Port District Puts Last Harbor Island Hotel Site Up for Bids

The last remaining hotel site on Harbor Island was put out to bid Tuesday by the Board of Port Commissioners, who hope to have a 400- to 500-room hotel built in the tourist-oriented area by October, 1992.

The board unanimously agreed to authorize a “request for proposals” from developers interested in the last 7.56 acres of available land on one of the most alluring San Diego tourist spots. Several hotels, restaurants and marinas already occupy the 1 1/2-mile expanse of man-made land.

According to the San Diego Unified Port District’s proposed lease, the new hotel will have 400-500 rooms, restaurants, cocktail lounges, meeting and conference rooms, a swimming pool and tennis courts, and be built on Harbor Island East, near a long-term parking lot for the airport.

An adjacent finger of water to the north will be used as a dock for water taxis, shuttle boats, boat charters and rentals, and temporary docking for hotel and restaurant guests. According to Port District specifications, the entire site must be designed to give a park-like appearance.

The Port District also voted unanimously to allow the owners of the adjacent Sunroad Resort Marina to bid on the project. Although Sunroad twice expressed an interest in submitting a proposal, some commissioners were at first hesitant to include Sunroad in the process, fearing that its stronghold in the area might scare away bidders.

Allowing Sunroad to bid “might frighten someone away because they might think they (Sunroad) have a better chance with a double site,” Port Director Don Nay said. He later added, jokingly, “I don’t think developers are particularly timid people,”

But Commissioner Louis Wolfsheimer said, “If the language were drafted cleverly enough” no one would feel that Sunroad has an unfair advantage. “I think we owe Sunroad the option to submit alone or jointly” with other companies, Wolfsheimer said, while making sure that Sunroad has “no unfair advantage.”

The chosen developer will pay $400,000 for a 15-month option and, after meeting all of the Port District’s requirements, be granted a 50-year lease.

The development of the tract includes reconstruction of the Harbor Island Drive traffic circle, which will be changed into a “T” intersection. Although there have been no fatal traffic accidents there, Nay called the circle dangerous.