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Nearly two years after submitting an initial application to build a mixed-use tower in Pacific Beach, the developer behind the project, sometimes referred to as Project Vela, has made little progress in convincing the city of San Diego that its unconventional application of local and state laws to breach, by an order of magnitude, the neighborhood’s height limit is lawful.
The parties appear at an impasse.
City staff maintain that the project, which calls for 139 hotel rooms and 75 apartments atop ground-floor shops on a 0.67-acre site, is not legal in its current form, primarily because the developer plans to treat the visitor accommodation units as long-term rentals.
In a Dec. 23 letter, San Diego’s Development Services Department said it could not approve the fourth iteration of the project from real estate investment firm Kalonymus Development Partners LLC, citing insufficient and conflicting information.
Matt Awbrey, a spokesperson for Kalonymus, said the developer plans to resubmit the project for a fifth time.
“The applicant fundamentally disagrees with the city’s assessment of the project and its current review status, and believes staff is on the verge of setting a dangerous precedent that sends a message to every homebuilder and developer that the city is willing to politicize its ministerial approval process even if you play by the rules,” Awbrey said in a statement to the Union-Tribune. “The applicant looks forward to continui...
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