NEWS RELEASE

Printer Friendly Version

CCDC NEWS DIGEST (Board Meeting Summary- Jan 30)

Date: February 4, 2008

Contact: Tiffany Metti
619-533-7136
www.ccdc.com

CCDC News Digest
Regular Meeting of the
Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC)
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

CCDC’s regular meetings are held at City Hall in the City Council Chambers, 12th Floor, City Administration Building, 202 C St. The next meeting will be at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, 2008.

The following summarizes the January 30 meeting:

BOARD HONORS FORMER CCDC VICE PRESIDENT DONNA ALM Centre City Development Corporation’s (CCDC’s) Board of Directors honored former CCDC Vice President Donna Alm. Board Chair Fred Maas presented the CCDC Directors’ Award in recognition of Alm’s positive and lasting impact on downtown and her years of strong leadership in downtown’s redevelopment efforts. For more information click here.

BOARD AUTHORIZES AGREEMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS FOR PHASE 1 OF THE NORTH EMBARCADERO VISIONARY PLAN (Columbia)                                                 

The Board recommended that the Redevelopment Agency authorize an agreement with Project Design Consultants (PDC) for architectural and engineering design services for construction documents for Phase 1 of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan (NEVP) for a fixed fee of$4,158,441.On behalf of the Joint Powers Authority, CCDC staff issued a Request for Qualifications  for Architectural and Engineering Design Services for Phase 1 of the NEVP on April 23, 2007. A total of 10 firms submitted their qualifications for review by the City, San Diego Unified Port District  and CCDC staff. Four firms were short-listed and recommended for interviews. Staff is recommending a contract with PDC. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 10, click here.                                                                                                                                      

BOARD ESTABLISHES HOUSING FUNDING PRIORITIES FOR FY2008 (Areawide)

The Board Established affordable housing funding priorities for Fiscal Year 2008 and recommended that the City’s Redevelopment Agency adopt Guidelines for Agency financial assistance for affordable housing projects. The guidelines are intended to standardize and streamline the negotiations and approval process for Agency-assisted affordable housing projects city-wide. The remaining funds in the FY 2008 Budget for affordable housing are $56.37 million, which include proceeds from the housing bond currently in process. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 11, click here.

BOARD APPROVES SALE OF BONDS FOR LOW-AND MODERATE HOUSING (Centre City) The Board recommended the City Redevelopment Agency approve the issuance of Housing Bonds in an amount not to exceed $69 million producing net proceeds of approximately $60 million for low-and moderate-income housing activities. The FY 2008 Budget includes a provision of $50.4 million in net proceeds from a Tax Allocation Housing Bond. The sale of Housing Bonds will provide the necessary funds to implement the FY08 Budget by leveraging the 20% Low and Moderate Income Housing Funds tax increment. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 21, click here.

BOARD RECEIVES REPORT ON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM SCHOOL (Marina)The Board received a report from the President of the Children's Museum Board of Directors and the Principal of the Children’s Museum Charter School discussing the current and future relationship of the two entities and the future location of the School (formerly at the Children’s Museum – Island Avenue and Front Street). CCDC Staff, as well as its Education Task Force, believes the School is a greatly needed resource for the downtown community. The Museum Board has reconsidered the placement of the School at the Museum's new downtown location. The School is temporarily housed at a community center in the Golden Hill area and is being funded by the Museum until September 2009. A future location for the School is undetermined. The community supporters of the School have recently established the Friends of the Museum School Foundation as a non-profit organization with the express goal of raising funds for the School in an attempt to take charge of their future. To read the full staff report for item 22,click here.

BOARD APPROVES DESIGN FOR KETTNER AND ASH PROJECT (Columbia) The Board granted Design Review approval for Bosa’s Kettner and Ash project. The Kettner and Ash project is a 35-story, 414-foot high residential tower surrounded by a three- to six-story podium containing 282 condominium units and 24,000 square feet of street level retail space located on the block bounded by Kettner Boulevard and Ash, A and California streets. The project requires approval of a Coastal Development Permit and is subject to compliance with the provisions of a 1992 Development Agreement. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 14, click here.

