city hall proposals: cheaper is better

today brought the surprising news that the bold, eco-friendly gerding proposal for the new city hall is significantly less expensive than the bland, conservative approach put forth by texas-based hines corp. apparently the key difference is gerding's proposal to buy or lease part of the civic concourse area to develop retail. that's not an option in the hines proposal due to its larger size (which in turn is due to its limited vertical scale vs. gerding - the latter maxes out to the 500 foot limit with its iconic building). further, hines shows their lack of confidence in san diego's long-term economic viability by doubting that large-scale development will occur at this location. way to look beyond the current downturn, hines... and that single cafe you have planned will be pretty exciting. hines' lack of vision could result in a higher price tag for another reason - the inability of their project to provide any additional office space down the road. isn't that the main reason we're replacing the current building?

for more information on how we got here - a dumpy city hall that will cost us more to keep than replace, due to office space costs - check out the timely article on city hall's past in city beat. when it was built in ultra-conservative 60's san diego, there was no thought given to building a civic project that served as a gathering area for its citizens, or how it might define san diego. instead, it was all about paying as little as possible to get it done. from reading comments on the union tribune website and elsewhere, this still seems to be a majority opinion, and it's echoed by new council member carl demaio. mr. demaio vows to oppose any money spent on the project - even though it will cost more not to take action - and refuses to even have an office at city hall. now there's a guy who would fit right in with the 60's conservatives who gave us the piece of garbage city hall we have now.

if you're tired of the cheapness and lack of vision that have made much of downtown san diego less than what it could be, and if you think san diego's citizens deserve better in the future, make your voice heard at one of the public meetings scheduled for this project. you can even get an up-close look at the current civic concourse at the 8/20 meeting scheduled there. just don't expect to see mr. demaio in attendance.

UPDATE, 08/16/2008: hines withdraws, citing the financial analysis performed by the city put them at an insurmountable disadvantage. looks like it's gerding or nothing now.