SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Construction crews are beginning to transform a Mission Valley golf course into a brand new "Live, Work, and Play" neighborhood.
Wednesday morning city leaders broke ground on Riverwalk San Diego.
Project leaders say they spent nearly 5 years working on community engagement, and getting feedback on what people wanted in their neighborhood.
“One of the key things we heard was we would love a grocery store and we would like that early,” says Eric Hepfer- Managing Director for Hines. “That’s a part of this phase one. Another thing that we heard consistently was open space and varying the heights and placement of the buildings.”
The area sits just across from Fashion Valley mall, north of Interstate 8.
The first phase will consist of building more than 900 homes but the entire project is slated to bring 4,300 homes to Mission Valley. This includes studio-style apartments to three-bedroom units. Ten percent of the units will be reserved for affordable housing.
Mayor Todd Gloria says the City of San Diego is under "increasing pressure” from the state to meet the housing targets, and developments like Riverwalk San Diego will help them do that.
The Mayor says this is also a model for how the city should be doing business moving forward.
PHOTOS: What will Riverwalk San Diego look like?
“Housing crisis is solved when we have more supply and this is going to provide a tremendous amount of supply,” says Gloria. “It’s probably the number one benefit but the additional economic benefits of a project of this kind, both through the construction process and long term, with presences of new businesses and local businesses. You can see how we can remain economically vibrant and successful as a community.”
Riverwalk San Diego will feature 152,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail and 1 million square feet of office space.
There are plans to restore a stretch of the San Diego River that runs through the area as well as improve sidewalks and bike lanes along Friars Road.
Developers plan to make this area transit-friendly. A new trolley stop will be placed at Riverwalk San Diego and it will run along the MTS green line.
