The Port of San Diego is making improvements to Seaport Village with the hopes of bringing more people to the bayfront destination.
"What we want to let people in San Diego know is that we are open for business here," said Port of San Diego Commissioner Dan Malcolm. "Seaport Village is a great place to come and a great place to be."
Last October the port assumed ownership of Seaport Village and found it needed some upgrades.
"We’re investing $2.2 million in the next couple years just on paint and some deferred maintenance," Malcolm said. "We’re going to put some new furniture out in some areas to kind of activate the areas to get people to come here."
Seaport Village has been open for nearly 40 years and recently has struggled to retain vendors.
"The challenge is a lot of spaces are old and there’s the deferred maintenance," said Seaport Village Marketing Director Scott Andrews. "So we’re hoping that this $2.2 million will help with that and just bring these buildings back up to speed."
Andrews said he has heard feedback from visitors.
"The biggest one is just wanting to see something happen and something change here as it’s just kind of stayed stagnant over the last few years," he said.
The Port of San Diego listened and is now rebranding the space.
"We just repainted the carousel and the (new) logo is kind of the carousel," Malcolm said. "That to us represents the past of Seaport Village, it represents present, it also represents our future."
In five to seven years there are plans to completely redevelop Seaport Village.
"So, for the foreseeable future, until we do the redevelopment of the property we are actually going to be putting new tenants in, we’re going to keep doing improvements," Malcolm said. "We’re going to make this world-class venue that is has been in the past so people can come down and enjoy it."
In addition to building maintenance the port is spending nearly a million dollars on new seating, landscaping, play areas and lighting.
"We really think carefully about what we’re doing here," Malcolm said. "We put the right tenants in — make the right improvements — so that whether you’re coming from out of state, whether you’re coming from in state, whether you live in San Diego or whether you live right down the street in a residential project this is a place you want to come."
Upgrades to the property are currently underway.
