Waterfront Hotel Moves Closer to Construction

A proposed 41-story luxury hotel between Seaport Village and the San Diego Marriott’s twin towers moved closer to construction Tuesday. The San Diego Unified Port District unanimously backed the project but asked for several minor architectural changes.

The board, which last July approved the conceptual plan for the sprawling waterfront project, met Tuesday to review design changes prompted by the expansion of the site to 5.91 from 4.75 acres when the city realigned Harbor Drive.

Aside from a pair of complaints from environmental groups, and minor aesthetic recommendations from the Port District, the process went smoothly for Doug Manchester, president of Torrey Enterprises and chief developer of the project. Manchester owns the adjacent San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina.

Manchester argued that, in order to attract the major gatherings of trade associations it wants and needs for the new Convention Center to thrive, San Diego “demands” the hotel space that would be provided by the Hyatt Regency San Diego.

One of his architects--several flew in for the meeting, one from Dallas, the others from San Francisco--said the new Hyatt hotel would be an “architectural showplace” for San Diego.

“I know of several large groups and associations that wanted desperately to come here for their conventions but deferred to other cities,” Manchester said. “The reason is, at the present time, we just don’t have the space.”

Christopher B. Neils, Manchester’s attorney, said Convention Center management has indicated it needs at least 2,000 hotel rooms adjacent to the waterfront site. Neils said the Marriott now provides 1,400, and the additional rooms provided by the Hyatt Regency (about 900), would push San Diego over the minimum.

“I think this project is worth about $60 million to $70 million a year for the economy of San Diego, not to mention what it will bring in occupancy taxes and new jobs,” Manchester said.

Even so, Manchester’s presentation, also involving landscapers and attorneys, failed to win the commissioners’ complete and immediate backing. Commissioner Lynn Schenk abstained from voting on the matter, saying only she hoped the project was “public friendly” and served the interests of San Diegans as a whole.

The 6-0 vote merely endorsed a motion, asking Torrey and its band of architects to redesign the 7,000 square feet of retail space, confining it to one building instead of the three separate structures now in the plan.

Several commissioners expressed concerns that “undesirables”--meaning transients or homeless persons--might congregate in the corridors between the buildings. They also asked that the retail area be moved back, farther from the waterfront. And, finally, they expressed interest in having a trellis cover the top of a six-story parking garage to make that structure more aesthetically appealing.

Neils, the attorney, said he hoped construction could begin “within two months.” Although the hotel is now an 8-year-old undertaking, with Hyatt’s involvement having reached the six-year mark, Neils said he hoped construction would be completed in 28 months.

One person objecting to the project was Judy Collins, a spokeswoman for Citizens’ Coordinate for Century III. Collins argued that the environmental impact report for the project, approved in 1984, is no longer relevant because it fails to consider other new construction in the area.

“The EIR considered only this project,” Collins said. “We want it to consider the Convention Center, the Marriott and the expansion of Seaport Village.”

Jay Powell, a spokesman for the Environmental Health Coalition, raised questions about the project, saying it fails to address the modern downtown concern of “de-watering”--the ability of new buildings to withstand hydrostatic pressure (to resist the intrusion of contaminated underground water).

Powell left the meeting dissatisfied.

“I would much rather have heard an explicit statement from the developers saying, ‘We’re convinced we can handle hydrostatic pressure,’ rather than several guys looking around and asking, ‘Uh, I think it’s OK, don’t you?’ ”