|
By JILL ESTERBROOKS, Special to the Daily Transcript
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
"Clearly the events of Sept. 11 have deepened the trough of the sluggish economy and like many companies, we are feeling some impacts from this downturn," said Bill Scott, senior vice president of Catellus Urban Development Group.
He cited "the terrorist attacks and continued slowdown of the economy" as the cause for a delay in the construction of a high-rise office building that is part of a mixed-use project in downtown San Diego. "There has been no positive absorption rate in the downtown commercial office market in more than 18 months," he said. "This coupled with rising vacancy rates in other markets like UTC have put our construction plans on hold."
But overall, Scott said the San Diego real estate market -- with its "robust downtown residential market" and active hotel and retail arenas -- has survived better than many other major metro areas.
"The urbanization of downtown San Diego is very real as illustrated by the vibrant nightlife, redevelopment of the North Embarcadero and East Village areas and the strong residential market that will bring 8,000 to 9,000 new units to the area.
"So it is not a question of if the commercial market will rebound, but when will it turn around," said Scott, who expects construction to begin on the 26-story One Santa Fe Place high-rise building within the next few years.
Last year's terrorist attacks also have impacted the real estate development industry in other ways, said Scott, citing both security and insurance as major issues affecting costs.
"Something else that may occur is change to building codes," he said. "Much like the earthquake code changes of the 1980s, there could be new structural components and safety requirements such as upgraded sprinklers, more emergency exits, better communications systems and other things that will impact construction costs and property values."
Scott feels that the events of 9/11 have heightened awareness and brought the nation closer together. "We're more aware of what is happening in our backyards and we're looking out for one another," he said. "And this is a good thing."
Esterbrooks is a free-lance writer based in San Diego.
|
