The revitalization of this once blighted warehouse district in Downtown San Diego was fueled primarily by the building of PETCO Park, the San Diego Padres state-of-the-art baseball stadium that opened in April 2004. Today, the neighborhood is a cultural hub for eating, drinking, listening and enjoying that East Village has to offer.

The 14-story Hampton by Hilton hotel, at 923 Island Ave., was unanimously approved Wednesday by downtown planning agency Civic San Diego. Plans call for 132 rooms and a 2,500-square-foot roofdeck restaurant and bar. It will take the place of an older two-story, four-unit apartment building on the site. Developer J Street Hospitality said it plans to start construction in the spring of 2020, with completion near the end of 2021. It did not disclose the overall cost of the project. Its 2017 application with Civic San Diego estimated the project’s value at $25 million.

The 55,200-square-foot building will be next to the Half Door Brewing Company, a restaurant, and bar. Of the two buildings on the site — the Hiatt House and Latonia Hotel — only the 133-year-old Hiatt was deemed historically significant, according to the city’s Historic Resources Board. The Latonia Hotel will be demolished, while the Hiatt will remain.

Along with this new development, views at Diamond Terrace and Parkloft will be affected.  Views in the city are rarely guaranteed to be protected and downtown is the high density zone in San Diego County.  If you see an empty parking lot or 1 story building, you can pretty much bet that someday it will be a mid or high-rise project.  It’s all about highest and best use of land for developers and downtown is the one place you can get away with this without a tremendous community fight, like One Paseo in Carmel Valley as an example.

No parking is planned at the Hampton hotel, which will rely on nearby facilities and valet to park cars. The ground floor will include a lobby, courtyard, and kitchen with dining space.

The rooftop bar will be open until midnight on Friday and Saturday. It will close by 11 p.m. the rest of the week. No live entertainment is planned for the bar in order to keep the noise down for nearby residents.

The building was designed by San Diego-based Delawie. It described the building as a type of “contemporary resurgence” that fits well into the East Village neighborhood. In reports submitted to Civic San Diego, it said the slender design of the building is more reminiscent of a high-rise condo building.

The Civic San Diego staff report said the project would create 108 construction jobs and 65 permanent jobs.

Job growth in San Diego has been higher than the national average over the last few years, particularly in the technology sector, and this trend is expected to continue thanks to economic initiatives such as the Guadalajara-San Diego tech corridor. People will continue to relocate here as long as there are lucrative business and employment opportunities, and they’re more likely to consider moving into downtown condos because they offer greater convenience. When you look at the costs of maintaining single-family homes in gated communities managed under homeowners association regimes, a nice condo or loft makes more financial sense. If you intend to buy a property and sell it for a profit later, you won’t have to worry about downtown San Diego running out of buyers.