San Diego’s long-dormant Horton Plaza Park is finally on the clock. The owner has been ordered to reopen the public space next year, according to local reporting that Mayor Todd Gloria quickly amplified on social media. The small urban plaza, long envisioned as the public front door to the Campus at Horton redevelopment, has mostly sat unused while the larger project stalled out.
New order flagged by mayor
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the property owner has been ordered to reopen the park by next year. The Union-Tribune laid out the timeline and the city's notices.
Horton Plaza owner must reopen downtown San Diego’s dormant public park next year https://t.co/RRxWff9vYS
— The San Diego Union-Tribune (@sdut) July 1, 2026
How the campus got here
Stockdale Capital Partners bought Horton Plaza in 2018 and unveiled plans to transform it into the multiblock "Campus at Horton," a mix of offices, retail and public space. In 2020, the company announced a roughly $330 million construction loan for the project, according to PR Newswire, and local reporting shows the City Council signed off on the redevelopment in 2019. Early plans and financing details were outlined by Stockdale and in coverage from KPBS.
Foreclosure, lender takeover and the park lease
The redevelopment later ran into financial trouble, and lenders moved to take control in 2025 after a failed auction, leaving unfinished obligations, including the park, in limbo. Bisnow reported the lender's credit bid and takeover, and coverage also notes that Stockdale signed a long-term lease for the city-owned Horton Plaza Park that required millions of dollars in improvements. The Times of San Diego reviewed city notices stating the developer had fallen short of those obligations.
What comes next
According to the Union-Tribune's reporting, now boosted by the mayor, the owner will have to reopen the park next year. It remains unclear how the city and the current property holder will enforce that schedule or who will finish the remaining work. If the park does reopen on the stated timeline, it would restore a civic green space downtown residents have missed and finally give the Campus at Horton the public-facing start it has long been promised. For the moment, though, the schedule and funding details are still unsettled.
Legal outlook
City correspondence cited in reporting suggests the municipality has contractual levers, including written notices and potential lease termination, if required improvements are not completed. Officials and downtown stakeholders will be watching closely to see whether the property owner, or its lender, moves fast enough to meet the deadline and reopen the space to the public.
