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New Civic Center Options Unveiled

By Alison St John / Reporter,  KPBS Public Broadcasting
Published August 14, 2008 at 2:59 PM PDT
This story was published more than 15 years ago.

The city of San Diego’s downtown development corporation says building a new city hall will save the city money over the next 50 years. CCDC’s financial analysis concludes plans submitted by two co

New Civic Center Options Unveiled

The city of San Diego’s downtown development corporation says building a new city hall will save the city money over the next 50 years.  CCDC’s financial analysis concludes plans submitted by two competing developers are both cheaper than renovating the existing Civic Center. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

CCDC compared the cost of various options, including renovating existing civic center buildings or moving city operations to Qualcomm or the Sports Arena. Their analysis concludes even the cheapest solution would cost the city more than a $billion over 50 years.

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Two developers, Houston-based Hines and Portland-based Gerding Edlin,  say they can redevelop the four block civic center for less than that.

Paul Twardowski of Hines says his proposal includes a new city hall and a 19 story high rise for city employees He says the plan  would be financed using tax exempt bonds, and save the city more than $200 million over 50 years.   .

Twardowski : Doing nothing is a more costly option and it certainly is viable and it saves a lot of money that can be used for other things.

Hines’ plan is considered the more conservative of the two, both fiscally and architecturally.

The second developer, Gerding Edlin, plans to include more water and energy saving features.

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Tom Cody of Gerding, says he could provide even more space and save the city even more money than Hines : over $400 million dollars.

How would he do that? Like Hines, Gerding’s plan would include a  new city hall, but its high rise for city employees would be much taller.. 34 stories high.

Cody: And by doing that , we free up two development sites that the city currently owns and we’ve asked the city to allow us to purchase those.

Gerdin’s project would include private development of condos and retail around the civic plaza.

Critics, like city councilman-elect Carl Demaio,   say the city should focus on roads and water pipes rather than a new city hall . But CCDC plans to recommend one of the two developers next month, and send the matter to the city council for a vote in October.

Alison St John, KPBS news

Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
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