BOARD GRANTS DESIGN REVIEW APPROVAL AND RECOMMENDS PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVAL FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF LAW (East Village) The Board approved the design and recommended Planning Commission Approval for the Thomas Jefferson School of Law project. The Board also approved deviations to the Planned District Ordinance (“PDO”) that would allow: an increase in the tower’s maximum east-west dimension from 130 feet to 165 feet; and the use of 30 tandem parking stalls to meet the project’s minimum parking requirements. The Thomas Jefferson School of Law project is an eight-story (164 feet tall) commercial building comprised of a private law school located on the 30,000 square-foot site located on the south side of Island Avenue between Eleventh Avenue and Park Boulevard. The project requests to modify development standards to allow an increase in the maximum east-west tower dimension from 130 to 165 feet wide, and to allow 30 tandem parking stalls to count toward the minimum parking requirements. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 15, click here.

BOARD GRANTS DESIGN APPROVAL FOR 719 ASH (Cortez) The Board granted design approval for BF Hospitality, LP’s 719 Ash project. The 719 Ash project proposes a 7- to 18-story (78- to 218-foot tall) mixed-use building comprised of two hotels with a total of 328 rooms, ground floor retail, and two residential penthouse units, proposed for the south side of Ash Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues in the Cortez neighborhood. The project proposes to utilize two Floor Area Ratio (“FAR”) Bonus Programs to earn 54,884 square feet in additional floor area. The project would replace a two- to four-story hotel currently located on this site. (Vote: 4–0  with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused)  To read the full staff report for item 17, click here.

BOARD GRANTS DESIGN APPROVAL FOR THE VILLAGE HOTEL (East Village)The Board granted design review approval for Bell Hotel Ltd.’s Village Hotel project. The Village Hotel project is a proposed five-story, 60-foot tall building located at the northwest corner of 15th & K streets in the East Village neighborhood. The project will replace the Bell Hotel, an existing Single Room Occupancy (“SRO”) Hotel, that was fire damaged in 2006. The proposed project will be an extended-stay hotel (not an SRO), with a maximum 30-day stay. The project requires approval of three Variance requests related to the small size of the project site that affect the project design, which will be decided at a public hearing by the Corporation Board. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 18, click here.

BOARD GRANTS DESIGN APPROVAL OF LUMINA PROJECT (Little Italy) The Board granted Design Review approval of Constellation Property Group’s, Lumina project, a mixed-use project located at the northwest corner of Ash and Columbia streets in Little Italy. This is an amended application to the Embassy 1414 project, approved in July 2006, which included 98 three-bedroom units. To make the project feasible, the applicant has incorporated a seven-level,140-unit boutique hotel between the second and eighth levels of the project. The Lumina project retains the original design of Embassy 1414, but has reduced the number of residential tower levels from 29 to 21, and reduces the condominiums to 40 three-bedroom units. (Vote: 4–0 with Directors Shaw, LeSar and Vice Chair McNeely excused) To read the full staff report for item 19, click here. To read the entire President’s Report from the January 30 Board Meeting please click here or visit www.ccdc.com in the Meetings and Events section, January 30 Board Meeting.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  ###

About CCDC
Centre City Development Corporation is a public, nonprofit corporation established in 1975 by the City of San Diego to plan and facilitate the redevelopment of downtown’s 1,500 acres. To learn more, visit www.ccdc.com

About CCDC
Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) is a public, nonprofit corporation established in 1975 by the City of San Diego to plan and facilitate the redevelopment of downtown’s 1,500 acres. To learn more, visit: www.ccdc.com

Special Notes: CCDC's News Digest can be delivered to your e-mail address. Simply fill out our email form to choose the type of messages you would like to receive. CCDC's regular meetings held at City Hall are televised live on City Access TV channel 24-Time Warner and Cox Cable.