For the 1 million people expected to move into San Diego County in the next 20 years and the more than 2.7 million already here, these scenarios will not reflect the norm as the region grows more urban in nature. Accepting that reality is Downtown San Diego, where some 2,500 units in the construction pipeline represent a residential renaissance that surpasses the boom years of the 1980s. Michael Brekka, vice president of urban residential for Intracorp LLC, a developer with four projects planned Downtown, says the city's core once lacked the proper balance of places to work, play and live to be a true neighborhood. Now, with all the revitalization, former suburbanites long for a piece of the action.
Downtown now has all the components.
What's happening in San Diego is part of a national trend. U.S. Census figures show the flight to the suburbs has slowed while urban appreciation rates have begun to match and even surpass those for outlying areas. BOSA Development Co. of Vancouver, British Columbia, is bullish on urban development and likes the look of Downtown San Diego as its Canadian efforts struggle, says Dennis Serraglio, BOSA's director of sales and marketing. Horizons is slated to open in spring 2001. The Local Touch Reliance Development Group of Los Angeles is firming up plans for its condominium high-rise on the full block bounded by Front, Market and G streets and First Avenue.