Developers Skirting Bid Process? : Roberts Assails Proposed Port Complex

A major proposal to turn the Solar Turbines Inc. manufacturing plant adjacent to Lindbergh Field into an office, retail and tourist complex will be unveiled today before the Board of Port Commissioners. But the plan has drawn the ire of Councilman Ron Roberts, who says it appears that the developers are attempting to railroad the project without going through the competitive bidding process.

The plan, which is described on today’s agenda as “appearance of representatives of Solar regarding leasehold improvement program,” calls for a transformation of the property that includes moving the Solar Turbines’ manufacturing plant to Kearny Mesa.

Industrial Zoning

Solar Turbines leases the property, roughly bounded by Harbor Drive, Pacific Highway and Laurel and Hawthorn streets, from the San Diego Unified Port District. The land is now designated by the Port District for industrial uses.

The company, according to what Roberts has been told, has five years remaining on its current lease and is seeking both a change in the land-use designation and a new lease of about 50 years.

The main backers of the project are Solar Turbines and developers Malin Burnham and Roger Joseph. The architectural team is headed by Benjamin Thompson & Associates, one of the country’s leading architects, which has been involved in the design and restoration of such projects as Faneuil Hall in Boston, Harbor Place in Baltimore, South Street Seaport in New York City and is now working on the renovation of the Washington train station.

The local architectural firm of Martinez-Wong and Associates is also working on the proposal.

Described During a Visit

Roberts said that the trio of developer Joseph, attorney Richard Burt and architect Joe Martinez told him of the plan during a visit they paid him Friday afternoon. The Solar plant is in Roberts’ district and he is an official liaison to the Port District. It was clear, he said, that much work has gone into the plan, even though neither he nor Mayor Maureen O’Connor was aware of it until late last week, Roberts said.

Officials from Solar Turbines were not available for comment, and a spokesman for the Port District’s community affairs office said he was not aware of the plan.

“That is one of the most valuable pieces of property in the entire state,” Roberts said. As such, he said, it is essential that the Port District seek competitive proposals from others if the Port District is serious about changing the land to allow offices, hotels and retail stores to be built there.

“The concern I have is the process,” Roberts said. “I have concerns about them being given an exclusive right on the lease. I’d like to see the process far more open and planned . . . that the port and the city get involved in the public process.”

Roberts said his office will request that port commissioners include any proposal to change the land use at Solar Turbines into an ongoing study of airport traffic because any development--regardless of who does it--will bring more cars and trucks into an already congested area.

Roberts also will ask that the proposal be referred to the city for a recommendation.