Privacy Policy
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Privacy Policy |
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A very brief history of San Diego, California, USA. [Most of the links in this section will open a new page from a separate website]. California: About 175 years ago. As the San Diego community grew in the new state of California, a government surveyor named Andrew Gray (1820-1862) recognized that the best place for a seaside city was on our bay. William Heath Davis (1822-1909), from San Francisco, agreed. Davis and a small group of businessmen purchased one hundred and sixty acres (up to what is now Front and Broadway), for just over two-thousand dollars. They named it New Town (as to differentiate it from Old Town), and planned out fifty-six blocks around downtown's first park, Pantoja Plaza, named for Spanish explorer Don Juan Pantoja y Arriaga, who first surveyed & charted San Diego Bay in 1782. Pantoja Park still remains today, in the Marina District surrounded by condos such as Park Row, Marina Park, The Watermark and Columbia Place. The park is registered as the 7th San Diego Historic Landmark. Davis purchased 14 prefabricated houses, built in New England, and also constructed a wharf and warehouse in preparation of the anticipated residents and shipping opportunities. Unfortunately, an economic depression followed. While events of his day did not permit Davis to achieve his dream, his ideas were a premonition as to what would occur in years to come. Of the original fourteen houses, one still exists at the corner of Fourth and Island, now a museum by the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation. Alonzo Erastus Horton (1813-1909) purchased 960 acres of New Town within one month of arriving in San Diego. Total cost: $264, or 27.5 cents per acre. Horton created a grid of streets with small blocks, without alleys, allowing for a larger number of (more valuable) corner lots to be sold. The first real estate boom was under way! The price of downtown lots doubled and tripled over and over. New Town was established as the physical, social and economic hub of San Diego. Horton House, built where the U.S. Grant Hotel is now located, was one of the finest hotels of the day. In addition to being president of the first Bank of San Diego, he also donated land for a small town square that became Horton Plaza Park. San Diego's first electric street lights were installed downtown in 1886, and trolley lines began operating in 1888, with over thirty-seven miles of track. Elegant office buildings dotted Fifth Avenue where the region's business occurred during the day. South of Market Street, however, several blocks of bawdy houses, gin joints, gambling halls and opium dens, known as the Stingaree district, provided the night life. The area today is part of the historic Gaslamp Quarter. With his Tombstone days behind him, Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) showed up in San Diego, investing heavily from 1885 to 1887. Earp owned or leased four saloons and gambling halls; the most famous was the Oyster Bar, located in the Louis Bank Building on Fifth Avenue. The late 1890s ushered in a difficult period for San Diego. The city's struggling economy owed much of the following recovery to a wealthy businessman named John D. Spreckels. He came to downtown in 1887 for a visit from his home in San Francisco. He made his visit permanent. In downtown, Spreckels was responsible for a great deal of growth. At one time, he owned most of the acreage south of Broadway. He purchased the streetcar system and changed it from horse-power to electricity. He also bought The San Diego Union and Tribune newspapers (merged in 1992). San Diego's cultural life benefited from his accomplishments as well, including the building of the landmark Spreckels Theatre. He also built the Hotel San Diego (demolished in 2006), and the Bank of America Building at Sixth and Broadway in 1927, the last building of any significance constructed until the 1970s, when interest in redevelopment in downtown San Diego resumed. Here is a link to an old Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) Map, listing many of the then completed, planned, and planned but never built projects from the early 2000s, when most of the Internet wasn't as sophisticated as today. It may be interesting to some to view the developer renderings of the buildings. I hope you enjoyed the above. Now it may be the right time for you to purchase a home in downtown San Diego with Lew Breeze as your guide! Text or call 619-846-5889 or email lew.breeze@gmail.com. Thank you for visiting! Select 92101 Downtown San Diego Condominiums Currently For Sale | Condos that are in escrow (pending sale) Broker Lew Breeze began his real estate career with HFS, a specialist in VA and HUD foreclosures, and created the now retired Repohome of the 1990's. As the distressed market waned Lew joined RE/MAX Metro in Middletown, which moved downtown as RE/MAX R.E. Consultants, where Lew became the #1 RE/MAX individual agent in downtown San Diego. In 2004 Lew opened his boutique real estate office in Little Italy while working with Dream Homes California. In 2014 Lew obtained his California Broker License, and now works independently on a referral basis from his home office in Downtown San Diego. Referrals are appreciated! |
Asterisk on sq.ft.indicates the Actual Tax Assessor record and differs from the advertised figure on the MLS. You may find the following helpful: Size Matters Bosa | Size Matters Pinnacle | HOA Cost Increases Through The Years
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| Find Your HOA Mgmnt Co. | Pets In The City | Historical Pricing Data 2006/2018 | Monthly
Average High-End Condos | Average Price by Building: 2006-2018 | Size Matters: Accurate Bosa Condo Measurements |
Size Matters: Accurate Pinnacle Measurements | HOA Rates: Then & Now |
Heights The following few links require a password: Comparable Closes 2000-2020 | Considerations When Buying Preconstruction E-mail Lew Breeze for password. Thank you for visiting SDCONDO, San Diego's original
(since 1999) website resource for owners, buyers, and sellers
in downtown San Diego. SDCONDO displays all the relevant and current information on the
downtown San Diego market. As you have noticed, my website goes beyond the basics of the
very general content provided by other real estate websites. I offer detailed information
about our downtown San Diego real estate market, neighborhood descriptions (with a special
Little Italy link), maps, walk scores, and so much more.
Downtown San Diego a great place to call home, I should know; It has been my home
since 2001, as a resident in the Embarcadero, Marina, Little Italy neighborhoods.
Chances are that the other "experts" you find on the Internet either do not live
in Downtown San Diego. Should you work with someone who is not wholly vested in Downtown
San Diego? I live and own at The Grande South. As a resident and Broker, I know the
downtown better than most. SDCONDO is a team of one; I am a highly trained real
estate professional devoted to the detailed knowledge that only a true Downtown San Diego
specialist could possess. My core knowledge and niche help create the foundation for the
content found on the SDCONDO (did you know, I do all of this by hand, not an automated
computer feed or hired programmer).
As Broker/Owner, I am dedicated to core Downtown San Diego specific knowledge,
exceptional communication, and outstanding customer service. In order to be successful in
our real estate market, both service and core knowledge need to be exceptional, but I
couldn't do it without your referrals, which are always important and appreciated.
Friends, clients, and fans of my site are are now more savvy and educated that ever, and
will know more about Downtown San Diego than most other real estate agents. Email or call
619-846-5889 and let me know how I can assist you in downtown San Diego. *Notes: I do this by hand, so occasionally I have a typo or haven't
added/removed a particular condo. If you do find a typo, I would not mind if you point it
out to me. |
REALTOR LEW BREEZE | Telephone (619) 846-5889 | Email lew.breeze@gmail.com | Downtown San Diego 92101 and La Jolla 92037 and Mt. Helix 91941
Copyright Lew Breeze. All rights reserved.
