The downtown San Diego lot that once pulsed with concerts at 4th & B is officially up for grabs. The 0.35-acre site at 345 B Street, fenced off and parked right next to the long-derelict California Theatre, is being marketed to developers as a by-right, high-density opportunity, a clear pivot away from the previously floated skinny tower.
Broker materials peg the land at roughly 15,063 square feet, about 0.35 acres, inside a Complete Communities Tier 1 zone that allows very large FAR and height, and note an existing shovel-ready entitlement for a hotel-plus-office scheme, per Revere CRE. The marketing pitch also highlights the potential for assemblage with the adjacent California Theatre parcel and positions the site for institutional buyers. In short: zoning plus entitlements is the sales hook.
Tokyo-based Iida Group Holdings, which acquired the parcel in 2016, had been associated with early concepts for a slender mixed-use tower featuring approximately 300 hotel rooms and substantial office space, as reported by CoStar. Public records indicate that the site changed hands in March 2016 for roughly $7.5 million, according to PropertyShark. The owner hasn’t advanced construction on the earlier plan.
The move to a straight listing was first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, which notes the corner of Fourth Avenue and B Street is currently fenced and vacant. Instead of pushing ahead with the tower, the owner is marketing the property through an advisor.
Why the Block Matters
Bundled with the neighboring California Theatre parcel, brokers say the two sites could total approximately 0.92 acres, sufficient to support a larger project than either lot alone, according to the public listing on LoopNet. That assemblage potential is amplified by the theatre’s legal clock: under a city settlement, the historic structure must be marketed for sale or face demolition on a set timeline, a process local outlets have tracked, including an update to a 2026 deadline, per Hoodline.
What Investors Will Be Watching
The pitch is a clean, by-right redevelopment that could close quickly for a buyer who leans into the existing entitlements. The offering names Newmark as the exclusive advisor and is being circulated to institutional, national, and international capital. Proximity to the Gaslamp Quarter, the Civic Core, and transit doesn’t hurt, either, ingredients that tend to sharpen pencils on a downtown block-scale play, according to the listing materials.
Legal Timeline and Consequences
Next door, the California Theatre is under a settlement with the San Diego City Attorney requiring the owner to list the property and either complete a sale by Dec. 31, 2026, or obtain demolition permits within 90 days. Civil penalties could follow for noncompliance. City officials framed the deal as a long-neglected hazard finally being addressed.
Whether a buyer grabs both parcels, waits out the theatre’s fate, or goes solo at 345 B Street will shape this stretch of downtown. For now, the lot is being shopped broadly, and the ticking clock next door may prompt any successful bidder to consider a larger, consolidated plan.
