{"id":406943,"date":"2026-07-21T19:47:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/406943\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T19:47:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T19:47:31","slug":"prebys-buys-derelict-california-theatre-to-remove-downtown-development-barrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/406943\/","title":{"rendered":"Prebys buys derelict California Theatre to remove downtown development barrier"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/California-Theatre.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"475\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/California-Theatre.jpg\" alt=\"California Theatre\" class=\"wp-image-231981\"  \/><\/a>A trolley moves past the shuttered California Theatre. (File photo from Google Street View)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prebysfdn.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Prebys Foundation<\/a> has acquired the vacant and dilapidated California Theater to remove a barrier to redevelopment of the Civic Center area in downtown San Diego.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foundation has signed a $6.3 million purchase and sale agreement and expects to close on July 31.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The immediate plan is to prepare the site for demolition while working with community, public and business partners to explore the \u201chighest and best long-term use for the property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Located at 4th Avenue and C Street, the theater opened in 1927. It has been vacant since 1990 after an architectural survey found it vulnerable to earthquakes. In 2023, the City Attorney\u2019s office sought to demolish it as a public nuisance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is about creating possibilities,\u201d said Grant Oliphant, president and CEO of the<br \/>foundation. \u201cThe California Theatre has long represented one of the greatest barriers to<br \/>realizing downtown San Diego\u2019s full potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy removing that obstacle, we can begin creating space for new ideas, new investment and new opportunities that strengthen our civic core and help build a downtown that serves everyone,\u201d Oliphant said. \u201cFoundations are uniquely positioned to make patient, long-term investments like this \u2014 investments that may not make sense on a traditional development timeline but can create lasting public value for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The foundation has <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofsandiego.com\/life\/2025\/05\/06\/new-vision-aging-san-diego-civic-center-housing-arts-more\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">spearheaded efforts to redevelop the Civic Center area<\/a>, and acquired the nearby Wells Fargo Plaza tower at 401 B Street in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Groups backing redevelopment of the area envision a center for arts, culture, housing, education and civic life. It could also include a new City Hall building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Prebys Foundation is the largest independent private foundation in San Diego County, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A trolley moves past the shuttered California Theatre. (File photo from Google Street View) The Prebys Foundation has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[163178,21399,818,17724,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-406943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california-theatre","tag-civic-center","tag-downtown","tag-prebys-foundation","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}