San Diego, CA

San Diego preparing to put downtown’s old Central Library on the market

Published

11 months ago

May 15, 2025

San Diego preparing to put downtown’s old Central Library on the market

After more than two years exploring its options, San Diego is now preparing to market the empty old Central Library at Eighth Avenue and E Street for sale or lease to maximize redevelopment of the half-block, downtown property where height limits are not a constraining factor.

Thursday, San Diego’s Land Use and Housing Committee voted 3-0 in favor of declaring the old Central Library at 820 E St. as surplus land.

The surplus designation means the city no longer needs the facility and has ruled out other options, such as redeveloping the property entirely for low-income housing. With the designation, the city can sell or lease the site for redevelopment — but it must follow the noticing and negotiating requirements of California’s Surplus Land Act.

Under the law, bidders need to set aside at least 25% of proposed residential units for affordable housing, meaning deed-restricted units rented to low- and very-low-income families making 80% or less of the area median income.

Although committee members agreed at a high level with Mayor Todd Gloria’s decision to offload the asset, they weren’t ready to give him the authority to seek bids for redevelopment without a broader policy conversation.

“I certainly believe that we should declare this property surplus. What I’m less comfortable with is giving carte blanche to the mayor and city staff to issue the notice availability without the City Council providing some more guidance,” Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said.

Elo-Rivera said he first wanted to the see the notice of availability, which is typically a short, stock document that alerts affordable housing developers registered with the state that the city intends to sell or lease its property.

“This is an incredibly important property. It’s an important action,” he said. “It seems appropriate for the council to provide some clear direction, if we choose to do so as a body, in terms of what is included in that notice of availability and what isn’t.”

The committee’s action tees up consideration by the full council at a later date. The future discussion will likely center around how council members can add development obligations to the noticing document without curtailing market demand.

Opened in 1954 and closed in 2013, the old Central Library is a locally designated historic resource that sat empty for nearly a decade before being used intermittently as a temporary homeless shelter, starting in 2023.

Over the years, developers have contemplated various alternative uses, including a 42-story apartment tower proposed by Bosa Development. The tower proposal was eventually scraped by the prolific builder in 2018.

More recently, the facility has been roped into the city’s ongoing conversation about homelessness.

The old Central Library was analyzed as an alternative to the failed Kettner and Vine shelter proposal. However, the estimated cost to renovate the 150,000 square-foot facility’s three floors and two basement levels was recently pegged at $86.8 million. The venue was ruled out as a viable homeless shelter option in February.

The mayor’s request to offload the city-owned asset dates to March 2023, when San Diego was preparing to put its Civic Center real estate on the market.

At the time, a few council members expressed interest in lumping the property in with the Civic Center blocks and other city-owned land to solicit developer interest for everything at the same time. The idea was to make excess city land available to quickly boost the production of homes for people of varying income levels. City staff recommended instead that the old Central Library be evaluated independently from the other sites.

The Civic Center blocks, which went on to be advertised for lease or sale per the Surplus Land Act a few months later, attracted no interest.

San Diego, pending approval by the full council, will also solicit interest in the old Central Library under the Surplus Land Act. The law was amended in 2019 to prioritize affordable housing when government-owned land is sold or leased.

The process begins with the notice of availability, which starts the clock on a 60-day window for interested bidders to respond with redevelopment plans. After the window, the law requires the city to engage in a 90-day negotiation period with respondents and give priority to the entity proposing the highest number of affordable housing units.

The city expects to publish the notice of availability for the old Central Library in the summer, Christina Bibler, director of the city’s Economic Development Department, told the Union-Tribune.

The timeline could get tripped up if council members take issue with the noticing document, which was not included in the agenda materials for Thursday’s meetings.

The current iteration of the document was described by Lucy Contreras, the city’s deputy director of real estate, as consistent with the Surplus Land Act noticing requirements. Interested parties will need to meet the affordable housing requirement, as well as comply with guidelines pertaining to the redevelopment of historic properties. The old Central Library’s historic elements include the building’s exterior, the csidewalk with the city seal, and two, city-owned sculptures on the facade.

“The intent is for us to put forward (a notice of availability) that either puts the property out for purchase or for lease, with the intent of maximizing the redevelopment potential of the site,” Contreras said. “If there were specific conditions that were going to be proposed in the (notice of availability), this would be the time, as well as with council, to have a conversation about (that).”

Elo-Rivera said he wanted to see the document before recommending additions.

“Pardon me for not just trusting the process here, but there’s nothing for us to read,” he said. “The council may decide that before we just open it up to the market and see what capitalism does for us, we instead draw some parameters and see if we can get a little bit closer to our goals on our first attempt.”

Councilmember Raul Campillo said his priorities for the property are on-site child care and residential units large enough for families.

