Seaport San Diego, a $1.2 billion replacement with a 500-foot spire for Seaport Village, won near unanimous support Wednesday from the San Diego Unified Port District.

The board voted 6-1, with Chairman Marshall Merrifield opposed, to move to exclusive discussions with a development team that includes Qualcomm cofounder Irwin Jacobs’ son Jeff. The district’s goal is to fine-tune several points and make a final decision in October.

“It’s very surprising -- I didn’t expect to get it,” said Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen, spokesman for the team.

Six commissioners praised the plan for closely following the Port’s vision and guiding principles set last year. They also complimented the winners on communicating with Seaport Village tenants about keeping them in business following the termination of the 36-year-old specialty retail center’s 2018 lease and once construction starts, probably the following year at the earliest.


The Port District hopes to reap millions of dollars more in annual rents than the $3.3 million Terramar Retail Centers, which operates Seaport Village, paid the port in fiscal year 2015.

The additional income would come from Seaport San Diego’s many new elements -- three hotels with 1,077 rooms, including some in low-cost hostels; more than 388,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, several times the size at Seaport Village; a modest 19,130 square feet of office space; and income from the two main paid attractions, the 480-foot “Spire” observation tower by ThrillRide and a 178,490-square-foot OdySea aquarium.

× AEG hopes to build a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment arena at the site.

The team, operating under the name Protea Waterfront Development, includes as key members Jeff Jacobs and his business partner Jeff Essakow who own the highly rated Rancho Valencia Hotel in Rancho Santa Fe. Big-name designers include BIG, a Denmark-based architectural frm with a growing worldwide reputation.


The board stopped short of sending the five runners-up home empty handed. Members said if Protea cannot satisfy lingering questions about financing details and timelines, one of the other bidders could be brought back.

Merrifield said he preferred continuing discussions with four of the teams.

Diane Coombs, representing the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition, opposed taking any action until the district has completed a new master plan, a task not expected to be completed until 2018. But Port staff and board members said the final go-ahead on Seaport Village’s redevelopment won’t come until after that plan gets a signoff by the California Coastal Commission. Her group has indicated it would sue the port for taking a so-called “piecemeal” approach to bay planning.

The five other bidders offered unique features that the Port board considered: Tuna Harbor Pavilion included a Ferris wheel; Celebration Place had a 400-foot sailboat spinnaker-shaped gondola ride; SeaPort proposed a wave-making-equipped swimming pool; Embarcadero District had an 18,000-seat arena; and Ripley Entertainment had an aquarium. The Ferris wheel and aquarium proposals only covered a portion of the 70-acre site.


The four proposals that covered the entire 70-acre site all included one or more hotels, extensive retail space and improvements to the Tuna Harbor docks and commercial fishing infrastructure.

Terramar, the current leaseholder, had proposed a scaled-down development plan, but the Port instead opened up the competition to other developers. Terramar did not submit a bid in the competition.

The Central Embarcadero area also includes the G Street Mole and Tuna Harbor commercial fishing docks, where the Fish Market restaurant lease does not expire until 2028; the old San Diego Police Department headquarters, now a Terramar specialty retail center, which is set to remain until 2052; and Embarcadero Marina Park North.

The Port also is moving forward with redevelopment of the Harbor Island rental car lots. A decision is scheduled for next month on which of two developers to pick for a hotel-office-retail development; either OliverMcMillan or Sunroad Enterprises.


The district previously approved replacement of the Anthony’s Fish Grotto restaurant south of the Maritime Museum’s Star of India on Harbor Drive with a complex by The Brigatine restaurant group.

Other recent improvements along the waterfront include a wider promenade, retail kiosks and new landscaping in the first phase of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan. Before that was completed last year, the county government replaced its surface parking lots with a park flanking the County Administration Building.

The Port received 11 bidders for the Seaport property and deemed six complete enough to be considered.

Once the Port District board selects a final bidder, it will enter exclusive negotiations, refine the details and prepare an environmental impact report. If all goes well, the project along with a new Port master plan could be approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2018 and be under construction by 2019. That would put the opening at 2021 at the earliest.