San Diego’s old Central Library is on the market

San Diego’s empty old Central Library at Eighth Avenue and E Street is officially on the market as the city seeks a bidder to remake the downtown property into a skyscraper with apartments for people of varying incomes.

On Tuesday, San Diego’s Economic Development Department published a notice of availability for the old Central Library at 820 E St., formally starting the solicitation process under California’s Surplus Land Act. The law regulates how municipal agencies can offload their land and prioritizes the production of housing for low-income families.

The notice alerts affordable housing developers registered with the state that the city intends to sell or lease its 0.69-acre property on the southern half of the block facing E Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues. The notice also starts the clock on a 60-day window for interested bidders to respond with redevelopment plans that include at least 25% of residential units reserved for households making 80% or less than the area median income, or what’s referred to as affordable housing.

Prospective buyers have through Nov. 3 to submit a letter of interest.

“All San Diegans will benefit when we breathe new life into this unused property,” San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents downtown, said in a statement. “Downtown San Diego is the region’s ideal location for new housing with its proximity to jobs and transit, and replacing this old vacant building with new affordable homes will significantly improve this area for downtown residents and visitors.”

Opened in 1954 and closed in 2013, the old Central Library is a locally designated historic resource that sat empty for nearly a decade before being used intermittently as a temporary homeless shelter, starting in 2023. Over the years, developers have contemplated various alternative uses, including a 42-story apartment tower proposed by Bosa Development. The tower proposal was eventually scraped by the builder in 2018.

San Diego is now soliciting interest in the old Central Library under the Surplus Land Act. The law was amended in 2019 to prioritize affordable housing when government-owned land is sold or leased.

In July, San Diego city council members formally declared the library site as surplus land. The surplus designation means the city no longer needs the facility and has ruled out other options, such as redeveloping the property entirely for low-income housing. With the designation, the city can sell or lease the site for redevelopment — but it must follow specific noticing and negotiating requirements.

The process begins with the 60-day noticing period. After the window, the law requires the city to engage in a 90-day negotiation period with respondents and give priority to the entity proposing the highest number of affordable housing units.

The notice of availability published Tuesday is similar to the one issued last month for the City Operations Building, and communicates San Diego’s dual interest in profiting from the land while also securing a substantial number of rent-restricted units.

‘The city is seeking a buyer or ground lessee for the property that will maximize the redevelopment potential of the site while paying fair market value for the property,” the noticing document states. “The successful respondent will be the respondent who can maximize the monetary payments to the city while redeveloping the site as a high-quality mixed-use, mixed-income development that includes low-and moderate-income residential units.”

The half-block site is in the Centre City Planned District with a land-use designation of Neighborhood Mixed-Use Center and has no height restrictions, subject to Federal Aviation Administration allowances. The property is zoned for a variety of uses, including housing, retail and office.

Interested parties will need to meet the affordable housing requirement, as well as comply with guidelines pertaining to the redevelopment of historic properties. The old Central Library’s historic elements include the building’s exterior, the sidewalk with the city seal, and two, city-owned sculptures on the facade.