Probe Might Have Stalled Plunge Project

San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor--a vocal opponent of replacing the dilapidated Mission Beach Plunge building with shops and restaurants--said Tuesday that the city may have stalled approval for the controversial project if it knew that Paul Thoryk, one of the developers, was under investigation for participating in an alleged drug ring.

But now that construction has begun on the beachfront development, Thoryk’s arrest in Las Vegas on Tuesday will have no effect because, as a limited partner, he hasn’t used any of his own money to finance the project, said other city officials.

“If there is none of Thoryk’s money going into the project, then whether he’s made money illegally is not a concern, in my view,” City Manager John Lockwood said. “At least at first blush . . . I don’t see how it could affect the project.”

Thoryk, 45, was among 37 people who were indicted Tuesday on charges of participating in a drug ring that peddled methamphetamines, as well as cocaine and marijuana, according to federal indictments that were unsealed Tuesday.

Allegedly Concealed Proceeds

Thoryk’s part in the alleged scheme was to conceal proceeds from drug sales by investing the money with others in the drug ring, the indictments allege. Transactions in question include investments in Jake’s restaurant in Del Mar, an apartment in El Cajon and the B Street Cafe downtown.

But federal investigators stressed that none of the alleged drug money had been used for the Plunge project, which has been a politically explosive issue in the beach communities.

Still, O’Connor argued that the City Council may have shied away from awarding exclusive negotiating rights for the development and, eventually, giving Thoryk and his business partners a long-term lease to the public Plunge property if it had known the architect was being watched.

“The only tragedy is that, if anyone from the federal government was aware of this, why they didn’t tell the city, because I’m sure it would have been a factor in the vote,” O’Connor said in a telephone interview from Nashville, Tenn., where she was attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty but I’m sure the council would have continued the item to see what he was under investigation for, and whether the investigation was accurate and whether there was any problem with drugs,” O’Connor said.

“I don’t think the people want to give leases (for public land) out to people who are under investigation for dealing with drugs, if that’s the case. . . . The government has to be beyond reproach and the people that we have to do business with, we have to make sure that they, too, are beyond reproach.”

Vote Was Last June

Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward C. Weiner confirmed that Thoryk was under investigation as early as June, 1985. The council voted last June to lease the city landmark to Thoryk and his partners so it could tear down the building and replace it with 70,000 square feet of restaurants and shops.

Earlier this year, O’Connor was unsuccessful in her efforts to hold off on issuing building permits for the project until the city could conduct an initiative aimed at saving the Plunge.

Weiner said the federal investigation was secret and could not be disclosed to O’Connor and her colleagues.

“We were prohibited from (telling the City Council) and it certainly wouldn’t be my job to do so,” Weiner said.

From the beginning, the proposal to redevelop the Plunge has been bathed in controversy, and Thoryk--an outspoken and respected local architect--has been in the middle of the fray.

Thoryk was respected in the architectural community for his “well thought out” designs for tract housing, said Ed Oremen, local chapter president of the American Institute of Architects.

Yet Thoryk also is known for a style of architecture that creates an open feeling in his buildings, said Richard Arroyo, a vice president at Coast Savings & Loan. The use of vaulted ceilings, skylights and windows facing the sun complimented the heavy use of brick and wood beams, Arroyo said.

Designed Restaurant

One of the best examples of that work, Arroyo said, is Old Columbia Square, Thoryk’s renovation of an old steam laundry at Columbia and B streets. The downtown complex houses the B Street Cafe, at the former site of Soledad Franco’s restaurant.

“He was always creative and had an intense amount of energy,” said Arroyo, who was the loan officer for Bank of America who arranged financing for the complex in the late 1970s. “He had ideas coming out every 10 minutes.”

Thoryk’s life style was “very similar to developers who were successful and made a lot of money . . . the million-dollar home, the estate-type grounds,” Arroyo said.

Thoryk and business partner Graham MacHutchin were among the first to propose renovating the Plunge--a city property--with commercial development. At first the City Council balked at the idea, but changed its mind when public officials figured that it would take millions to bring the old building up to earthquake standards.

A 1984 City Council vote to award exclusive negotiating rights to Thoryk and MacHutchin for a Plunge development had to be rescinded when it was revealed that then-Mayor Roger Hedgecock had been a guest in Thoryk’s Palm Springs condominium for five days. Fearing a possible conflict of interest, Hedgecock withdrew his vote but the council affirmed the move.

MacHutchin said Tuesday that Thoryk’s “operational involvement” in the Plunge project ended three months ago, when the partnership received its building permits and began construction. City officials said Thoryk has a 25% interest in the project, but MacHutchin described it as a “small ownership interest in the job.”

MacHutchin said the Plunge project will be finished in the spring.