600 square feet of floating docks and fixed piers, 229,213 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 308,524 square feet of office space reserved for ocean researchrelated enterprises, a 129,900-square-foot public beach, and nearly 15 acres of parks and open space.