Millions Sought for Parks, Public Improvements at Proposed Complex

San Diego redevelopment officials on Thursday agreed to seek $25.5 million in funding for a bay-side park and other public improvements as part of the Navy’s proposed renovation of its 16-acre Broadway Complex, a major element in downtown’s revitalization.

The unanimous decision by Centre City Development Corp., the agency in charge of downtown redevelopment, must be ratified by the City Council and, in the most important step of all, by the Board of Port Commissioners, which is being asked to pay for the bulk of improvements.

The public money would be used for a variety of purposes, including construction of a two-block park at the foot of Broadway, demolition of an old Navy building at Broadway and Harbor Drive, the reopening of three streets now sealed off from the waterfront and landscaping of various streets.

In total, the $25.5 million in improvements are aimed at increasing public access to the bay and waterfront from Broadway to Seaport Village.

Specifically, the improvements are a response to concerns voiced by the city and others that the Navy’s proposed complex was too massive. The Navy, which has worked closely with the city, agreed to revise its plans and decreased the size of its project by almost 40%, mainly by removing a high-rise office tower.

But in doing so, the reduction also changed the project’s financial viability, making it necessary for redevelopment officials to recommend that CCDC and the Port District pay for major public improvements city officials said they wanted in the project. The Navy’s project has been valued at $400 million to $500 million.

Although the city, CCDC and the Port District have tentatively agreed to the Navy’s revised plans, this is the first time precise dollar amounts have been publicly identified and requested.

The $25.5 million cost to the various agencies is to be spread over 10 years and split among the Port District, at $18.5 million; CCDC, at $5.4 million, and the Navy, at $1.6 million.

Port Director Don Nay said Thursday that his office has met several times with the Navy and CCDC officials to discuss how much the Port District would be asked to contribute.

Nay said he doesn’t know how Port Commissioners will react to the funding proposal, but that it’s clear to him that there is a “$25 million to $30 million shortfall” in the project that the Port District and the city are being asked to make up.

“My question would be that if it needs that kind of support, does it need to be built?” Nay said.

Some of the proposed public improvements, Nay said, make a lot of sense, such as opening E, F and G streets through to Harbor Drive. He characterized discussions on the Broadway Complex as “gentlemanly.”

Capt. Wayne Goodermote, the Navy official in charge of the project, said that if there is any shortfall, it’s due to the Navy’s agreement to reduce the size of the complex in direct response to the city’s concerns.

“I keep hearing that (the project has a shortfall and needs public assistance) or that the Navy is seeking a subsidy, but it is neither,” Goodermote said. “We’ve bent over backwards to be good neighbors . . . we’ve scaled back the project to the point where it’s going to be touch and go whether it will” make it.

The project was definitely financially viable as it was first proposed, with the additional office building, Goodermote said. The Navy dropped the building, at the same foot-of-Broadway location now proposed as a park, because that’s what city officials asked the service to do, he said.

Goodermote said the Navy has essentially given up the land for free.

The park, more public access and other public improvements are not “going to happen if the project isn’t (economically) feasible,” said Goodermote. “Everyone has to realize this is a trade-off.”

The Navy unveiled its project in 1985, when it announced it would rely mainly on private financing to rebuild the old, squat and drab facility called the San Diego Naval Base and Supply Center.

The project’s plan is based on private developers paying about 75% of the cost to build about 1 million square feet of office space for the Navy.