San Diego

San Diego Landmark, Santa Fe Depot, Being Sold: Report

The building on Kettner Boulevard was constructed to welcome visitors to San Diego for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition

The Santa Fe Depot – the iconic, 102-year-old downtown San Diego Landmark known for its soaring towers and tilted domes – is in the process of being sold, according to a media report.

The building on San Diego’s Kettner Boulevard and Broadway is being sold to a local private investor, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Escrow is set to close the first week of next month; Voit Real Estate Services is representing both the buyer and seller.

Per the deal, the building – which was constructed to welcome visitors to San Diego for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition – would remain in place, as would its use as an Amtrak station, at least through 2021.

The deal doesn’t include the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, which is housed in a building that was once used for baggage.

The Santa Fe Depot includes a waiting room, souvenir and snack stands, train ticketing offices and an information booth. It is unclear if those parts of the facility will remain as is, or if they will transform into other retail or restaurant spaces.

The building, designed by the San Francisco firm of Bakewell and Brown, became known as “Union Station” between 1916 and 1951 because it harbored passengers of the San Diego and Arizona Railway, according to The Great American Stations website.

In 1972, the Santa Fe Depot landed a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the decades, the building and surrounding site has been restored several times, including the addition of the landscaped plaza. With the sale, additional refurbishments are likely, including improvements to the restrooms and towers.

Bruce Coons, executive director of the Save Our Heritage Organisation, told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the depot is one of San Diego’s most iconic historic structures, alongside the San Diego Mission, Hotel del Coronado and Balboa Park exposition buildings.

The current owner of the Santa Fe Depot is ProLogis, a San Francisco-based logistics real estate company.

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