San Diego

Trammell Crow Co. has announced plans to construct a 500,000-square-foot, 26-story office building across the street from its 23-story Imperial Bank Tower in downtown San Diego.

Though details of the building are still tentative, Matt Spathas, a Trammell Crow marketing executive, said Friday that construction on the high-rise is expected to begin sometime next year, with completion expected in 1989.

The office tower would be built on the site of a YMCA that was demolished several months ago and is now a parking lot. The project block is bounded by C and B streets, and 8th and 9th avenues.

Tentatively named Financial Gateway, the granite-and-glass edifice would have a six-story atrium, ground-floor retail shops, underground parking and a tunnel linking its health club to the San Diego Athletic Club across the street in the Imperial Bank Tower.

Its nearest competition would come from the Symphony Towers project to be built one block north on B Street, where construction barricades have recently been erected. Symphony Towers is to have high-rise offices and a major hotel.