New Library at Issue : Report Advises City Not to Buy Sears Site

The city should back off from buying the vacated Hillcrest Sears store and instead see if a private developer will buy the property and build a residential and commercial project featuring a much-needed new central library, the San Diego city manager’s office has recommended.

The recommendation, contained in a report to a City Council committee, says it is too expensive to either remodel the existing store to accommodate a central library or tear it down and build a library.

At a minimum, the cost of building a library and furnishing it would be $45 million, an expense of such magnitude it would require using as much as 60% of the city’s building budget during the library’s anticipated three-year construction period. That would mean, the report says, corresponding delays in other city building projects.

Alternative ways of financing the construction also have problems, problems that are exacerbated by the May 10 deadline Sears has placed on the city to make a “firm commitment” to buy the 12-acre property at 1290 Cleveland Ave.

For example, the city could levy a special tax to build the library, but that would require the approval of two-thirds of the voters, even if there was time for an election, the report written by Deputy City Manager Coleman Conrad said.

The city manager’s recommendation not to buy the Sears site is contrary to the sentiments of some City Council members, including Bill Cleator and Judy McCarty, who favor building a central library there.

The council’s Public Services and Safety Committee, on which Cleator and McCarty both serve, took no official action on the report Wednesday and instead referred it directly to the entire City Council.

“We have to hash it out at the council anyway,” noted McCarty, who said the council will discuss the matter before the May 10 deadline.

At least one experienced developer has indicated to Sears that it would be willing to develop the site and build a library, according to the report, which didn’t identify any developers.

“It would be clearly understood that the city would not be obligated to select the Sears site” if it didn’t like the mixed-use proposal, the report said. “The city would be in the position, however, of considering the advantages (and) disadvantages of a new central library at other sites.”

Under this scenario, the report said, if the city decided it didn’t want a library on the Sears site, the developer would then be free to build a project without a library.

Because of concerns about the ultimate development of the site, the report also recommended that the City Council act “immediately” to place strict development guidelines on the property to ensure “the optimum land use mix for the site.”