Housing will be “a major part” of whatever final plan moves forward to redevelop 70 acres of U.S. Navy land near downtown San Diego, representatives for the developer Manchester Financial Group confirmed.
Voice of San Diego broke the news last week that Manchester has been exploring the possibility of building a 400-megawatt data center there.
Manchester representatives have said the company has explored many possibilities for developing the land. In a recent statement provided to Voice, they said the final project will absolutely include housing, though it’s unclear how much.
“This project could include thousands of multi-family homes for San Diegans,” wrote Ted Eldredge the company’s CEO in an email. “Regardless of the final design, any full-scale development will include Manchester Financial Group building a mixed-use project with homes as well as retail, commercial and industrial uses.”
Manchester Financial is negotiating with the Navy on what the final redevelopment project will be. In broad strokes, Manchester will be required to build a new command center for the Navy and in exchange will be able to redevelop two plots of land under a 99-year lease.
The news that Manchester had been exploring a large-scale data center caught local elected leaders by surprise. It sparked outrage from some who were only aware of plans for a mixed-use development that could include military housing, hotels, restaurants and retail. Rep. Scott Peters and San Diego city Councilmember Marni von Wilpert held a press conference Friday to decry the plan, calling for the area to be turned into a “mini downtown” not a data center.
The property, called the Naval Base Point Loma Old Town Campus, now hosts the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command. It’s actually two sites, called Old Town Campus 1, which is about 47 acres, and Old Town Campus 2, which is almost 22 acres.
A Manchester Financial Group representative said, if there were to be a data center, it would be located on a portion of the 22-acre site. The housing, and any other potential development, would occupy the other, larger site.
“Housing is going to be a major part of this project — it’s what helps make it feasible and we look forward to building the homes we need to address our region’s housing crisis,” Eldredge wrote.
Manchester has been in talks with local utility providers on how much it would cost to power a 400-megawatt data center. Powering such a facility might require updates to San Diego’s power grid.
Last week, Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said San Diego Gas & Electric needs to provide answers on the potential costs.
“If we’re being told that customers would absorb that cost, it’s incredibly alarming and SDG&E owes a response to the public about it,” Elo-Rivera said. “The idea that we’d be adding costs so a billionaire could build a data center is something we’d all find offensive.”