Between Sea and Sky: KPF’s Glass Spiral Continues the Transformation of “America’s Finest City”

In the summer, New York City-based firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates made its mark among San Diego real estate, celebrating the opening of Pacific Gate, a 215-unit condominium tower. Built in collaboration with Chris Dikeakos Architects, this 41-story residential project neighbors the Sante Fe Depot, and bears significance for its contribution to the exciting transformation taking place in Downtown San Diego, elegantly dubbed “America’s finest city.”

The development project comes in support to new parks, hotels, retail space and cultural offerings, which are energizing the job market and encouraging city-wide residents to move downtown. The site for the project is lined with neglected low-rise commercial buildings and worn-out warehouses. Still close to San Diego’s white-sand beachfronts, the area boasts far lower prices than those communities; yet, Vancouver-based Bosa Development paid $46.2 million for the terrain, and hopes to make up for the price of the project through active sales of units in projects like Pacific Gate.

At the occasion of Pacific Gate’s opening last month, Nat Bosa, president of Bosa Development — responsible for the project — expressed his satisfaction: “The success of our private sales illustrates the demand for Super Prime residential living in Downtown San Diego, and we plan to deliver what residents are asking for: prime location, breathtaking views, iconic architecture, exquisite interior design, and amenities and services not currently offered in San Diego.”

Interiors are designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates and marry luxurious contemporary with craftsmanship, natural materials and technologically forward techniques and materials. Expansive windows offer residents wide views of the coast and ocean. The iconic tower, topped by a swirling crest, marks one of Bosa Development’s most expensive projects to date.

KPF is also erecting a companion tower to their previously designed Pacific Gate, and for which construction is set to begin at the beginning of 2017. The development will include 298 condominium units spread over 45 stories. Most significantly, the new tower strives to reflect positively at the ground level, where the developer has allowed for a 70-foot setback to deliver a plaza area. The 490-foot tower thus includes a clear pedestrian pathway that connects the neighboring Santa Fe Depot to the waterfront.

“I appreciate the developer has stopped what I feared would be another vertical suburbanism of the streetscape,” expressed Phil Rath, director of CivicSD — a San Diego organization that acts as a partner for targeted developments in the city’s neighborhoods.

See more projects by Kohn Pederson Fox on the firm’s Architizer profile!