If you've walked through downtown San Diego in the past year, you've noticed the cranes. They're not going away. The construction happening right now isn't cosmetic. It's structural. New residential towers, new transit, new retail, the kind of projects that change a neighborhood's daily rhythm for the next 30 years.
West Tower: Done and Open
The biggest project to finish recently is West, a $510-million mixed-use tower at 1011 Union Street built by Holland Partner Group. It combines 431 apartments, 289,000 square feet of office space, and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in a single building. That mix is a first for downtown San Diego, true vertical mixed-use where people live, work, and shop under one roof. The developer's stated goal: blur the lines between residential and office, and make the retail feel integrated rather than tacked on. The building sits on the site of the former San Diego County courthouse.
The Torrey: Rising Now
Right next door, Holland Partner Group is building The Torrey, a $440-million, 35-story companion tower at Front and Ash Streets. It'll add 450 apartments and, at street level, a 42,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market with its own two-story underground parking garage. That Whole Foods is a big deal for downtown residents who've long complained about limited grocery options. When The Torrey completes (expected 2026), the combined Holland campus will have nearly 900 residential units and a full grocery anchor within walking distance of the Waterfront Park, Little Italy, and the Embarcadero.
Holland is also studying a third development on an adjacent parcel, though those plans haven't been finalized.
New COASTER Station at the Convention Center
The North County Transit District announced a new COASTER train station for downtown San Diego, located near the existing rail line between First Avenue and Fifth Avenue, across from the Convention Center. The 850-foot platform will accommodate eight passenger cars. Construction starts late 2026, with the station expected to open to passengers in early 2028.
This matters for East Village and the Gaslamp. Right now, the closest COASTER stop for convention-goers and ballpark visitors is the Santa Fe Depot in Little Italy, a 15-to-20-minute walk from Petco Park. A Convention Center station puts the train within a few blocks of the ballpark, the Gaslamp, and the major waterfront hotels. For anyone commuting from North County to downtown events, it cuts the last-mile problem in half.
Other Projects Moving
Infrastructure work on Harbor Drive between Park Boulevard and Beardsley Street is ongoing through mid-2026, a sewer main replacement that's been reducing lanes and closing sidewalks near the Hilton Bayfront. The Park Boulevard extension to Harbor Drive will allow vehicles to cross there for the first time, improving access to the Convention Center and Petco Park. And the city is building out a bikeway along San Diego Bay that closes a gap in the active transportation corridor.
Meanwhile, the city's 2026 Land Development Code update includes a new density bonus specifically for downtown, incentivizing for-sale housing to encourage homeownership in the urban core. The Gaslamp Quarter Planned District Ordinance is getting updated use categories to align with current citywide regulations. And a proposed amendment would allow live entertainment in more downtown spaces, a change the nightlife and entertainment industry has been pushing for.
The cranes aren't coming down anytime soon. Downtown San Diego is building its next chapter, and it's happening block by block.
