When the Park 12 complex opens this summer it will be the biggest apartment building in downtown San Diego’s history with 718 apartments.

The $400 million project, with a 37-story tower, unseats the 678-unit Vantage Apartments on 9th Avenue as having the most apartments downtown, said MarketPointe Realty Advisors.

Greystar’s Park 12 took nearly 20 years to develop and stands out from other luxury apartment buildings because it towers over Petco Park, offering would-be tenants units with great (and free) views of games and concerts.

Rent starts at $1,705 a month for studios, $2,428 for one bedrooms, $3,508 for two bedrooms and $5,197 for three bedrooms. Residents of the tower can begin moving in July 15 and the entire complex should be completed by October. The project includes 45,000 square feet of retail space, a public square and an art display highlighting the city’s history.


Jerry Brand, Greystar senior managing director, said the company decided to do a project of this scale because of faith in the San Diego market.

“What’s happening in San Diego right now is very dynamic, as far as the employment and growth,” he said Tuesday during a tour of the building. “With a long-term investment perspective, Greystar and our investment partners thought this was an excellent opportunity.”

Park 12 started out as a JMI project, the development company of former Padres owner John Moores, which spent years getting it approved. It sold the project to Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar in 2015 and work quickly began. Construction required roughly 300 to 500 workers a day, Greystar said.

Jerry Brand, senior managing director for Greystar, looks over the 32nd floor deck of Park 12, a luxury apartment building near Petco Park. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune )


Every bedroom in the complex will have a parking spot. One of the most expensive aspects of the project, a three-floor underground parking garage will have 1,216 spaces.

Russ Valone, president of MarketPointe Realty Advisors, said the project helps extend downtown past the ballpark, connecting it farther into Barrio Logan and East Village.

He said the project’s apartment count makes it around the eighth largest complex in the county. Casa Mira View in Mira Mesa is slated to eventually reach 2,200 apartments and La Jolla Crossroads and Villages at Mission Valley are both around 1,500.

A hotspot for renters at Park 12, named for its location at Park Boulevard and 12th Avenue, will likely be an observation deck on the 32nd floor with views into Petco Park, and out over the San Diego Bay toward Coronado and the Cabrillo National Monument. It means someone renting a 518-square-foot studio could have access to the same views as some penthouses that range from $18,000 to $20,000 a month.


Amenities at the complex compare to many of the new luxury buildings in East Village and Little Italy. There will be a 24-hour gym, washer and dryer in each unit, two pools, 14 common areas, a clubroom with a kitchen, game room, dedicated lockers for packages and two dog parks (one for small dogs, one for big dogs).

One unique feature in a penthouse apartment on the 32nd floor is a toilet next to a window that allows the renter to look out at the ballpark, but people on the observation deck cannot see inside. (Hypothetically, someone could watch the Padres while sitting on the toilet.)

The view from a unit at Park 12. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Park 12 also has commercial space on the ground floor for five restaurants, all with space for outside seating.


Two buildings surround the public square, which Greystar separates into four villages and are connected by two bridges that will have apartments above the commercial space. Most of the apartments, 438, are in the main tower.

Greystar said the building has already leased 32 apartments, even without starting tours yet.

Park 12 was designed by Carrier Johnson + Culture, a San Diego-based firm that designed the Chula Vista Police Department headquarters building, the Strata apartment building in East Village and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in San Jose.

* * *


Park 12 Rents:

Studios (average 652 sq ft): $1,705 - 2,418 a month

1 Bedrooms (average 810 sq ft): $2,428 – 4,320 a month

2 Bedrooms (average 1,197 sq ft): $3,508 - $8,168


3 Bedrooms (average 1,260 sq ft): $5,197 - $6,064

Sources: Greystar, CoStar

Correction: An original version of this story incorrectly stated the number of leased apartments. It was 32.


Business


phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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