San Diego walks back Mission Bay surplus property bid, for now

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria has withdrawn his effort to declare three commercial parcels in Mission Bay Park surplus property, a declaration that would have opened them to developers.

But city officials have not given up on redeveloping the Marina Village conference center, the Dana Landing marina and the nearby Sportsmen’s Seafood restaurant.

Instead of employing the Surplus Land Act, which would require prioritizing affordable housing projects on the properties, San Diego officials are working with state housing officials, the Governor’s Office and at least one state lawmaker for exemptions to the law.

“We’re still waiting to hear back,” mayoral spokesperson Rachel Laing said by email.

The decision came two months after the City Council declined to approve a request to declare the Marina Village conference and banquet center, Dana Landing marina and Sportsmen’s Seafood restaurant surplus land.

In late July, council members delayed a decision on the mayor’s recommendation in the wake of criticism from the public, voting 7-1 to push the matter to September.

Laing said that is no longer the plan. The city is now working with senior state officials for an exemption to the Surplus Land Act.

At the July meeting, Economic Development Director Christina Bibler told the council that the state Housing and Community Development agency refused to grant any waiver to the Surplus Land Act, which requires unneeded public property be prioritized for affordable housing.

She said the mayor was recommending the surplus declaration only to allow the city to solicit redevelopment offers for the aging properties. The Mayor’s Office said it wanted a new hotel and conference center on the largest property — not housing, which is barred by the city’s master plan for the park.

But critics worried that any surplus designation would expose the city to unwanted development that could ultimately include housing, because once the Surplus Land Act is invoked, the law requires affordable housing be prioritized on the property.

“It will open the door to turning our public parklands into private housing,” former Councilmember Donna Frye wrote in an August opinion piece.

In the meantime, a developer group headed by the Monarch Group has pitched a plan to build a new hotel, conference center and 900 homes on the largest of the three parcels — the 23-acre Marina Village project on Quivira Way.

The Gloria administration did not inform the City Council about the plan. Laing said the city received the unsolicited proposal in July and rejected it out of hand, negating any need to alert council members.

Even so, the public release in August of a brochure and letter from the development partnership created a stir because of the master plan that includes a sweeping master-planned community of 900 new housing units.

Laing said the city received the unsolicited project details in July.

But lobbying reports filed with the City Clerk’s Office show that the hotel, housing and marina developers were meeting privately with city officials as early as January.

The early declarations show several prominent lobbying firms meeting with city officials about extending the Marina Village lease, which expires in 2027. Later filings show lobbyists pitching the hotel, marina and housing plan.