San Diego residences of downtown San Diego, please be aware that some streets will be closed this Sunday August 16th for America’s Finest City Half Marathon.

San Diego will have its 38th annual America’s Finest City Half Marathon run. The race will begin early morning starting in Point Loma and then head to downtown San Diego along the embarcadero and then ending in Balboa Park.

The 13.1 half marathon will have over six thousand runners. Since the race began 38 years ago, over $3.5 million have been raised for many non-profit organizations. That’s freaking awesome!!

Since the half marathon will go along the embarcadero, many high-rise residences will be able to view the run from the comfort of their patio. A couple of these downtown condos are: Breeza, Bayside & The Grande.

CBS News 8 – San Diego, CA News Station – KFMB Channel 8

Living here in San Diego now since 2003, I’ve grown to accept the pedicabs as they are.  They have been a part of the Downtown San Diego lifestyle for years and I don’t see them going away anytime in the near future.

Some downtown San Diego condo owners like, Caryl Iseman (realtor in downtown San Diego), is a little fed up with loud noise from some pedicabs.  Pedicabs are a means of short transportation here in downtown and they are also providing fun times for their customers.  But some are still not happy with the noise.

It’s funny to me when people complain about something after they move into a downtown condo when that something has been around for years.  People, you live in downtown San Diego.  You will always here urban noises.  If noise is an issue, please purchase something high in the sky or live in the suburbs.  Noise creates energy and people thrive off energy and thus large downtown cities are built.

I’ve been on a couple pedicabs and the ones that I like the best are those that are very flashy with lights and loud music.  Everyone has a good time while riding in these.  The boring ones are those that aren’t flashy and without any music.  Of course, if the passenger doesn’t want loud music, they can turn it off.   Each their own.

Residences at Park Row were woken up to smoke detectors and fire fighters last night. Around 4:40am, a fire broke out and caused about $200k in damages. There were $150k in structural and $50k in personal property.

 

The firefighters are saying an electrical fire caused the fire. I’m curious to see what kind of an electrical fire it was.

 

Park Row is a condo complex located in the Marina district in Downtown San Diego. It was built in 1983 and houses 222 condos and townhomes. Park Row has a Spanish theme throughout the property.

 

Ritz-Carlton maybe coming to downtown San Diego in the East Village.  Cisterra, which built the new Sempra Energy building, is proposing to build a 160 room Ritz-Carlton at 7th and Market.

 

If approved, the project will take the whole block including the old hotel at the corner of 7th and Island.  There will be 160 rooms for the hotel, 58 Ritz-branded condos, 115 apartments, 32 affordable housing, Whole Foods Grocery and office space as well as public parking.

 

The Ritz-Carlton will be located between 2 downtown condos: Alta & The Mark.

 

We don’t know the cost of this project but some guess it to be at $200 million while others $350 million.  Whatever the cost, if built, we’ll have a very nice 5 star hotel in Downtown San Diego.

 

From the rendering to the right, this project looks like a very nice complex that will only enhance the beauty of America’s Finest City!

San Diego and Comic Con have come to an agreement to extend their contract for another 2 years.  That’s right!  You’ll be able to pimp out your favorite cartoon t-shit at San Diego’s Comic Con for at least another 2 years.

 

San Diego has the perfect set up for Comic Con.  They have the indoor convention space as well as outdoor space for creating different scenes and attractions.  Sure, we need more convention space and I know San Diego will make that happen.  They need to for the growth San Diego is growing in popularity.

 

Comic Con brings 120,000 people that spend close to $3 million dollars in tax revenue for the city of San Diego and that’s BIG.  That # will only go up once San Diego figures out a way to expand the Convention Center.  Once that happens, they’ll be able to bring in other big events to the city.  I personally can’t wait for this to happen!

I was over at my friend’s condo the other day at Park Boulevard West and from the balcony, I noticed something that I hadn’t noticed before.  It was across the street at Park and Market where an empty plot was transformed into an urban park.  This urban park is named Quartyard.

 

Quartyard was introduced by Rad Lab where theses of graduate student at New School of Architecture and Design decided to revitalize an old blank space and create something minimum that would attract growth to the space.  Now, there is a stage for bands, beer garden, food trucks, dog run and art galleries.

 

Quartyard is open 7 days a week and from the looks at it from my friend’s place, it looks pretty fun.  Many people have heard of this new park and many are going and enjoying themselves.  This space is available for public and private events.

The Waterfront Condos and Lofts were built by Jonathan Segal in 2001. Then, these properties were rentals but MetroLofts converted them around 2004. Not all these properties were sold then because of the market turning and they were asking a lot for the properties at that time. Around 2011 is when another company came in and sold the remainder of those rental units.

 

Waterfront is located in Little Italy above the Waterfront Bar & Grill!

 

This Downtown San Diego loft is one of those properties that sold in 2011. You can tell because of the finishes they put into the loft at that time with the grey kitchen cabinets and flooring.

 

The property is currently listed at $365,000 and has very low hoa fees for downtown at $248. Other Jonathan Segal properties include: Moto Villas, Titan, Angove and Lusso Lofts. These also have low hoa fees per month.

 

Please let me know if you want to take a look at these Waterfront condos and lofts. I’ve sold these and know what they offer.