ConAm Group, a 47-year-old housing developer that’s built more than 16,000 units in the U.S., is pitching a city-within-city, modeled after Little Italy, where scores of apartment buildings with ground-level retail spaces produce a wealth of street-level activity.
Called Neighborhood Next, the plan is the most ambitious of the bunch when it comes to housing. The San Diego-based team — ConAm is partnered with Malick Infill Development and affordable-housing builders Community Housing Works and Wakeland Housing & Development Corp. — wants to construct 5,400 units in buildings of varying height and design, where pocket parks and open spaces feed into a GreenLine Promenade that extends the length of the project and transports people from the property’s eastern edge to the San Diego River.
At least 25 percent of units, or 1,350 apartment homes, will be set aside for families making less than 80 percent of the area median income.
Although the proposed housing density is uncommon outside of downtown San Diego, Neighborhood Next believes the European-inspired model is not only appropriate for the Midway District parcels but much needed in a town where creating more supply is a top priority for city leaders. The homes are meant to work in concert with 300,000 feet square feet of commercial retail and office space, a dedicated community building that could house a school or library, and a 125-room hotel.
The group does not have an arena developer attached to its plan, but it is working with Crossroads Consulting and has narrowed its proposal to a single scenario that calls for a full renovation of the existing, 16,000-seat arena.
“Neighborhood Next is designed by some of the world’s best planners as a blueprint for a future San Diego where housing is attainable and we live more sustainably,” said Zach Adams, who is senior vice president of development with The ConAm Group. “It includes big, new ideas about things that matter, like solving the housing crisis, taking bold climate action, encouraging transit ridership, delivering an inspiring arena and creating more opportunities for San Diegans to afford to live in this great city.”
