Koll Center Secures Loan for 1st Phase of Complex
The Koll Co., which is planning a $200-million mixed-use complex on lower Broadway--the biggest development project downtown since Horton Plaza--says it has secured financing to begin first-phase construction in January.
Bill Miller, president of Koll’s southern division, on Friday told the Centre City Development Corp., the agency in charge of downtown redevelopment, that the Teachers Insurance & Annuity Assn. of America has agreed to provide $80.5 million in financing.
The loan will finance the construction of a 21-story, 355,000-square-foot office building, a 15,000-square-foot health club, an 800-car parking garage and 15,000 square feet of restaurants and stores.
Will Take Up Three Blocks
Additionally, 24 town houses will be constructed, though they will be the responsibility of Koll’s development partner, Shapell Industries Inc.--Goldrich Kest & Associates.
Completion of the first phase is scheduled for July, 1989.
The development, which altogether will occupy three blocks bounded by Broadway, Kettner Boulevard and E and State streets, is considered a key in linking the waterfront to activities in and around Horton Plaza.
Called the Koll Center, the first phase of the project will feature a 50-foot-high glass atrium lobby facing Broadway, a 30-foot-high aviary, various shops such as a bakery, florist, dry cleaner, cappuccino vendor and barbershop, as well as a bank, patio restaurants and more than $1 million in public artworks such as fountains.
335-Room Hotel
The second phase of the project calls for an 18-story, 260,000-square-foot office building, more restaurants and stores, an additional 600 parking spaces, eight more town houses and a 16-story, 335-room hotel.
While completion of the second phase is tentatively scheduled for late 1990, Miller said the actual start of construction will depend on how fast the first office tower fills with tenants. The law firm of Jennings, Engstrand & Henrikson, which is now housed in Mission Valley, has agreed to a 10-year lease for 40,000 square feet in the first tower.
The loan from Teachers Insurance & Annuity Assn., which is based in New York, is considered permanent financing, the crucial element in the development. Miller said Koll expects to have a construction loan within 60 days.
Teachers Insurance & Annuity Assn. already has provided more than $100 million in loans for downtown San Diego projects, specifically in Horton Plaza and the Omni Hotel.
