The Pacific Gateway Project at the Navy Broadway Complex will contain commercial offices, hotels, retail uses, public attractions and nearly 3,000 underground parking spaces. The project will encompass the equivalent of eight city blocks with each block having its own distinct characteristics. As a result, each pair of east-west blocks will constitute a precinct and accordingly will necessitate a specific design response as well as having the obligation to enhance the experience of the central Paseo. This approach has the opportunity to promote a “finer grain” intervention which will establish formal and spatial hierarchies and create important connections into the public realm.
Precinct 1AB enhances the civic spine of Broadway and serves as the landmark structure of this development with a 400 foot office tower in the context of an urban park. Precinct 2AB serves as transitional structures with one building — a 28 story, twin tower hotel -designed to compliment the landmark structure while maintaining sensitivity to the Navy Headquarters and a second building designed as a publicly oriented “jewel box” with a sensitivity to the urban park and the embarcadero. Precinct 3AB is critical to the success of the master plan accommodating the U.S. Navy Headquarters and the USS Midway. The design for the hotels must acknowledge the relationship between the two naval structures and includes a condo hotel which must facilitate the “naval connection” to the Bay. Precinct 4AB is unique in its adjacency to the Old Police Station, Seaport Village, and Tuna Harbor. Its design of the 9-story hotel and 10-story office building will focus on the aesthetics seen in the Spanish Colonial Style of the Old Police Station across the street.
This master plan will embrace and promote the planning criteria of the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan, as well as the Development Plan and Urban Design Guidelines. The ultimate objective is to create a vibrant and lively 24-hour center which integrates well into the urban fabric of downtown, and provides destination activities and programs for San Diegans and visitors alike. By employing a design parti which draws its inspiration from the architecture of San Diego, the DNA of the aesthetics for Pacific Gateway instantaneously becomes recognizable and endearing to all San Diegans. In turn, Pacific Gateway becomes rich in authenticity, and the landmark along the embarcadero.