Earlier Opponents Silent : Council OKs High-Rises for University City Project

The San Diego City Council on Tuesday gave the developer of a 2,600-unit project the right to build five residential high-rise towers of 16 to 23 stories each, a change that will provide more open space in the 58-acre residential and commercial project west of University Towne Centre.

GSC Realty had proposed to build the apartments and condominiums in more than a dozen apartment buildings of four to seven stories each on the University City parcel bounded by La Jolla Village Drive, Regents Road, Nobel Drive and Genesee Avenue.

Tuesday’s vote allows the developer to place some of those units in the five high-rises, creating three more acres of open space in the development. Seven four- to six-story buildings will remain around the project’s perimeter, and the total number of units will stay the same.

Residents who had urged rejection of the conversion at earlier stages of the planning process did not voice opposition Tuesday. Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer, who represents the area, supported the design change “as long as that area which was converted to open space as a result of the high-rise becomes a permanent, non-buildable” area.

Lengthy Discussion

The residential units are part of a development that includes The Esplanade, 178,000 square feet of commercial and retail space that is now under construction, and a planned 400-room hotel.

The council’s unanimous vote followed lengthy discussion about whether the project would be subject to the terms of the city’s slow-growth Interim Development Ordinance or either of two growth-management plans scheduled to be placed before voters on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Wolfsheimer tried unsuccessfully to prevent her colleagues from deleting language in the project plan that she said would keep the slow-growth restrictions and financing terms in force. But Chief Deputy City Atty. Frederick Conrad said the provisions had either been satisfied or were never applicable, and the council took them out.

Paul Robinson, attorney for the developer, said the project is not subject to the IDO because the council has released the entire University City community from its restrictions. And Robinson maintained that the project cannot be halted by any permanent slow-growth plan approved in November because the developers have an approved “development agreement” with the city.

City attorneys have said they will need to review development agreements--which are contracts between developers and the city--individually to determine which ones may be altered by a slow-growth plan being considered by the council.

Jeff Gilbert, senior vice president for GSC, said the conversion to high-rise towers became possible when the company found it could use a more economical construction process. Construction of the first residential buildings will begin sometime next year, he said.

Apartments in the project will rent for $850 to $3,000 each per month. The sale price of condominiums has not been decided, he said.