San Ysidro Pilot Village

The BID Council's Real Property Development Initiative Begins

In 2001, the Business Improvement District Council launched its Real Property Development Initiative with the dual goals of producing exemplary development projects in commercial areas and diversifying our nonprofit management corporations' revenue streams through developer fees. The initiative was modeled after National Main Street Center's Community Initiated Development (CID). The Business Improvement District Council received funding from Council President Scott Peters, then Councilmember Michael Zucchet, and Councilmember Toni Atkins to initiate the program. After a competitive bidding process, the Business Improvement District Council contracted with Urban Innovations, a real estate development firm, to evaluate business improvement district property conditions for potential projects. Urban Innovations identified approximately 20 sites, and designated two sites as candidates: a parking garage proposed for Old Town and Mixed-Use Redevelopment Project in San Ysidro.

A City of Villages

Shortly after the Business Improvement District Council launched this program, then Mayor Dick Murphy introduced the City of San Diego Pilot Village Program. This city planning initiative drives the "village" style of redevelopment in San Diego, where residents enjoy neighborhood hubs with places to live, work, shop, and play. The Business Improvement District Council saw this as a great fit for its Real Property Development Initiative, and partnered with the San Ysidro Business Association in proposing a $432 million mixed-use development with a footprint of 13 acres, including 650 residential units, 65 of which will be affordable, and over 139,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.

The project - referred to as the San Ysidro Business Pilot Village - became one of three components of a larger project called Mi Pueblo, a pilot village application for the City of San Diego's City of Villages planning effort. The other two parts of Mi Pueblo are Casa Familiar (comprising eight completed affordable units, 13 proposed senior housing units and 15 proposed rental units) and Las Americas (a mixed-use project including existing retail use and proposed hotel, residential, office, entertainment, and tourist service). The bidding process for Pilot Village status was highly competitive. On February 10, 2004, the San Diego City Council approved five Pilot Village winners, one of which was the Mi Pueblo project.

Building a Unique Project with Business as the Cornerstone

The San Ysidro Business Pilot Village is unique in that it is the first redevelopment project in the nation to be developed by a limited partnership that includes small business owners. The San Ysidro Business Pilot Village LP includes the Business Improvement District Council, the San Ysidro Business Association, and several business and property owners. Together, the partnership represents ownership of over 50 percent of the footprint of the 13-acre project. We are working with a wonderful team at Barratt American. This innovative partnership is expected to be the "new wave" for commercial redevelopment in business improvement districts. What better way to redevelop than to bring the business and property owners into the process, rather than push them out?

The BID Council and San Ysidro Business Association are proud to be working with Barratt American and City of San Diego staff on such an important and innovative project. Located adjacent to the border, this project combines the retail, housing, and transportation elements that are key to success in redevelopment. While it's true that many of the pilot village projects are lagging, it's just not the case for the San Ysidro Business Pilot Village.