Padres, Tishman Speyer JV Tapped for $1.4B San Diego Redevelopment

East Village Quarter. Image courtesy of the city of San Diego

The Padres Development Team, which includes Tishman Speyer and Ascendant Capital Partners, has won the bidding process to transform San Diego’s Tailgate Park into a 2 million-square-foot, mixed-use development dubbed East Village Quarter. The developer could break ground on the $1.4 billion project as early as 2023, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Carrier Johnson + CULTURE is the project architect. 

The Padres’ vision for the underutilized four-block area near Petco Park in East Village won against Brookfield Properties’ development concept. Both entities submitted their projects to the city of San Diego at the beginning of the year, after the city declared the intent to sell or lease the land in December.

East Village Quarter will take shape on the 5.3-acre lot bordered by K Street, Imperial Avenue, 12th Avenue and 14th Street, east of the $1.5 billion redevelopment project of Manchester Financial Group. The Padres already hold a long-term lease on the parcel valid through 2042.

Upon completion, the former Tailgate Lot will comprise nearly 1.4 million square feet of office space, 612 market-rate and affordable apartments, 236,000 square feet of open space and a 1,600-space parking structure for those attending Padres games and ballpark events.

The decision process

After the bid submission to the Request for Proposals, a selection committee of the city of San Diego, together with external experts of Civic San Diego and JLL reviewed and scored the two top bids. Scoring categories included RFP responsiveness, financial models and developer experience. The RFP process followed a public Request for Qualifications process which took place this spring.

Subsequently, the city held a virtual open house from August 26 to September 4, to request public input on the two proposals and the community’s priorities for the development. The open-house website had 1,156 community feedback responses. The community’s preferences included open space and amenities, retail, parking, events and active pedestrian and public space.

In the following steps, the City Council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and, subsequently, the City Council will decide upon the Selection Committee’s recommendation for the city to enter into an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with the Padres.