The Beat Goes On at Symphony Towers Site

Sometime this morning, crews will begin gutting the Symphony Hall parking structure.

The symbolism runneth over.

Depending on one’s point of view, the sight of the destruction will either be:

- An unmistakable sign that the 34-story, $143.5-million Symphony Towers is moving ahead, unfazed by the fiscal woes of the tenant whose name graces the project.

- Or an ironic and bittersweet event, signaling as much the destruction of an institution as the building of San Diego’s highest skyscraper.

Cynics snickered about the latter on Tuesday.

But the project’s developer, real estate broker and proposed major tenants dismissed the symphony’s cessation of operations as an unfortunate event that will not significantly affect the ambitious plans of Symphony Towers.

“It does not affect the project from a legal or technical standpoint,” according to Doug Wilson, managing partner of Charlton Raynd Development Co., which is in charge of the 1.1-million-square-foot, two-tower one-square-block downtown project. “The jackhammers didn’t stop, we’re very much going forward and we haven’t considered changing the name” of the building.

A huge crane was supposed to wind up and hurl a steel wrecking ball through the south end of the building this morning.

But the demolition ran into a snag Tuesday, as Cal-OSHA officials, suspecting there may be asbestos insulation in the building, refused to issue the necessary permits.

No permit will be issued until the developer proves that any asbestos that may have been in the building has been removed, or until “we determine that there wasn’t any,” according to Charles Fox, an associate safety engineer with Cal-OSHA in San Diego.

At the earliest, a permit could be issued next week, according to Mike Cornelius, project manager at Wagner Construction, which is overseeing the demolition of the existing structure.

Despite the symphony’s fiscal problems, the major tenants of Symphony Towers on Tuesday said they have no intention of changing their leasing plans.

“The symphony wasn’t the major reason we’re moving in,” according to Helen Baker, spokeswoman for AT&T;, which will become the project’s biggest tenant with 60,000 square feet of space over three floors.

The lures of the building were signage and location, Baker said.

Nonetheless, she said that the company’s attorney is going to “look at our lease.”

Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., one of the nation’s Big Eight accounting firms, hasn’t altered its plans to lease more than 38,000 square feet at Symphony Towers, according to Paul Richey, managing parter of the firm’s San Diego office.

“The symphony wasn’t the lure (although) it was a plus,” said Richey.

Similarly, officials of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, the law firm that also plans to lease more than 38,000 square feet in the building, said they will not change their plans to move.

Marketing plans for Symphony Towers will continue undaunted by the symphony’s financial problems, according to Dennis Hearst, leasing agent for Grubb & Ellis.

“We don’t think this is going to affect the main reasons why tenants” will move in, he said.

Grubb & Ellis is now in “serious negotiations” with potential tenants who would lease as much as four floors of office space, Hearst added.

A major marketing campaign with a brochure, model and advertising will be launched within 90 days, he said.

In addition to the 34-story office building, the granite and glass Symphony Towers will also have a 24-story Mariott hotel, a 60,000-square-foot “sky lobby” on the 12th floor, a five-level parking structure and at least two restaurants.