Consolidated Aircraft/Old Town Campus NAVWAR, San Diego

Consolidated Aircraft/Old Town Campus NAVWAR
4301 Pacific Highway and 2555 Sports Arena Blvd, San Diego

The Navy's shocking proposal for its Old Town Campus Revitalization Project, an aggressive, high-rise coastal development has caused alarm and disbelief across the entire county. Plagued by serious environmental and preservation issues, the proposed alternatives detrimentally impact San Diego's character and sense of place, especially visually and spatially. These alternatives would negatively impact a minimum of 19 historically designated properties, including the National Historic Landmark Presidio Park with its sweeping city and bay views, the much-visited Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and various historic places that tell the story of San Diego's early development around San Diego Bay. The proposed dense, mid- to high-rise buildings would forever block and literally overshadow San Diego's historic and cultural landmarks, oldest neighborhoods, and quintessential views. Furthermore, the proposed development irresponsibly disregards the area's underlying geology, which is a liquefaction zone. SOHO hopes all San Diegans registered their objections by the August 2021 deadline because the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to federal entities! For more information, see SOHO's Our Heritage eNews article: NAVWAR Proposes Walling Off Old Town with 32-Story High-Rises.

SOHO opposes the proposed alternatives and seeks to become a consulting party for the Section 106 review process of the National Historic Preservation Act. Responsible and valuable alternatives not included in the Navy's draft Environmental Impact Statement include retaining the identified Consolidated Aircraft (CONVAIR) Plant Two National Register Historic District by developing Old Town Campus Site Two instead of OTC Site One (proposed Alternative One). The plant's three large hangars at OTC Site One are significant to San Diego's aerospace history and the nation's success during World War II, the Korean War, and our space race with the Soviet Union. Further, the adaptive reuse of just one of these massive buildings could yield more than one million square feet for affordable housing. If all three buildings were renovated as housing, they could provide up to 3,720,000 square feet—a huge opportunity to meet San Diego's affordable housing needs.

Please support SOHO's efforts as we prepare to oppose this ill-conceived project in the Navy's Final Environmental Impact Statement (forthcoming) by donating to our advocacy legal defense fund HERE.

There is untold power in numbers, so if you are not already a SOHO member, now is the perfect time to join HERE and help oppose this horrific and irresponsible land- and sky-grab that would destroy the essence of coastal San Diego.

Current viewscape of Mission and Presidio Hills

Current viewscape of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

This and the following views of the NAVWAR proposal show the project looming over Old Town and Mission
and Presidio Hills with increasing height and density for non-Navy residential, retail, commercial, and hotel
towers.

Current photos by Sandé Lollis. Rendered images courtesy United States Department of the Navy.