East Village - San Diego Streets

Keeping Up with Courtyard by Marriott in the Gaslamp

A new Courtyard by Marriott is in the works near Sixth and Island, on the border of the East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter. The 12-story development is filling a small gap between Ballpark Self Storage and Hotel Solamar.

A development of J Street Hospitality, the hotel will feature 90 guest rooms, a ground-floor restaurant and bar, and rooftop bar and lounge.

Plans for the rooftop bar include some sort of “eco-roof canopy,” a fire pit, and a water feature. It sounds similar to Altitude Sky Lounge at sister property San Diego Marriott Gaslamp, which offers spectacular views of the ballpark.

We’d actually consider this part of the East Village, but J Street Hospitality wants you to know it’s close to all the action in the Gaslamp Quarter. Maybe they’ll eventually catch on and realize the East Village is where all the good stuff is headed, but we don’t blame them for trying to attract tourists looking to stay in the more well-known Gaslamp.

This rendering conveniently removes the adjacent Hotel Solamar, but we’ll let that slide. We would have liked to see a taller tower, but this looks like it will be a pretty nice infill project overall.

The hotel is being built on a tiny 50′ by 100′ lot. This is about as tall as it’s going to get.

If all goes well, the new Courtyard by Marriott Gaslamp Quarter should open in July 2015.

Half Door Brewing Now Open, Juice Saves Moves to New Spot

During our pre-Super Bowl stroll through the East Village over the weekend, we gathered a few updates from around the neighborhood.

Half Door Brewing Co. just opened at Ninth and Island, and people already seem to be digging the menu and dog-friendly wrap-around patio. We hear that their selection of in-house brews is still pretty limited, but they’re planning to release new beers soon.

They’re open until 2AM each night, but Happy Hour might be the best time to visit. Available from 4PM to 6PM Monday through Friday, Happy Hour specials include $5 house beers, $6 drafts, and $5 snacks like mac & cheese and ahi tuna tacos. Head over to SanDiegoVille.com for a write-up on the soft opening weekend, complete with the full menu and plenty of photos.

15th and Island continues to dominate the east end of the Downtown skyline. It’s hard to miss the tower rising over the East Village, as work progresses on the first of two residential high-rises.

With so many neighborhood openings, it’s a little strange to see the shuttered Southpaw Social Club. We’ve been watching for signs of life since nightlife group Good Time Design closed the bar and grill in October. We’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for this prime location next to the ballpark.

Consortium Holdings has been polishing off their latest spot at 631 9th Avenue, just north of Market Street. Juice Saves, which quietly opened last summer on G Street, has now relocated to this larger space. We previously told you about our good experience at the previous location, so we’re looking forward to checking out the new space.

The new joint is a collaboration with North Park’s Coffee & Tea Collective, which is close to opening. Eater San Diego explains that the shared space will also serve as the company headquarters for Consortium Holdings.

Half Door Brewing Company to Open January 9

East Village residents will soon have another option among a growing number of new restaurants and bars. At Ninth and Island, the long-awaited Half Door Brewing Company is set to open on Friday, January 9.

The project comes from the Drayne family, who also operate The Field in the Gaslamp Quarter. San Diego Reader has more on the story of its sibling operators Dan and Stacy Drayne, as well as details on the upcoming beer offerings.

The restaurant and brewery will each be two stories, with plenty of outdoor seating. Since our last update in August, you can hardly tell that the right half of the building was only recently added. We can’t wait to see the interior of the old white house, built in 1906.

Curious about the food? Check out the sample menu on Half Door’s website, featuring specialties like the Brewer’s Pie—Coleman’s stout braised short rib, puff pastry—or the Amber Ale Braised Pork Belly, served with mashed potatoes, lacinato black kale, oyster mushrooms, and pork belly jus.

Topping Off 15th and Island

The first of two residential towers at 15th and Island was recently topped off in the East Village. At 479 feet tall, it will become San Diego’s tallest residential tower and fourth tallest overall building.

It’s hard to miss the 45-story tower while traveling around Downtown. Between both towers, the development is expected to contain 956 residential units, including 72 affordable units.

Pinnacle at 15th and Island

Construction on Tower 2 should begin in 2015.

The entire development was previously approved to include 17,127 square feet of commercial space, including 4,157 square feet in this first phase currently under construction.

However, developer Pinnacle International recently applied for alternative interim uses for the commercial space in Tower 1, claiming that commercial leases would not be economically viable for some years.

Those alternative uses probably include leasing the parcels as office space for the first few years, until development ramps up in this part of the East Village.

Plans for additional commercial space in Tower 2 will remain in place for now, as the developer believes the neighborhood will be ready by the time it opens.

The developer cited a retail market study conducted earlier in 2014, which found that recent retail leases in the East Village included significant discounts and incentives from landlords. For example, LA-based Cafe Primo is said to have received 22 months of free rent for its 5,469-square-foot space at 13th and Market, plus a $820,000 subsidy from the landlord to build out the space.

Stella Public House and Halcyon, which recently opened to favorable reviews on the northwest corner of the development, was cited as a similar example. Here, the landlord provided an $80,000 subsidy to build out the space, as well as a year of free rent. That’s intended to allow the dual restaurants to gain a following and anchor the upcoming park on the same block.

San Diego Magazine offered a great first look at the beautiful interior last month. Once the park is complete, that patio might just be the perfect spot to enjoy a cocktail.

Landscape architecture firm Spurlock Poirier has several renderings of the unnamed 14th and Island park on its website.

While digging around the firm’s website, we learned that the park is actually being built on a fault line that runs through the block. The land is pretty much unbuildable for anything else, which is good news for the neighborhood. The green space will be a wonderful addition to the East Village.

In the coming months, we’ll be watching as the finishing touches are made on one of San Diego’s biggest new buildings.

Sempra and Pinnacle Growing Up Fast in the East Village

We’ve had our eyes on the East Village as two of Downtown’s fastest growing buildings continue to rise. After just a short time, the new headquarters for Sempra Energy has already shot up seven stories.

In June, we told you about plans for the new headquarters, where the energy company will move 700 employees next summer. Work continues on the 16-story building along Eighth Avenue between Island and J.

The developer has restored the previously-removed fourth roll-up door on the left side of the remaining red facade. Those doors will allow access to the underground parking garage. This section, known as the Unicorn Building, will become a new restaurant/retail space.

We love construction cranes, and this project has two. The center tower continues to rise a few floors ahead of the rest.

Meanwhile, Vancouver-based Pinnacle International has made significant progress on first of two 45-story residential towers at 15th and J.

They’re already up to about 31 floors, but have plenty more to go. Located on the far end of the East Village, the project has already made a big impact on the Downtown skyline.

Solid construction walls recently came down to reveal what will eventually become a large public park outside the first tower. We understand that the towers will include commercial space at ground level, so hopefully that means at least one of those big spaces will hold some sort of cafe along the park.

On the northwest corner of the block, Texas-based Stella Public House and Halcyon are also working on a shared restaurant space with a large patio overlooking the new park. Eater San Diego shared in July that the restaurants hope to open by next month, but we’ll believe it when we see it.