US Navy’s $200M HQ Reaches Upper Deck in San Diego

Manchester Pacific Gateway. Image courtesy of Manchester Financial Group

Manchester Financial Group recently celebrated the topping out of the 373,000-square-foot U.S. Navy Headquarters building in San Diego. The $200 million office tower will anchor Manchester Financial’s $1.7 billion Manchester Pacific Gateway mixed-use redevelopment project.

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The Navy Headquarters building is sprouting up on the site of the former Navy Broadway Complex, which Manchester Financial demolished in preparation for the development in 2017. Turner Construction is serving as general contractor for the 17-story building, which has reached its structural peak courtesy of 3,467 pieces of steel. The state-of-the-art tower will house administrative offices for 1,700 Navy and civilian employees.

Long time coming

Manchester Pacific Gateway. Image courtesy of Manchester Financial Group

The Navy headquarters building will be at the very core of Manchester Pacific, and Manchester Pacific will serve as the gateway to the San Diego central business district. The 14-acre, public-private development has been in the works since 2005, when the Navy decided to privatize the redevelopment of the Navy Broadway Complex. Manchester Financial won the bid to serve as master developer of the project in 2006. Upon full completion, Manchester Pacific will consist of 3 million square feet of mixed-use development spanning eight city blocks near the waterfront. In addition to office and retail space, the multi-structure destination will feature two hotels totaling 1,335 keys and 4.5 acres of public open space. The Gensler-designed development will be built to meet qualifications for LEED Gold Neighborhood certification.

Manchester Financial will finalize the ground lease with the Navy for the master plan of Manchester Pacific following the Navy’s acceptance of the finished headquarters building. If all goes as planned, Manchester Pacific will reach full build-out in 2021.

Military building

The Navy’s new home at Manchester Pacific is one of a bevy of projects involving military office developments currently in the works across the U.S. The California Military Department broke ground on its $135 million Consolidated Headquarters Complex in 2018, with Walsh Construction Co. II and Stantec spearheading design-build activity for the 285,000-square-foot campus. More recently, a joint venture led by McCarthy Building Cos. and Hitt Contracting landed the $711.7 million design-build contract for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s new $1.7 billion, 97-acre campus in St. Louis, the largest federal investment project in the city’s history. Manchester Financial commenced construction of the Navy Headquarters in 2018 and plans to deliver the building in October 2020.