COPIED FROM THE FRIDAY EDITION (MARCH 7th) OF THE SAN DIEGO DAILY TRANSCRIPT
Fri Mar 7, 9:39 PM ET
An ambitious plan to convince the city of San Diego to shut down Montgomery Field, one of the busiest airports in the county, is cautiously circulating San Diego, gaining support from some of the most influential names in the local business community.
The initial framework of the proposal calls for the city to convert the airport and nearby property into a mixed development of commercial and residential buildings. It would create more than 9,600 new condos and townhouses, thousands of square feet in corporate office and retail space, and a maintenance yard for the San Diego Fire Department.
In all the new development would transform 549 acres of Kearny Mesa, a strategic area located north of Aero Drive, between Interstate 15 to the east and state Route 163 to the west. It would place housing units within blocks of a maze of industrial buildings that includes the corporate headquarters of Jack in the Box Inc., Factory 2-U Stores Inc. and Cubic Corp..
So far, the plan has attracted interest from Sol Price, Malin Burnham, Fairfield Homes and the fire department, which has a small maintenance yard on an adjacent property. The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce created the proposal and has lobbied in recent weeks for the support network.
"It's an issue that deserves taking a look at," said Jack McGrory with Price Entities, and a former city manager.
Redeveloping the airport's 491 acres and 58 acres of adjacent property would be on the scale of development at the former Naval Training Center, as both are roughly the same size. However, the headaches would be far less for San Diego, which already owns the property.
Dozens of airport-related businesses, some more than 50 years old, would most likely close. It also would leave Brown Field in Otay Mesa as the only city-owned airport.
The redevelopment would call for the 630 planes currently based at Montgomery Field to find new homes at other regional airports such as Gillespie Field in El Cajon and Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, according to a source with knowledge of the plan.
The Montgomery Field redevelopment would be similar to "creating a mini-city," the source said.
The chamber's proposal would take almost half the property, or 275 acres, and build 35 units of housing on each acre. The office portion of the project would cater to technology and life science companies.
"This would take care of a major problem for the high-tech and biotech industries, which is having their employees live close to the facility," the source said. "Because now they would never have to leave the property."
The fire department would also benefit from the redevelopment with a bigger maintenance facility. The current site, located along SR 163, is a converted fire station built in 1956. The department's equipment has more than doubled since then.
The size of the facility is still unknown.
"We haven't gotten into specifics on that," said August Ghio, assistant to the fire chief.
The influx of new housing created by the development on the airport would boost the available supply, a must need in San Diego where vacancy rates hover in single digits and home ownership is unattainable with the average income. Additionally, the population is expected to grow substantially in the next 20 years and there are few new housing options available.
"I think what drives this whole issues is that the city is built up," McGrory said.
Development of the airport would "logistically" be perfect for San Diego, said Alan Nevin, director of economic research at MarketPoint Reality Advisors.
"I think it would be enormously successful, because of the strong location," he said. "It's in the heart of everything."
Jessie J. Knight Jr., president and CEO of the chamber, said Montgomery Field was just one area about which the chamber and some members of the business community had, in recent weeks, met to discuss.
"We're looking at development projects that may make some sense (because) part of our agenda is to increase obtainable housing in the area," he said.