The company slated to redesign the outdated Horton Plaza shopping center wants San Diegans to share what they think should happen to the park at the corner of their property.
Stockdale Capital Partners (SCP), a commercial real estate firm based in Los Angeles, plans to transform their million-square-foot property into "The Campus at Horton," a high-tech office space and lifestyle center with new stores and restaurants.
But, while renderings released in April indicate the developers know what to do with the commercial space, SCP encountered "design and operational shortcomings" with the design of Horton Plaza Park.
SCP has asked San Diegans to come to a two-hour public input session at the park next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to share what they envision for the space at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Broadway.
The community will be shown preliminary sketches created by design firm Rios-Clementi-Hale Studios and be given the chance to weigh in.
The goal of the workshop is to find a design that meets the community's need and the real estate firm's goal to make the park the "front door" to their new high-tech hub.
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The Campus at Horton will include 700,000 square feet of modern office space and 300,000 square feet of retail space. Construction is slated to begin later this year and is expected to wrap up by the end of 2020.
Stockdale Capital said the space would be able to house 3,000 to 4,000 tech jobs and an estimated $1.8 billion boost in annual economic activity with the first phase of development alone.
Stockdale Capital boasts that its company has experience transforming failed shopping centers into high-tech office hubs.
Released renderings show the exterior of a glass, multi-level building at the corner of First and G streets in downtown San Diego, what was once a Nordstrom at the shopping mall.
The interior of the building has an open-space concept, with multiple levels opening up to one central point, while an outdoor deck acts as a gathering space for tech employees and visitors.
On top of creating a modern office space, the Campus at Horton will be transformed with high-end restaurants and retail spaces that will serve both employees and community members, according to the firm.
Horton Plaza opened in 1985 and was once considered the crown jewel of downtown but it became something of an eyesore in recent years.
When it first opened, it was considered a landmark of urban design, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Before the property's sale was complete, empty storefront littered the property and the halls were lined with more homeless people than shoppers.