Real estate analyst Gary London, a principal of local firm London Moeder Advisors, cautioned against the city adding more conditions in a weak real estate market challenged with limited access to capital and economic uncertainty.

The Surplus Land Act requirement to reserve 25% of residential units as affordable already challenges the feasibility of any project, he said.

“Whenever the city interferes with the marketplace, things go wrong,” London said. “While I agree with (Campillo) in terms of the kind of concept that ought to come out of (the solicitation), the idea of shoving that down a developer’s throat is basically inviting lower bids or a lack of bids.”

Councilmembers Kent Lee, Elo-Rivera and Campillo voted to pass on their recommendation for approval of the surplus designation to the full council. Councilmember Vivian Moreno was absent.

Source link

Related Topics:Business Economy Featured growth & development latest headlines Local Politics news Politics real estate top stories sdut

Click to comment

San Diego, CA

Sir Mohamed Mansour brought a global movement to San Diego, and nearly won MLS Cup in Year 1

Published

15 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Sir Mohamed Mansour brought a global movement to San Diego, and nearly won MLS Cup in Year 1

As Sir Mohamed Mansour was finalizing a deal with the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation to invest in San Diego FC in 2022, he reflected on their combined history. The Sycuan said they’d lived in the San Diego region for 12,000 years. Mansour looked to his own Egyptian culture’s 7,000-year existence.

“If we have 19,000 years of history we can’t lose,” said the 78-year-old.

When San Diego FC finally lost in the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs, it was in the Western Conference finals, capping the best debut season in the league’s history. Mansour spoke about the experience Thursday morning during the Business of Soccer conference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

“The first game, to me, meant everything. That night was a sleepless night because I’m very passionate about soccer,” he said.

Mansour would have settled for a respectable loss; they were playing defending MLS Cup champs L.A. Galaxy. But San Diego FC scored twice unanswered, winning the opener. And another sleepless night ensued.

Mansour discussed early life health issues, including being hit by a car when he was 10 years old, which left him bed-ridden for three years. He read American comic books and studied. His family’s wealth was confiscated by the Egyptian government during a 1965 revolution, and he later beat cancer as a 20-year-old while studying in the U.S.

Now the billionaire chairman of Mansour Group, an Egyptian conglomerate owned by his family, Mansour is also chairman of the Right To Dream Academy, which has made San Diego its fifth outpost. San Diego FC’s $150M Sharp HealthCare Performance Center includes residences and a school for Right To Dream participants in the club’s academy system. Mansour mentioned his plans to construct 100 pitches for underprivileged kids in San Diego.

“We are more than a football academy. We’re a global movement, built upon the belief that everyone has the right to dream,” said Mansour. “We’ve been rewriting the rules of talent development for over 20 years, guided by our core belief that excellence can be found anywhere.”

While creating hundreds of opportunities for children in underdeveloped countries, Right to Dream has generated tens of millions of euros in transfer fees for clubs within the network.

Mansour, who graduated from N.C. State in 1968 with an engineering degree and then earned a Masters’ from Auburn, differs from many MLS owners because he is a native soccer fan, he had extensive soccer business experience, and even an idea of how he’d like his team to play (possession-based).

Asked which he’d prefer — for Egypt to win the World Cup or San Diego FC to win MLS Cup — Mansour answered the United States (to win the World Cup) and San Diego FC to win MLS Cup.

“I tell you why. I’m a businessman too,” he said, grinning. “And if the US does well in this World Cup, soccer is going to grow.”

Rapid fire with Sir Mohamed Mansour

Comic book hero: Superman

Kryptonite: Worrying

Favorite athlete: Michael Jordan

Favorite soccer player: Mohamed Salah

Childhood hero: His father

Source link

San Diego, CA

3 San Diego State players who won’t be on the roster in the 2026–27 season

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

3 San Diego State players who won’t be on the roster in the 2026–27 season

The San Diego State Aztecs are bracing for some possible serious turnover this offseason and it’s not all going to be via the transfer portal.

Leading scorer Reese Dixon-Waters is out of eligibility, as are Jeremiah Oden and Sean Newman Jr. Newman can petition for another season based on his junior college years, but it’s anyone’s guess if he’d get it.

Obviously, San Diego State’s roster movement is far from complete and the transfer portal doesn’t even open until April 7, the day after the national championship game.

The Aztecs’ once-promising season ended when they were left out of the NCAA Tournament following their loss to Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game.

There are some players we know will not be on the squad next season, which will be the Aztecs’ first in the new-look Pac-12:

Guard Reese Dixon-Waters

San Diego State Aztecs guard Reese Dixon-Waters (39). | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

After missing all of the 2024-25 season with a broken foot, Dixon-Waters returned for his final season of eligibility and led the Aztecs in scoring at 13.1 points per game. He was a second-team All-Mountain West pick. He scored his 1,000th career point at UNLV on Jan. 24 and finished his career with 1,220 points.

