The San Diego City Council voted to seek proposals for redeveloping the City Operations Building, a rundown office building and one of five city-owned blocks in downtown that officials hope to revitalize.
The City Operations Building, located at 1222 First Ave., was built in 1971 and was included in an earlier redevelopment proposal in 2008 that collapsed amid the Great Recession. It has faced a host of issues over the past decade, including plumbing, HVAC and elevator breakdowns.
City managers have been gradually moving employees out of the building into other workspaces, a process they expect to complete by the end of August.
Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said the building had $110 million in maintenance needs by 2015 — a fact he blamed on past generations of city leaders and an impulse to build as cheaply as possible with little regard for quality or long-term maintenance.
"This particular building I think is a great example of what happens when really radical conservative ideology guides public investment as was happening in California in the '60s and early '70s," Elo-Rivera said. "I just want to make sure that we do not repeat the same mistakes again."
The council voted 7-2 to declare the City Operations Building "surplus land," which allows the city to accept proposals from developers for purchasing or leasing the land. State law requires proposals to focus on housing, with 25% of units set aside as affordable homes for low-income households.
"I think maximizing residential units on that block is exactly right," said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn. "We need the housing, it's right on the trolley line, it's close to jobs, and the housing will support the other elements of the civic center revitalization."
The City Operations Building is one of five city-owned blocks that form downtown's civic core, along with the City Administration Building, Golden Hall, the Civic Theater and 101 Ash St. The city declared the other properties surplus land in 2023.
Earlier this month, the council's Land Use and Housing Committee voted to move forward with a vision to convert 101 Ash, a scandal-ridden vacant office tower, into affordable housing.
After voting on the City Operations Building, the council received a presentation from the Downtown San Diego Partnership and the Prebys Foundation on a larger vision for revitalizing the civic core. The groups first unveiled their plans in May.
Betsey Brennan, executive director of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, said the city can help move the conversation forward even if it doesn't currently have the funds to spend improving its own real estate.
"It doesn't always take money from the city," Brennan said. "It can take leadership from the city, which you all do and can keep doing, but we can lean into that partnership from corporate and from philanthropy and other areas."
