After years as a fenced-off reminder of big promises that never quite landed, the long-vacant block at 7th and Market in East Village is back on the City Hall agenda. San Diego officials have entered talks with a developer pitching housing, ground-floor retail and possibly a small boutique hotel for the roughly 55,000-square-foot site, just steps from Petco Park and the Gaslamp Quarter. Neighbors and housing advocates say the choice of developer will test whether this prime downtown land can deliver both revenue and real homes for lower-income residents.
Deal details and next steps
City records list The Robert Green Company as the negotiating party for the 7th & Market parcel, according to City Council documents. The firm, which previously developed the 317-room Pendry hotel downtown, is pitching a concept that leans heavily on housing, with retail at street level and an optional small hotel component, as outlined on the developer’s website, the Robert Green Company.
City staff will now work through an exclusive negotiation period to hammer out the purchase price, financing structure and community benefits before any finalized deal heads back to the City Council for a public vote.
A checkered history
This is not the first time 7th & Market has been cast as downtown’s next big thing. An earlier master plan from Cisterra called for a mixed-use tower with a Ritz-Carlton, condos and a grocery store anchor. That high-end vision never made it to construction, tripped up by political and market hurdles, leaving the block as one of downtown’s most notorious pieces of “approved but unbuilt” land and setting up the latest round of proposals, according to ConnectCRE.
Affordable bid and state rules
More recently, the city was in talks with Chelsea Investment Corp. on a largely affordable, 405-unit proposal. Those negotiations collapsed after disagreements over financing and the city’s insistence on a fair-market payment for the land. State surplus-land law forced the city to spell out how it would prioritize affordability at the site, and officials say any future housing there will likely need to reserve a share of units for low-income households, according to Voice of San Diego.
Developer pitch and what to watch next
Robert Green has told reporters he is “contemplating” a primarily residential project while leaving the door open to a boutique hotel, and said negotiating a development agreement could take up to 18 months. He also acknowledged recent lender turmoil, noting that a 2024 lender collapse led to a bankruptcy filing tied to one of his firm’s resort projects.
The road map from here will feel familiar to anyone who has followed this saga: the city needs a fresh appraisal of the property, it must complete the state paperwork required by the Surplus Land Act, and negotiators will have to settle on the exact mix of market-rate and income-restricted units before any construction can begin, as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune.
