El Cortez Residents raise a ruckus over proposed new building

A new building is set to go up near the historic old El Cortez, and the residents are not happy. They are taking it to the courts! El Cortez residents complain that the 12-story, mixed use building may take away from El Cortez’s prominent skyline position on Cortez Hill, block views and not blend with the neighborhood’s historic architecture, according to many neighbors. Hmm...

According to an article in the San Diego Business Journal, Centre City Development Corp., the downtown redevelopment agency, approved a controversial mixed-use project called 777 Beech last month despite concerns from neighbors and pending litigation. The next hurdle for the proposed $40 million, 12-story project by developer Peter Janopaul of the J. Peter Block Cos. will be reviews by the city’s redevelopment agency in December and the San Diego City Council in January.

The controversy emerged from the developer’s most recent request to build a second residential high-rise on the Beech Street side of the block between 7th and 8th avenues. Apparently there are multiple legal cases involving the developer, including a case regarding construction defect litigation as a result of El Cortez’s condo conversion a few years ago from rental apartment to for-sale condo units, a lawsuit for allegedly underfunding the reserve fund of the homeowners association (okay, not good!) and now a lawsuit regarding the right to develop 777 Beech on a portion of the El Cortez block.

The developer, Peter Block is very comfortable with its legal position. He said sales agreement documents at El Cortez have full disclosure on the possibility of building a second structure on-site.

“Their story is heart wrenching and appealing at face value, but as soon as you get out the documents and show the disclosures they signed promising that a building was coming and you do some other fact checking and now it appears to be a simple, straightforward NIMBY (not in my back yard) issue with a lot of good rhetoric mixed in,” he said.

If approved, there will be eight studios, six one-bedroom units, 56 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units.

Maybe it's just me, but since when do downtown residents get guaranteed, unobstructable views? (or, anywhere for that matter.)