Three years ago, the Navy turned over its downtown pier to the San Diego Unified Port District to help pave the way for the Midway aircraft carrier museum to come to San Diego.
But you'd never know it looking at hotel developer Doug Manchester's conceptual plans to transform 15 acres of Navy land near the pier into hotels, shops, offices and a new headquarters for the Navy's Southwest Regional Command.
The San Diego Unified Port District has asked Doug Manchester to erase the pier leading to the Midway museum from his conceptual drawings of the bayfront Pacific Gateway site.
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Manchester included the pier in his design plans for the project, called Pacific Gateway. It's shown mostly as a tree-lined green belt akin to a park and is prominently featured on the cover of the company's 15-page brochure outlining development concepts for the property, which has been presented at public workshops and meetings.
Now the Port District is saying back off. Earlier this month, it sent a letter to the Navy asking it to request that Manchester eliminate the pier from his plans for Pacific Gateway, formerly know as the Navy Broadway Complex.
Port District officials are concerned that Manchester's proposal will lead the public to think a park-like development is what's in store for the pier – which is now primarily a parking lot for visitors to the Midway.
“We have experienced significant problems in the past from expectations generated by this type of presentation where the development proposal presented does not reflect accurate . . . plans for the future use of Port properties,” wrote Christine Anderson, the Port District's director of operations, in the letter to the Navy.
For its part, Manchester has no problem removing the pier from its conceptual plans. But company officials think including the pier as part of the master plan for Pacific Gateway makes sense.
“I respect the letter. We were just trying to address some of the joint planning opportunities,” said Perry Dealy, president of Manchester Development. “We were not trying to be presumptuous by dictating to the Port how the pier should be developed.”
This month, the Navy chose the San Diego hotel developer for exclusive negotiations to develop the nearly 15-acre waterfront parcel between Seaport Village and Broadway. At the bayfront, the parcel is considered one of the marquee re-development sites on the West Coast, a signature property that will change the skyline downtown.
As part of the Pacific Gateway project, a 1.9-acre park is proposed at the corner of Harbor Drive and Broadway, which is just north of the pier. So there's an opportunity to link the park to the pier, according to Manchester.
“We can just eliminate it from the plan,” Manchester said recently. “We presented it because we think it's a good idea.”
The company, which developed the Manchester Grand Hyatt among other properties, also proposes a pedestrian promenade through the entire Pacific Gateway site that could be tied to the pier via landscaping and pathways – resulting in a stronger connection between the project and the bay.
“I think the opportunity is still there,” Dealy said. “We want to work with the Port. We want to encourage the Port to develop a concept there that fits into the entire North Embarcadero and some of the adjoining properties on Harbor Drive.”
The Port District has plans to eventually redevelop the pier, including possibly making a portion of the roughly 5-acre site into a park, said Irene McCormack, communications director.
But the Port District's master plan doesn't necessarily call for the entire pier to become a park, which is essentially what's shown in the Manchester drawings.
“To build the park you have to have revenue coming in from someplace else,” said McCormack. “They cost a lot to build and a heck of lot to maintain.”
Using most of the pier as a park also creates a parking dilemma for the Port District, which must find replacement parking off-site for the Midway museum within 10 years if the pier is developed.
McCormack said the Port District “is always interested in working with its neighbors. The reason for the letter is we really don't want the public to think that pier is part of the (Pacific Gateway) property.”
Manchester and the Centre City Development Corp., the downtown redevelopment agency, will continue a series of public workshops and meetings on the Pacific Gateway site this week. The next workshop is scheduled for Saturday. It includes a walking tour beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by a discussion period at the Embarcadero meeting room, 585 Harbor Drive, at 10:30 a.m.
Another workshop is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. April 27 at the Courtyard by Marriott, Spectrum Ballroom, 8651 Spectrum Center Blvd. Additional workshops and meetings will be held through the summer. For information, see CCDC's Web site, www.ccdc.com, or call 619-533-7136.
Mike Freeman: (760) 476-8209; mike.freeman@uniontrib.com