Dixon-Waters played his first three seasons at USC before transferring to SDSU, where he started 23 of 37 games in 2023-24. He was a preseason All-Mountain West pick the next season before breaking a foot. He was so highly regarded that, despite missing all of last season, he was named to the preseason All-MW team in October.

One of his notable accomplishments was attempting more free throws (43) without a miss to start the 2023-24 season than any player in the country.

Forward Jeremiah Oden

San Diego State Aztecs forward Jeremiah Oden (25). | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Oden started 15 games and played in 30 of 33 games in his final season of eligibility after transferring from Charlotte, where he redshirted in 2024-25. He averaged 4.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 13.8 minutes.

Oden scored his 1,000th career point on Feb. 3 against Wyoming, where he played his first three college seasons. He finished his career with 1,024 points and 495 rebounds.

Oden didn’t play at all in a blowout home win against Utah State on Feb. 25, when Dutcher shortened his rotation from 11 to nine players. He had started the previous nine games.

Oden also played one season at DePaul.

Guard Sean Newman Jr.

San Diego State Aztecs guard Sean Newman Jr. (4). | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The transfer from Louisiana Tech played in all 33 games and made four starts, including Senior Night in the regular-season finale against UNLV and all three games in the MW tournament, when freshman Elzie Harrington was out with an injury.

Newman averaged 3.3 points, 2.4 assists and 15.4 minutes.

Source link

San Diego, CA

The Streamline: Concerns raised over future of Tecolote Canyon Golf Course

Published

2 days ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

The Streamline: Concerns raised over future of Tecolote Canyon Golf Course

Here is what you need to know in the March 25, 2026, Streamline newsletter:

This morning, we’re tracking San Diego Unified School District’s decision to rename Cesar Chavez Elementary School in the wake of serious allegations against the civil rights icon.

We’re also following the City of San Diego’s search for a new operator to reopen Tecolote Canyon Golf Course — and the neighbors pushing to safeguard and restore the surrounding natural space.

Plus, consumer reporter Marie Coronel shows why brand loyalty might be costing you more on your cell phone bill.

THE STREAMLINE

WATCH — ABC 10News brings you The Streamline for Wednesday, March 25 — everything you need to know in under 10 minutes:

The Streamline: Wednesday, March 25

TOP STORY

The San Diego Unified School District board voted Tuesday night to begin renaming Cesar Chavez Elementary School following allegations of sexual abuse against the labor leader.

The process will start with school leaders meeting with parents, teachers, students, and community members to select a new name.

While renaming a school typically takes several months, district officials said the timeline could be expedited in this case.

San Diego Unified usually limits itself to one school name change per year — in February, Clairemont High School’s mascot was changed from the Chieftains to the Captains.

However, board members said they would make an exception for this situation.

San Diego Unified initiates renaming process for Cesar Chavez Elementary over abuse allegations

RELATED COVERAGE:

MICROCLIMATE FORECASTS

Coasts

Inland

Mountains

Deserts

BREAKING OVERNIGHT

(AP) — Iran received a 15-point proposal from the U.S. to reach a ceasefire in the war, two Pakistani officials said Wednesday.

The Pakistani officials described the proposal broadly as touching on sanctions relief, civilian nuclear cooperation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear program, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The Trump administration reportedly offered the plan to Iran as the U.S. appears to seek an end to the war even while more troops head to the Middle East.

The plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from the government of Pakistan, which has offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran, a person briefed on the plan’s contours but who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The U.S. military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, according to three people with knowledge of the move who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

Any talks between the U.S. and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve, and it is not clear who in Iran’s government has the authority or would be willing to negotiate.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts, but Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament, denied Trump’s claim of direct talks and an Iranian military spokesperson declared that the fighting would go on.

Alluding to progress in talks, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Iran shared an oil- and gas-related “present,” a day after telling reporters that the Middle Eastern nation is eager for a deal to end the war.

Story by The Associated Press

CONSUMER

While loyalty is usually a good thing, it’s possible it could be costing you money when it comes to your cell phone bill.

WATCH — Consumer reporter Marie Coronel goes over the simple checks you can do right now to make sure you’re not overpaying:

Comparing cell phone plans to save money on your bill

WE FOLLOW THROUGH

The City of San Diego is seeking proposals from companies to lease and reopen the Tecolote Canyon Golf Course. While golfers welcome the move, some nearby residents argue it could harm the environment.

WATCH — Reporter Dani Miskell spoke to some neighbors about their expectations for whoever comes in to run the golf course:

Concerns grow over future of Tecolote Canyon Golf Course

RELATED COVERAGE:

Thanks for waking up with us! If you have a story you want ABC 10News to follow through on, fill out the form below:

We Follow Through

Want us to continue to follow through on a story? Let us know.

Source link