Major Mixed-Use Complex with University Hub Unveiled for Downtown San Diego (Carrier Johnson + CULTURE)
Officials in San Diego have approved a major new, mixed-use development, Park & Market, for the city’s East Village neighborhood.
Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, a national leader in architecture and mixed-use urbanism, is designing the 34-story, full-block complex for the developer Holland Partners. Park & Market is one of two new San Diego projects on city-owned land by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, for which project teams competed to win development agreements. Proceeds from the city deals will bolster the city’s affordable housing fund.
In addition to Park & Market’s 426-unit residential tower with 85 affordable residences, the $275 million project includes a 66,000-square-foot office building to house a satellite campus for the University of California San Diego Extension, called the “Innovative Cultural and Education Hub.” UC San Diego’s strategic decision to invest in the project reflects new transit lines to be added nearby, including two trolley lines serving nearby communities and even linking to UC San Diego’s main campus.
Filling out the Park & Market site is an expansive public plaza with a new terrace and amphitheater for concerts and events, as well as a historic structure — the 1907 craftsman-style Remmen House — to be renovated and adapted for restaurant and retail uses.
“The Park & Market development is a bold and exciting advance for San Diego’s growth,” says Michael Johnson, AIA, design principal and partner at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE. “The mix of new uses, the coming trolley lines, and the overall urban gesture lay real groundwork for a new vertical neighborhood to accelerate the transformation of the East Village into a center of innovation.”
The architect Johnson adds, “The combination of scales and uses will help ensure Park & Market serves as a vibrant mixed-use community, while also bringing a major institution of learning to San Diego’s downtown.”
Construction of Park & Market is slated to begin in 2018, with an anticipated completion date of 2021 for the estimated $275 million complex.
“Park & Market will be a great place to live and work, to study, and to raise a family,” says David Gonzalez, a design leader at Carrier Johnson + CULTURE. “The community will be filled with entrepreneurs, makers, artists, and every type of creative person San Diego has to offer. There will be a space for each type to thrive.”
