Dive Brief:

• Developer Doug Manchester has secured financing for a $1.5 billion San Diego waterfront redevelopment, with construction set to begin next month, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Private equity partners will fund redevelopment of the former Navy Broadway Complex.
• The Manchester Pacific Gateway will include three office buildings – including a 29-story high-rise – totaling more than 850,000 square feet; almost 300,000 square feet of luxury retail; a 260-room boutique hotel; a 1,100-room convention hotel; a 2-acre park and a 17-story, 372,000-square-foot building to replace the Navy headquarters. The mixed-use project will encompass 3 million square feet across eight city blocks.
• Progress on the project has been bogged down by lawsuits brought by environmental groups, activists and critics of the location for the $165 million new Navy headquarters Manchester must build as part of a 99-year lease on the property. Completion of the Navy high-rise and some of the Pacific Gateway buildings is slated for the end of 2020. The rest of the project will be finished in mid-2021.

Dive Insight:

Despite concern around flooding and sea-level rise, waterfront developments are still incredibly popular, meaning potential profits for landowners, contractors and developers.  

In close proximity to the Pacific Gateway is the planned $1.5 billion Seaport San Diego project, a redevelopment of an existing waterside tourist attraction. Not only are project officials planning a school, aquarium and a 500-foot observation tower with a virtual reality component, but the new waterfront development will include resiliency features like a parking structure that is resilient to seismic activity and flooding.

Meanwhile, the second phase of a $2 billion mixed-use project called The Wharf is underway in Washington, D.C. This phase of the project — 1.2 million square feet of 3.2 million total — will feature office, retail and residential space, as well as marina, parks and other public areas. That will add to the 870 residential units, 225,000 square feet of office space, three hotels and 175,000 square feet of retail that was part of the first phase of development, completed in October 2017.

The Cordish Cos. are co-developing a $2.5 billion mixed-use district along the Jacksonville, Florida, St. Johns River waterfront. Located between the river and the Jacksonville Jaguars' stadium, the 4.25-million-square-foot project will include retail, office, hotel, convention, entertainment and residential space. However, a fast-tracked construction schedule is not currently in play, with Cordish commenting that completion could take a generation.