In 2016, San Diego leased a downtown high-rise, hoping to house its workers in the towering office space. It’s been a disaster ever since.

Renovating the space blew past cost expectations and eventually forced city workers to evacuate after construction inadvertently disturbed asbestos in the building. The city is now tied up in lawsuits over what officials knew about the state of the building and when they knew it, and the transaction itself is now the subject of a criminal investigation.

Ex-Real Estate Adviser Seeks Appeal of Ruling that 101 Ash Trials Should Proceed

Ex-city real estate adviser Jason Hughes is asking the state Court of Appeal to overturn two recent Superior Court rulings allowing the city’s conflict-of-interest cases against him to proceed. City Hall was rocked last year by the public revelation that the city’s 101 Ash and Civic Center Plaza landlord paid Hughes, who in 2013 volunteered…

Gloria: Former City COO Implied She Wanted a Job If He Won Mayor’s Race

I reported last week on ex-Chief Operating Officer Kris Michell’s revelation under oath that she handed a copy of a law firm’s purportedly confidential analysis of the 101 Ash St. transaction to then-city attorney candidate Cory Briggs as she mulled whether to blow the whistle on the debacle. Michell also disputed allegations made in a bombshell City Attorney’s Office…

All 101 Ash Legal Battles Didn’t End with Settlement Deal

The city of San Diego last week consummated a controversial settlement partially to avoid a years-long legal battle over its scandal-plagued 101 Ash St. and Civic Center Plaza buildings, but the deal didn’t end all the legal woes surrounding the debacle. The city is still left with a flurry of litigation tied to building renovations…

Ex-COO Denies Ordering Purge of 101 Ash Docs

Two months after the City Attorney’s Office accused her of ordering the deletion of 101 Ash St. related city records, former Chief Operating Officer Kris Michell testified under oath that the letter was “inaccurate” and politically motivated.

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