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organizational details for the DSABA.13 Thus, there is a clear connection between the public
and private sectors in the BID program in the City of Santa Ana.
C. Co-development in San Diego
As we have seen in chapter II, cities have increasingly been involved in development projects
with the private sector. They began to negotiate for a form of profit sharing in the 1970s while
at the same time expanding their “aid inventory” for development projects (Frieden; Sagalyn,
1989:137). Besides land assembly, cost write-down, and parking provision, cities began to
build more supporting facilities for instance for shopping malls. Moreover, they started to
draw on a wider range of financing techniques such as leasing arrangements, floating tax-
exempt revenue bonds, and equity participation. San Diego is a perfect example to describe
the growing importance of the public sector in public-private co-development projects.
Important features of public-private partnerships such as institutional changes which were
discussed in preceding sections can be found in this case study city as well.
Redevelopment in the City of San Diego is carried out by the City’s Redevelopment Agency.
But besides the city’s redevelopment division there are two autonomous Development
Corporations which carry out redevelopment activities in a specific geographical area. The
Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) manages redevelopment in downtown San
Diego. The Southeastern Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) was established in
1981 to carry out redevelopment activities in southeastern San Diego. Thus, both
development corporations are quasi-public corporation, while the CCDC is the development
corporation for downtown redevelopment. Both development corporations were established to
facilitate public-private partnerships in development projects and have a broad range of
powers including securing public financing, negotiating deals with developers, and reviewing
development proposals to ensure that they meet design criteria and other public objectives
(Trimble and Rogel, 1983:19). In fact, since the 1970s it is common for cities to adjust to a
new style of deal-making and negotiating by changing the administrative system such as the
establishment of new organizations to manage downtown redevelopment. Donna Alm, public
information officer of the CCDC, stated:
“As the facilitator between the public and private sectors, everything we [CCDC] do is a public-private
partnership. The two main resources provided are the power of eminent domain and tax increment financing.
The City of San Diego often utilizes public-private partnerships to accomplish objectives; many have nothing to
do with redevelopment. They can be sometimes the only method to get public projects done, or for getting
private projects done."14
Redevelopment activities are in their very nature public-private partnerships since DDA’s
represent some form of public-private development, or participation, or agreement. Whereas
actual co-development is far more rare. Concerning co-development in San Diego, the large
projects like Horton Plaza and the Ballpark come to mind. Both development projects are
outstanding examples of co-development in the City of San Diego and are far more
complicated than other public-private development projects.15 San Diego is well-known for its
Horton Plaza redevelopment project, a multiuse regional shopping center including a hotel,
parking facilities, two theatres, and office space on an 11.5-acre site covering 6.5 city blocks
in downtown. The $180 million retail project was built in a public-private partnership
completed as part of the city’s redevelopment plan, and has been a catalyst for the
13 Phone interview with Charles View, the downtown development manager, on the 17th of October 2000
14 Interview with Donna Alm on the 27th of November 2000
15 Phone interview with Pamila Hamilton, Executive Vice President of CCDC, on the 17th of December 2000