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Intrepid Movement: Construction Under Way on Marina Project

Driscoll Inc. recently began construction on Intrepid Landing, a $7 million marina and mixed-use commercial project on Shelter Island, where developers are also hoping to revive the region’s once thriving commercial fishing industry.

Teaming with locally based United Development Group Inc., the family-run Driscoll is also paying tribute to its late patriarch, Gerry Driscoll, the well-known maritime business leader and America’s Cup ambassador who captained the yacht Intrepid during the 1974 competition.

“Dad and I had been working on getting development plans approved and environmental issues resolved for this project since the last America’s Cup that was held in San Diego in 1995,” recalled son Tom Driscoll, now president and CEO of San Diego-based Driscoll Inc. “Unfortunately, it all came together about the time of Dad’s passing last March.”

The complex will be built out in three phases during the next three years at the base of Dickens Street on Shelter Island, with elements that will link the development with existing nearby commercial areas in Point Loma.

Driscoll said grading recently got under way for the first phase, to be completed by June at a cost of around $2.8 million. It will include a 33-slip marina and a public promenade that will complete the link around America’s Cup Harbor to Shelter Island Drive.

A second phase would include food services, retail and office space, and possibly industrial buildings, with details being worked out for a third phase that could feature a boat repair and dry dock facility.

Paying Tribute to Patriarch

There will also be public art elements paying tribute to Gerry Driscoll’s life and service to the boating industry. Tom Driscoll said Intrepid Landing may play host to special yacht-related events next year, coinciding with the America’s Cup races scheduled for 2013 in San Francisco.

Driscoll said he and his father were looking to create a dynamic commercial center that not only serves recreational boaters, but also allows visitors a close look at fishermen bringing in catches, and watercraft being prepped for duty.

“This will be a good way to see all of these hands-on activities in one place as it’s going on, more like a working waterfront,” Driscoll said. “It’s not going to be as retail-oriented as places like Seaport Village.”

Ultimately, developers also hope to bring together vendors to create a large fisherman’s market at the venue, where shoppers can buy fresh seafood. “The fishermen are having a tough time right now, and they need a place to bring their product for sale,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll’s company is partnering on the project with United Development Group, led by President William Ayyad, which previously developed the Escondido Valley Center shopping complex, Vista Bella Apartments in El Cajon, and several other projects in Arizona and California.

The Shelter Island development was designed by Seattle-based architectural firm Miller Hull Partnership LLP, which has a San Diego office.

Reeling in More Business

Intrepid Landing arrives as the Port of San Diego is also looking to renovate aging waterfront areas throughout the bay region and bolster the local commercial fishing industry, which has been declining in recent years.

Port commissioners last year directed staff to begin implementing a local fisheries revitalization plan, which was completed during a three-year span by an advisory panel of government and industry experts.

Costs have not been finalized, but work in the next several years could include upgrades to Driscoll’s Wharf at Point Loma, for $18 million to $23.7 million; and Tuna Harbor on the Embarcadero, for $2.4 million to $8.4 million.

Improvements could eventually include new public event spaces, renovation of offloading facilities, and upgrades to accommodate fresh seafood sales.

“We are proceeding with the commercial revitalization process,” said port spokesman John Gilmore.

According to the port, the county’s four largest commercial fishing industry hubs — three in San Diego and one in Oceanside — generated nearly $200 million from 1985 to 2008, including almost $7 million in 2008.

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