SAN DIEGO — It's called a "pencil tower," and many people in the Pacific Beach community are surprised to learn that such a structure could be on the fast-track for approval in their neighborhood.
CBS 8 is Working For You to find out the basis for which this project may be allowed to move forward.
"It's just a terrible idea. We can't handle it," said Dr. Marcella Bothwell, Chair of the PB Planning Group, regarding the 23-story high-rise planned for the northwest corner of Turquoise and Cass Street.
“It’s what they call a 'pencil architecture,'" said Dr. Bothwell. "It’s some new technology that they’re using all over the country to build very narrow, tall skyscrapers.”
Dr. Bothwell is one of the few who has seen the developer’s plans, something she had to do in-person at City Hall's Development Services by appointment. She was allowed to take notes but couldn't take pictures.
“What I saw was an incredibly large 23-story with a penthouse,” Dr. Bothwell explained.
CBS 8 called the San Diego County Recorder’s Office for ownership information on the property at 970 Turquoise Street. Staff told CBS 8 the property is owned by 970 Turquoise, LLC as of February 1, 2023. We're told the property and three adjacent lots next to it were purchased by the same company last year.
“Turquoise is a two-lane, very small street with parking on the sides. It cannot handle that kind of traffic,” said Dr. Bothwell. "We don't have the infrastructure, you know, water, sewer, nothing. Nothing for this."
The developer is Kalonymus, a real estate investment firm based in Los Angeles. CBS 8 reached out to the firm for comment, but we haven’t heard back by the time of this publication.
According to Dr. Bothwell, the plans call for 139 hotel rooms or visitor accommodations on 9 floors, and 74 housing units on the floors above, 10 of which qualify as affordable (5 very low-income and 5 moderate-income). The first 7 stories would be dedicated to parking, 2 of those extending underground.
CBS 8 reached out to the City of San Diego. A spokesperson told us the application was submitted on September 4, 2024, and is currently under review by Development Services.
The developer is relying on the State’s Density Bonus Law (AB 1287), authored by Assemblymember David Alvarez. It stipulates that if a developer's proposal meets affordable housing requirements, it can receive waivers on certain restrictions in a city's municipal code, such as the 1972-voter-approved 30-foot height limit (Prop D) in San Diego's coastal zone or the 60-foot height limit in community commercial zones (CC-4-2).
“The pendulum hasn’t just swung. It has fallen off the fulcrum and is flying in space. We need to stop this,” said 50-year Pacific Beach resident Scott Chipman. “We would expect to see gradual increases of heights in commercial and high urban areas, not these jumps from 30 feet to 238 feet or taller.”
The same state law also stipulates that if a project meets certain requirements, it can bypass the need for city council approval or any review by local planning groups.
“There’s no doubt that these buildings will be the first of many that will be constructed right along the coastal zone," said Chipman. “Every strip mall in your community can be replaced, based on this zoning, with a 230-foot or higher high-rise. We will resist this with every possible energy we have.”
Chipman is organizing a rally against the project to be held outside the PB public library at 4275 Cass Street on Wednesday, October 9, at 5:45 p.m.
Mayor Todd Gloria has requested that the State’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) review the project’s eligibility to see if it’s following the spirit of the law as intended. The Mayor's Office sent CBS 8 the following statement:
"The Mayor and Council President pro Tem Joe LaCava both have expressed concerns about the project’s scale and whether it qualifies for the Prop D waiver, given the large proportion of the proposed project that will serve as hotel rooms vs. housing. Mayor Gloria last month requested that the state’s Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) review the project’s eligibility."