6 Hot Downtown San Diego Multifamily Projects
All signs point to growth for San Diego's multifamily sector during 2018. While highly anticipated luxury apartment buildings are being erected all over San Diego, there is a particular boom in the downtown neighborhoods, which include the Gaslamp, East Village and Little Italy.
California is the second-most-sought-after destination for apartment community investments in the United States, according to a report released by CommercialCafé. It follows only Maryland, with 19 properties traded in various single-asset and portfolio transactions throughout 2017. Four of the top deals in 2017 occurred in San Diego County.
Renting is picking up steam in San Diego. Renters have become the majority over buyers in 22 large American cities, according to another report from RentCafé. Of the 100 largest U.S. cities, 22 shifted from owner- to renter-majority between 2006 and 2016, while renter growth outpaced homeownership growth in 97 of those cities. San Diego had an 11.4% in renting share from 2006 to 2016 and 53.4% of the population renting over buying.
The reasons are many — older buyers are downsizing, younger buyers seek a more urban lifestyle without sacrificing amenities. But one thing is certain from looking at San Diego's ever-changing skyline: There seems to be no end in sight.
Here are some of the hot multifamily properties recently completed or going up in San Diego.
Alexan ALX
At the corner of 13th and J streets downtown is Alexan ALX, a 313-unit, 19-story luxury residential high-rise being developed by Trammell Crow. Near Petco Park, the East Village, the Gaslamp Quarter and the Bayfront, the building offers studios starting at $1,795 to two-bedroom units starting at $3,200. Construction started in Q3 2015 and the first move-in occurred during the end of November. The building also boasts 5K SF of commercial space and was built by Swinerton, which also built San Diego luxury multifamily projects Idea1, Shift and Luma.
This six-story project developed by Lowe Enterprises delivered 282 units in Q4, taking up a full city block in the East Village's IDEA District. Building amenities include an on-site gourmet taco shop, an ever-changing public art exhibition, an on-site bike retail and repair shop, a water-tower spa, roof decks and the IDEABox, which is a second-story communal space intended to be an incubator for creative meetings. It also houses 23,216 SF of commercial space with approximately 308 parking spaces in a two-level subterranean parking structure.
On the east side of Kettner Boulevard between Hawthorn and Ivy in Little Italy is AV8, a six-story, mixed-use building with 129 apartment units on a 30K SF parcel. The CityMark-developed building, which used to be an aviation factory, features a 2,700 SF entertainment center that opens onto a 3,700 SF rooftop deck, 9,100 SF of retail and 154 parking spaces in three split levels below grade, as well as one level above grade. Delivery is expected in Q1 or Q2.
Broadstone Makers Quarter, developed by Alliance Residential, will be the residential component to the anticipated East Village hub Makers Quarter, which will include luxury apartments, office space, retail businesses and recreational spaces. Construction was started in Q1 2016 with completion projected for mid-2018. The seven-story, 85-foot-tall building will also house 5,100 SF of retail and 343 parking spaces across four levels.
Shift
Construction for the East Village's Shift, developed by Lennar, began in March 2016, with delivery expected in April or later. The project has 368 units and 18,900 SF of commercial space with approximately 480 parking spaces across three below-grade levels and two above-grade levels. The project comprises a 21-story tower and a five-story mid-rise building. It is LEED Silver certified, with co-working spaces, a fitness center including a boxing facility, a dog park, an art walk courtyard, car-charging spaces and a concierge.
Luma
Luma, or 520 West Ash, started construction in August 2016 with an estimated completion in summer 2018. It was designed by Carrier Johnson + Culture and developed by Lennar Multifamily Communities and contains 220 apartment units with 4,900 SF of commercial space in a 24-story tower. It will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units and will feature a clubhouse, a pool and a roof deck along with 331 subterranean parking spaces.
