Marina Area High-Rise May Violate Shadowy ‘Rule’ on Height Limits
A skeptical downtown redevelopment board agreed Friday to negotiate with developers over a proposed 21-story commercial-apartment building near the bayfront, even though some board members believe the structure is much too tall and subverts yet-to-be-adopted construction guidelines for the Marina area.
The decision by the Centre City Development Corp. board--which oversees downtown redevelopment for the City Council--begins a 90-day negotiation period between developers of the proposed Century Towers building and the CCDC staff.
The goal of the negotiation is a development agreement between the redevelopment agency and the developers that outlines the obligations of both parties, including such things as public subsidies and the building’s design.
If such an agreement is worked out, it will have to be approved by the CCDC board and then the City Council.
Given the comments of some CCDC board members, the toughest obstacle for the would-be builders may not be the negotiating, which the developers pushed for, but convincing a majority of the board to support the project.
The proposed $38-million building, consisting of 207 apartments on the upper floors and offices and stores on the first five levels, contains many of the elements the CCDC board is seeking in buildings in the budding Marina Redevelopment Project. The waterfront area south of Horton Plaza is primarily designated for low-rise housing, which planners say will create a neighborhood ambiance and also preserve views of the waterfront.
The project has a large number of apartments, it incorporates other uses, primarily neighborhood-type retail stores, and it is being pushed by developers who are enthusiastic about forging ahead in a relatively unknown and untested marketplace.
Despite all that, Century Towers is running head-on into a proposed Marina Urban Design Plan, in the making for more than a year. The plan limits the height of buildings in an attempt to foster livable residential neighborhoods that aren’t overwhelmed by high-rises.
Though there are other less-severe conflicts with the proposed design plan, it is the 21-story height of Century Towers that is the major problem.
Compounding the problem is that the CCDC board has yet to approve the urban design plan containing the height limitations but is in essence already being asked to make an exception for Century Towers. Several board members and downtown residents feel the exemption would be precedent-setting and lead to a fundamental undermining of the proposed guidelines.
Century Towers--a twin-tower building which would be built on property at J Street and 2nd Avenue, immediately adjacent to the Santa Fe railroad tracks and across from the future waterfront convention center--is proposed on land designated for a maximum height limit of 90 feet, or about nine stories.
Height limits proposed for the Marina range from 90 feet to 160 feet, except for a small area southwest of Horton Plaza where a 350-foot height would be allowed.
“There’s no question the project will be precedent-setting,” said Carol Randolph Caplan, a CCDC board member who voted against the negotiations. “We don’t need CCDC if we’re not going to follow a plan.”
Caplan said she fears CCDC will put the Marina plan aside each time “there’s a nice presentation” by developers who want exemptions.
While Caplan was the only board member to vote against negotiating, two of her colleagues, Peter Q. Davis and Janay Kruger, said they voted yes because CCDC as a practice should always talk with downtown property owners who have construction plans.
Both Davis and Kruger, however, made it clear their part in the 5-1 vote in no way signifies approval for Century Towers.
“I think this is an excellent project (but) in another location,” said Davis, who implied that some people at City Hall have the perception that CCDC is cutting off the Century Towers proposal without hearing out the developers.
“The real courage is not (in) talking to them,” Davis said, “but talking to them and then saying no.” It doesn’t matter, Davis added, “how ridiculous it (a proposal) is or (how it) attempts to end-run the plan.”
Without a major reduction in the size of Century Towers, both Davis and Kruger implied, they would likely not support it. That could lead to the project being voted down on a 3-to-3 deadlock by the CCDC board, which currently has a vacancy.
Among the board members who support the project, at least at this stage, is CCDC board Chairman Howard Busby. He said the new Marina plan should allow enough flexibility so that there is “an environment that will allow private sector creativity.”
It is better, Busby said, to have the Century Tower developers “working with us than around us.” The developers consist of Neil Senturia, Peter Doerken and Arthus Pastel, all of Los Angeles.
“We’re doing nothing more today than approving a negotiation agreement . . . it’s very preliminary,” said Busby, adding that in his travels he’s observed that the most exciting and successful downtowns provide “an eclectic mix of components” in varying building heights.
CCDC board member Jan Anton, who supports Century Towers, said CCDC is needlessly raising emotions by setting arbitrary height limits that don’t allow for flexibility. “I think we’ve made a big mistake,” he said, noting that approving one high-rise exception won’t automatically lead to another high-rise being built next door.
Some downtown residents who attended the CCDC meeting said the agency must stand firm on height limits. “Two-hundred twenty feet,” said Ray Harlan, a downtown Marina Park condominium resident, “is not an exception but a travesty.”
Louis Wolfsheimer, the San Diego attorney representing the developers, said the CCDC vote was “obviously not a ringing endorsement” of Century Towers.
He said it’s extremely unlikely the developers--who are set to take title to the property about Sept. 1--would seek another location, as board member Davis had suggested.
Asked what the developers might do if, after negotiations, the CCDC board refuses to approve a development agreement, Wolfsheimer said that if “my client still has the heart,” he would present the proposal to the City Council “to see if they want this kind of project or not.”
“If the city doesn’t want us . . . we’ll leave; we don’t want to bull our way through,” said Wolfsheimer.
