CCDC May Delay Decision on Firm to Construct Downtown High-Rise
It appears the downtown redevelopment agency will put off until mid-May a decision on which of three companies it wants to build a 30-plus-story apartment tower on property south of the Nordstrom store at Horton Plaza.
The Centre City Development Corp.--the agency responsible for downtown redevelopment--is expected to take the action today at a board of directors meeting.
Two weeks ago, the CCDC board deadlocked over approving one of the three proposals recommended by one of its subcommittees: the 32-story, 334-unit, $36-million apartment complex planned by Denver-based Broe Companies.
It was clear that while the board of directors was effusive in its praise of all three projects, it wasn’t completely satisfied with any one of them. If there wasn’t a question about the proposed design and architecture, there was one about finances.
Instability Increased
Adding to the instability was the hunger of some of the competing development teams, one of whom--seeing its chances at selection evaporating during the meeting--immediately increased its bid by $600,000, bringing to $1 million its initial land payment to the city. Another chastised the board for shortchanging it because the board didn’t visit one of the developer’s large residential complexes in Dallas, which was to be used as a reference point for San Diego.
Faced with the deadlock and the changing conditions caused by such last-minute offers, the CCDC board decided to give the three developers until today to make any more refinements in their proposals.
In the meantime, not only have the developers made substantial changes, but CCDC also has decided it wants even more information, such as better substantiation of construction costs, which at least one board member--Patrick Kruer--has questioned as being too low for the quality of the structures as proposed.
So the board today will act on a recommendation from CCDC acting Executive Director Pamela Hamilton that the three developers be given 60 more days, until May 17, to refine or, if necessary, completely redesign their plans.
‘Better for the City’
“This gives us an opportunity to do all of this more equitably,” said CCDC spokeswoman Kathy Kalland. “The bottom line is that this (the delay) is better for the city. . . . It gives us more money and better designs.”
The following are the three developers and changes they’ve made in their plans as of Thursday:
- Broe Companies. Although the firm received the recommendation of the CCDC subcommittee for its so-called Sea View Centre proposal, company President Patrick Broe has informed the agency that he intends to increase the company’s initial land payment to the city by $500,000, bringing it to $1.5 million. (With all the projects, CCDC stands to get even more money by receiving a share of the operating profits.)
- Urban Pacific Group and VMS Realty Partners. This partnership wants to build the $55-million Beacon Place, a 31-story tower and eight-story mid-rise with 375 apartments. Its design won the highest praise of all three. The group has jacked up its initial land purchase bid by $600,000, to $1 million.
- Tutor-Saliba/Paragon Group. The joint venture has guaranteed paying the city at least $4.5 million for its property, about $2.5 million more than either of its two competitors. But the design of the partnership’s Entrada, a $48-million, 36-story building containing 417 apartments, was severely criticized as too imposing. In the past two weeks, the company has dropped its architects--Rob Wellington Quigley of San Diego and The Nadel Partnership--and replaced them with the internationally known firm of Pereira Associates.
The new architects expect to submit a redesigned Entrada by April 11. In addition, CCDC’s Hamilton is recommending that the agency subcommittee visit a Dallas residential complex owned by the Paragon Group as part of its new evaluation. In February, the subcommittee visited Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles to review projects by all three developers.
