New project aims to develop 8-unit residential building on La Jolla’s Cave Street

The face of Cave Street in La Jolla may be changing in coming years, with projects planned that would convert the 1200 block from a neighborhood of small houses, office spaces and the 109-year-old Congregational Church of La Jolla to one with more modern and dense residential development.

An application was filed recently with the city of San Diego to construct a new three-story building containing eight residential units, with one considered affordable for very low-income residents, at 1261 Cave St.

The project is to include 10,222 square feet of habitable space and a 6,747-square-foot underground garage with 12 parking spaces and bicycle parking. The plan also includes reuse and partial demolition of the historically designated Lacrosse House and rear cottage structures at 1261 and 1263 Cave St.

The city has various levels of project review — called processes — based on complexity and potential impact. This project is being reviewed as Process 4, which includes a San Diego Planning Commission hearing. A date for local review has not been announced.

The applicant for the project, HLLK Architects, did not have an immediate comment.

The application comes after an unrelated one was filed in June 2024 seeking a coastal development permit to tie two lots together and build five new 1,494-square-foot two-story duplexes at 1271 and 1277 Cave St. Currently there is a cottage at 1277; 1271 is a vacant lot.

At the time that application was filed, local historian Seonaid McArthur said she feared a lasting impact on Cave Street should the project go through.

“The cottages of Cave Street reflect a simple time in La Jolla,” McArthur said. “Those wood cottages often had gardens in the back to grow one’s own food because that was the lifestyle into the 1940s. That whole street and around the corner had little cottages and a cottage court up the street because the electric car would drive through La Jolla around there [in the early 1900s].

“These are some of our very few remaining cottages. While they are not as sturdily built as homes today, they reflect an era and a lifestyle that we have come away from.”

She added that she was concerned that one development that differs from the neighborhood character could set the stage for others.