After being listed for sale in March, a Point Loma property planned for a controversial multi-story apartment and commercial building has drawn interest from potential buyers.
Michael Contreras, owner of the site at 1004 Rosecrans St., said this week that at least two parties are very interested in purchasing the lot.
He denied rumors that a sale agreement already had been made.
“I don’t have a purchase signed contract yet and so nothing is in escrow at this point,” Contreras said.
He declined to identify the potential buyers, though he said one is interested in using the plans he created for the residential-commercial building on the property at Rosecrans and Talbot streets, formerly occupied by the San Diego County Credit Union. The other, he said, “wants to keep it the way it is.”
Contreras originally proposed a building featuring 56 apartments across three stories, plus 1,700 square feet of commercial space on the first floor and up to 45 basement parking spaces.
His application was submitted in August 2024 to the San Diego Development Services Department on behalf of North Star Homes LP, with Contreras, North Star’s founding owner and owner of MC Properties, as the agent.
But local residents and organizations have opposed the project, citing concerns that the building would exceed the city of San Diego’s 30-foot height limit for coastal areas and be too big for its lot, as well as worsen area traffic and parking problems.
Opponents also object to the city’s review process for the project, which is ministerial, meaning the applicants do not need to seek public input and that review by city staff does not need to include public hearings.
Contreras contends the proposed building would be a maximum of 30 feet tall and that drawings that have been circulated misrepresented the project’s scale.
The building could be allowed to exceed the height and floor area ratio limits by using a density bonus through the city’s “Complete Communities” initiative, which aims to bolster housing and mobility. The density bonus is awarded by including residential units considered affordable for lower-income households. The Rosecrans project designates eight of the proposed 56 apartments as affordable.
The Peninsula Community Planning Board, a local advisory group to the city on land-use issues, has opposed the project, as have the Point Loma Association and Point Loma Assembly.
More opposition arose from Protect Point Loma, a grassroots organization that formed last year, primarily in opposition to the Rosecrans development.
A report in the Peninsula Beacon last month said the Rosecrans site was for sale and that Protect Point Loma was working with local developers “with the idea of producing a different type of development that would be better for the community,” according to group President Eric Law, who also is chairman of the Peninsula Community Planning Board.
At the time, Contreras told the Beacon that the property was listed with a broker for $5.2 million but he would be “open to offers around $4.8 million, provided there is a short due-diligence period.”
Contreras said he put the property on the market because of his involvement in two other large-scale projects. But he said he would proceed with construction at Rosecrans himself if the property didn’t sell in coming months.
Law told the Point Loma-OB Monthly that Protect Point Loma will continue to search for potential buyers of the property. He added that he is “not involved in negotiations in any way.”
“We’ve been bringing local developers and investment bidders to Contreras,” Law said. “We’ve had at least three potential buyers approach him in the last month or so, and he’s turned them all down.”
Protect Point Loma believes the $5.2 million asking price is a sticking point in negotiations, Law said.
It is “well-overpriced right now,” he said. “It doesn’t pencil out, is what we’ve been told repeatedly.”