Mixed use is very difficult to pull in reality. i have seen it tried and failed many places over and over. The retail always struggles to serve customers beyond the immediate community which in most cases is not enough so it constantly churns from one failed small business passion project to the next. Developers always overcharge claiming a captive audience which is all well and fine until the business owner learns they need to draw from outside to survive
I think a lot that has to do with limited parking available with most mixed-use development.
If UTC mall was in Asia, you would build a 50 story apartment/condo building right on top of the mall within 100′ of the trolley stop.
I’m guessing in SD, mixed-use would only work in existing retail locations that retained the same mix of stores that currently exist and same amount of parking.
We’ll get to see how this experiment will play out with the new housing zoning by the City Council.
27k units in Kearny Mesa
25k units in Mission Valley
6k units in Midway
10k units at the Navy/Old Town facility
28k units Mira Mesa
Big difference between building 50 story apartment building on a mall and a few hundred homes. Yes parking is part of it but people who live elsewhere have unlimited options of where to go shopping. There is nothing inherently compelling about the retail in these mixed use developments except for convenience to residents of the complex. Business owners get oversold on the value of a small captive audience, pay way too much in rent and need to make some of that up with high pricing which hurts them in attracting outsiders. The parking is part of it but I think it is more of what I said. Ive seen this happen countless times.Look at San Elijo Hills and how the retail has struggled there even with thousands of homes. The staples including the gas station, Chase bank and supermarket do fine. The rest struggle.
Now adding residential to already successful big retail centers? That could work better IMO
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