Project Vela - Turquoise Street Tower
Pacific Beach // San Diego's tallest coastal development in 60 years is making waves
The Pacific Beach waterfront / BuildSD photo
An under review - and controversial - development in Pacific Beach is set to become the tallest building in coastal San Diego since 1964, when the property at 939 Coast Blvd in La Jolla was developed. This project is planned to bring 10 units of affordable housing, 65 units of market rate housing, and 139 visitor accomodation units to the fast-growing beach neighborhood. While visitor accomodation units can be used as short-term hotel-like rentals, project developer Kalonymus confirmed in a statement to BuildSD that "the visitor accommodation units will be designed with amenities like kitchens and the developer intends to operate them on long-term leases in compliance with the regulations applicable to the project. There are hundreds of visitor accommodation units throughout the city that are rented on annual leases, so there is a long-standing precedent for this."
Turquoise St & Cass St, SE corner, looking out at the project site / BuildSD photo
The project's design includes underground parking space, a ground floor entry and retail area, and an additional 3-story parking podium. Atop this podium will be a pool, patio deck, and more amenities for both residents and guests. The residential units and guest accommodations would be location above this floor, with an additional rooftop area and canopy planned. The architecture of this building is meant to evoke images of the coast - particularly the sandstone cliffs a few blocks west. The shape and color of the glass; water and waves. The offset balconies can be likened to palm fronds, with several of the building's pillars representing palm trees.
Bike lane on Cass Street, near the project site / BuildSD photo
This project has proven rather controversial for the neighborhood, however, with local officials calling it a gross misuse of the state's already-controversial density bonus law. Many in the Pacific Beach neighborhood and other Coastal Zone areas worry it could set a precedent of tall coastal towers in excess of current height limits. Proponents of the density bonus claim this is a feature, not a bug, designed to allow more housing to be built in Coastal Zone areas where high land costs and low height limits have made major construction infeasible.
A sign opposing the project / BuildSD photo
The last tall coastal tower built in San Diego was at 939 Coast Blvd in La Jolla, an 18 story condo tower that sparked controversy and led to the introduction of a 50 foot height limit - first in La Jolla, then in the Coastal Zone city-wide. Many of the opponents to the Coast Blvd project would go on to lead the campaign for the 1972 ballot measure that capped development along the entire coast of San Diego at 30 ft.
939 Coast Boulevard project / Site photo
In some cases, however, this line and limit can seem arbitrary at best and discriminatory at worst. For the most part, the dividing line for the coastal height limit in San Diego County is I-5, preventing change and new buildings in many wealthy and majority-white communities, while Black and Hispanic neighborhoods were open for unrestricted development. In Pacific Beach, the Coastal Zone stretches 2.5 miles from the waterfront; in Barrio Logan, it reaches less than a mile inland and has been augmented to allow taller projects.
Map of the San Diego Coastal Zone
This has caused decades of pent up demand that could have been filled by medium-density housing to resurface in this 22-story proposal. This project is tall, controversial, and would set a glaring precedent in the neighborhood.
Rent comparison between Pacific Beach and Linda Vista
It's also worth mentioning that the same community groups opposed to this project are also protesting a 5-story, 100% affordable project over 2 miles from the beach, at a scale much closer to what many advocates for housing are calling for and at the same scale SB 79 would allow in the coastal zone if passed. To some, then, it would seem as if these community members are fighting against more than just project height. The only remaining precedent may be that building in coastal San Diego will continue to be controversial and difficult.
Render of the Rose Creek Village project / Site photo