PRESS RELEASES

Hines Submits Proposal for New San Diego City Hall Calls for Conservative, Transparent Development Approach

7/23/08

SAN DIEGO, CA – The San Diego office of Hines, the international real estate firm founded in 1957, today unveiled its proposal for a new San Diego City Hall and civic center complex, calling for a fiscally conservative and transparent development approach that could save taxpayers billions of dollars over the next 50 years.

Hines San Diego’s development proposal was unveiled at a press conference organized by the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), the downtown redevelopment arm of the City of San Diego. CCDC is leading the redevelopment of the Civic Center complex on behalf of the City of San Diego.

The Hines San Diego team, which includes Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, ROMA Design Group, Clark Construction, and Charles Black of CB Urban Development, presented preliminary architectural renderings of a vibrant and efficient Civic Center complex organized around a new public park and plaza called “City Commons.”

The City Commons design proposal features a new, architecturally transparent and accessible City Hall that brings government closer to the people. The iconic four-story City Hall building, designed by the internationally renowned architecture firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli, would house the City’s public meeting spaces and the Mayor and Council offices. Under the proposal, the bulk of city employees would operate in a separate, more efficient 19-story office building across the street. Similar City Hall development approaches have been successful in San Jose, California, and Seattle, Washington.

City Commons would include opportunities for retail development such as sidewalk cafés and shops around the public park and along C Street to help revitalize the now blighted trolley corridor.

In keeping with Hines’ extensive “green” building experience, all of the City Commons buildings would qualify for LEED® Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council and for ENERGY STAR® certification by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Hines San Diego proposal includes an option for each building to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

Additional project features include the preservation of the San Diego Civic Theater and accommodations for the theater’s future renovation and expansion; retention of the existing public parking garage on site; reopening B Street for cars and pedestrians; and the inclusion of public art throughout the City Commons project.

Notable in the Hines San Diego proposal is the absence of private development. The proposal specifically recommended against mixing private and public sector development to protect the taxpayers of San Diego from risky development ventures at a time when the economy and the City’s own finances are struggling to rebound. The Hines San Diego proposal specifically argues against the sale of city-owned property for any private development.

At CCDC’s request, the Hines San Diego team’s presentation focused solely on the design and development approach. Their 222-page proposal included detailed financial models and budgets that CCDC will review over the coming weeks and release to the public with the agency’s initial analysis.

San Diego-based Hines Vice President Paul Twardowski, who will serve as development officer for the City Commons project, noted that the financial structures and Hines’ strength as a development partner are the most critical elements of the City Hall competition.

“This is not a beauty contest; this is about the selection of the most viable, cost-saving and low risk proposal and the selection of the strongest and most qualified firm to help the City quite literally get its house in order,” said Twardowski, adding, “Given our more than 50-year history, our financial strength and our development track record from PETCO Park to projects around the world, we are confident that Hines is the firm that the City of San Diego should partner with to get this job done.”

According to the Hines San Diego proposal, constructing a new Civic Center complex would be less expensive than renovating the existing City Hall building and leasing additional office space to accommodate the rest of the City’s employees. Over 50 years, the cost savings to San Diego taxpayers could be in the billions of dollars.

In addition to the completion of local projects including PETCO Park and Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State University, Hines developed the San Francisco Civic Center. Similarly, ROMA Design Group created the urban design plan for the Santa Monica Civic Center. Pelli Clarke Pelli also designed the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Southern California.

About Hines

Hines is an international real estate firm that has provided the highest level of quality, service and value to its clients and investors for more than 50 years. With a presence in more than 100 cities around the globe and investor relationships with many of the world’s largest financial institutions, Hines has the breadth of experience, network of expertise and financial strength to assume complex and challenging projects. As one of the largest real estate organizations in the world, with offices across 69 U.S. cities and in 15 other countries, Hines controls approximately $22.9 billion in assets. Hines is involved in real estate development, investment, and property management worldwide and currently has over 3,500 employees. The firm’s portfolio of projects completed, underway and managed consists of 1,000 properties representing approximately 435 million square feet of office, mixed-use, hotel, retail, residential, medical and sports facilities.

Hines opened its San Diego office in 1993. The company has 45 local employees and currently owns and manages more than 1.6 million square feet including PETCO Park and two commercial office properties: La Jolla Commons in University City and 525 B Street in Downtown San Diego. Hines San Diego served as development manager of PETCO Park and the Tony Gwynn Stadium at San Diego State University.

About the Civic Center Competition

Hines San Diego is competing against Gerding Edlen Development of Portland, Oregon to design, build and manage the San Diego Civic Center for the City of San Diego. The public competition to rebuild City Hall began in 2007. One of the two firms is expected to be selected by the San Diego City Council as the City’s preferred development partner later this year. A public process is expected to follow the selection of the development team during which the design and financing of the project will be refined based on public input.