Craig Clark: Much of What We're Doing Is Just Good to Do

La Jolla-based CW Clark Inc. is developing The Marketplace, a 150,000-sq.-ft. Spanish Mission-style venue for boutique shopping and fine dining that will be the core of Liberty Station's retail district.

By David Silva

Craig Clark

Of the myriad of mixed-use developments underway in San Diego County, the biggest by far is Liberty Station in Point Loma-an $850 million collaboration between the city of San Diego Redevelopment Agency and San Diego-based Corky McMillin Cos.

The conversion of the former naval training center into a sprawling urban village began six years ago and is expected to be completed in late 2008. Liberty Station's residential district- comprising the neighborhoods of Admiralty Row, Beacon Point and Anchor Cove-has already been built, bringing 349 new upscale units to the housing-strapped county. At build-out, the development will also include 475,000 sq. ft. of retail space spread out throughout the site, as well as seven Class A office buildings comprising 400,000 sq. ft. of office space.

Apart from its sheer size, the project is unique in that it involves the rehabilitation of dozens of historic structures. About 100 acres of the 360-acre site is considered historic property. All of the retail construction is taking place within buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The rehabilitation of so many historic buildings at once has presented a unique set of challenges to the developers, general contractors and architects involved in the project. Not the least of these challenges has been the wrath of community activists and historical preservationists, who threw up numerous legal roadblocks to block the development. All of the lawsuits against Liberty Station have thus far been unsuccessful.

Corky McMillin Cos. tapped La Jolla-based CW Clark Inc. to develop The Marketplace, a 150,000-sq. ft. Spanish Mission-style venue for boutique shopping and fine dining that will be the core of Liberty Station's retail district. Roel Construction Co. of San Diego is the general contractor for the project, and Los Angeles-based Nadel Architects Inc. and Heritage Architecture & Planning of San Diego-are the project's architects.

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Craig Clark, founder and CEO of CW Clark, shared his company's experiences in developing The Marketplace at Liberty Station.

Question: What's the present status of The Marketplace project?

Craig Clark: We're doing cleanup at the moment. There's not a lot of it-it's just that these buildings have been there since the 1950s, so there's some asbestos and lead paint that needs remediation. We plan to start demolition sometime [this month], and the whole project shouldn't take longer than a year. We should be able to finish rehabilitating the chapel-there's a chapel here in which the Navy held nondenominational services-within six months.

Q: What would you consider to be your company's most important challenge-or opportunity-in developing The Marketplace?

C: All of the buildings I have are historic buildings. All have to have their exteriors preserved to a great degree in order to meet federal guidelines. This presents its own unique challenges and expenses. But the truth is, much of what we're doing with these buildings is just good to do. It's good to have been the person to restore these historic places. There aren't many of them left.

Q: What kind of work goes into redeveloping a historic building?

C: Well, for instance, the windows have to be replaced to look exactly like they were. To the extent that we can, we'll repair them. In the chapel, we've got mold around the kneeling cushions. We need to replace the cushions as best we can. Twenty years ago, nobody knew how to spell mold. Now, everybody's got it.

Q: Many developers, general contractors and architects are involved in the Liberty Station project. How exactly does that work?

C: The Corky McMillin Cos. is the master developer, and they basically parceled out the projects to other developers such as myself. They have the direct responsibility of meeting the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions that they developed with the city. If I have to make changes to plans, I have to process those with McMillin so we don't mess up the overall project. As a result, we spend a fair amount of time with McMillin's people. Two sets of eyes and two sets of ears are always helpful, anyway. They can teach us some stuff that they've come across in historical rehabilitation, and we can teach them some stuff.

Q: How much of The Marketplace has already been leased?

C: At least 70 percent of it is already spoken for. Trader Joe's has signed. We have a coffeehouse coming in, and four restaurants. We're negotiating with a major market and a bookstore. It's still too early in the process to identify these tenants. Check back with us in February so we can really let you know who they are and the timetable in which they'll come in.

Q: Have there been any significant delays in getting The Marketplace completed?

C: The main delay was there's a group in the neighborhood, just like there's a group in every neighborhood, that thinks what we're doing isn't the right thing.

Q: Has this opposition caused you to reconsider your 12-month construction time frame?

C: I'll put it to you this way: We're going to finish this thing in 2006. My goal is to have Christmas and other holiday services in the chapel [this year].