Downtown's Long-Promised Park Is Almost Here. The Other One Is Still Behind a Fence.

"The East Village residents have waited for a long time for this park. It's been envisioned for nearly two decades," Councilmember Raul Campillo said in February. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the remark as a city committee gave initial approval to another $4.6 million to finish East Village Green. Eight months later, landscape architects got a guided tour of the park at 13th and F on October 15. As of late October, the city's own project page still shows a schedule that ends in "Fall 2025."

Across downtown, Horton Plaza Park at 900 Fourth Ave. has been closed since March 2020. Downtown's two flagship public spaces are both catching up on promises made years ago, and neither one is hosting this holiday season. December downtown will happen on India Street, on the Embarcadero and on the water, as it usually does.

What's inside the fence on 13th Street

East Village Green has been under construction since August 2022. The first phase covers about 2 acres of an eventual 4-acre park, spanning the full block bounded by 13th, F, 14th and G streets plus parts of the block to the east. Here is what the Union-Tribune and the project site list for phase one:

• A 14,200-square-foot, two-story recreation center, downtown's first community center, with a gymnasium, demonstration kitchen, community room, city staff offices and public restrooms
• An 8,500-square-foot children's play area with a splash pad
• An 11,200-square-foot event lawn next to a performance pavilion built for outdoor concerts
• Two off-leash dog parks, one for small dogs and one for large dogs
• Outdoor games and a reading area, plus a public art installation
• A paid underground garage the Union-Tribune puts at 175 spaces, below the 185 on the project site
• A rebuilt 14th Street that closes to car traffic on weekends

The recreation center and the 14th Street piece will change daily life the most. Downtown has pocket parks and waterfront lawns, but it has never had a city building with a gym and a community kitchen. "It also includes the 14th Street Promenade Greenway, which will be able to close off the street in between the two sides of the park where there can be festivals," Brian Schoenfisch of the City of San Diego told 10News in June. When it opens, East Village will have its own festival street for the first time.

The February funding also brought back a feature cut in 2022. The city is spending $1.1 million on a structure over the performance plaza, which a staff report described as "an architectural backdrop with lighting and sound equipment for events, shows, ceremonies, and civic programming." The city's planning page lists anticipated park hours of 6 a.m. to midnight. Like the opening date, those hours are a plan, not a posted schedule.

Why the opening date kept moving

The park's timeline helps explain why the "this fall" estimate is best read loosely.

Christina Bibler, director of the city's Economic Development Department, told the Union-Tribune that the project ran into "additional and unknown conditions while excavating for the underground parking garage, unknown and unidentified utility conflicts, and material availability and deliveries due to tariffs." The phase-one budget approved in May 2022 was $79.6 million. The February committee vote sent another $4.6 million to the full City Council. If approved, it would bring total appropriations to $83.9 million, paid from downtown parking and development fee funds rather than the general fund.

The October 15 visit was a professional event, not a public one. ASLA San Diego members checked in at 740 13th St. for a tour led by Nathan Elliott, a principal at OJB Landscape Architecture, which designed the park. The group then walked to KTUA's new East Village office at 1200 F St. for a happy hour. Until the city announces a date, check the project site's live camera and update page or the city's East Village Green planning page.

Horton Plaza Park has a deadline, not a date

East Village Green is running late on a city-run schedule. Horton Plaza Park's schedule is set by a lease. The park is a 37,000-square-foot, city-owned property. It was leased in December 2022 to the developer of the Campus at Horton, the office conversion of the former Horton Plaza mall, and was meant to be the project's front door. The lease required $5 million in improvements and a reopening by December 27, 2025.

That date came after the lender foreclosed on the campus project and the park leasehold in August 2025. The new owner is Horton Plaza Propco LLC, an entity the lender created to hold the property. According to a July report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, a city letter dated May 18 gave Propco 360 days to fix the lease defaults and complete the park work. Counting from May 18, the 360 days run out in mid-May 2027.

The park in the new plan is smaller in scope than the one first promised:

• Artificial turf fills most of the sunken amphitheater to make a sloped central lawn, keeping some of the existing steps
• Two former kiosk sites at the north end become small grassy areas
• A raised deck in front of the Bradley Building doubles as a stage
• The last remaining retail pavilion stays, and two spaces are set aside for food trucks or mobile vendors
• The Bradley Building, once planned as a food hall opening onto the park, stays as it is apart from a new mural

Downtown theatergoers have a stake too. The Lyceum Theatre in the former mall's basement is leased to the city, which spent $13.5 million renovating its interior. It still needs a rebuilt entrance from the property owner. Bibler told the Union-Tribune that Propco has agreed, informally, to prioritize that work. The permits for the larger campus project have expired, including the one covering the Lyceum entrance. Propco's documents put the campus at 90% to 95% complete and push its completion to the middle of 2027. All of this reflects the Union-Tribune's July reporting.

Where downtown gathers until then

With both parks unfinished, this season's big downtown gatherings are on borrowed ground: a waterfront park on the Embarcadero, a few Little Italy blocks for one evening, a few Gaslamp blocks, and the bay. Here is the calendar from the week this post publishes through the end of the year:

The San Diego Food + Wine Festival is in its 22nd year and runs November 1 through 8. Its two big weekend tastings close out the week at Embarcadero Marina Park North.

Little Italy's tree lighting is built around a permanent 25-foot live tree in Piazza della Famiglia, with the ceremony at 6:30 p.m. The Christmas Village fills India Street between W. Cedar and W. Grape with holiday and artisan vendors, including some from the Little Italy Mercato. If you go, Swells Sourdough is a few steps up India Street at No. 2254. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that its owners moved from farmers markets into a permanent bakery that held its grand opening October 1 and that they still sell at the Mercato on Saturdays.

The Gaslamp Pet Parade is free and lands on December 12.

The Bay Parade of Lights is also free to watch. This year's theme is "Liberty Lights the Bay – Cheers to 250 Years," and roughly 80 decorated boats will follow the bayfront to the pier at Chicano Park before turning toward Coronado. The organizers say the parade draws more than 100,000 residents and visitors to the shores of San Diego Bay each year.

None of these events depends on East Village Green or Horton Plaza Park. That will likely change once the performance pavilion's lights and sound go live and 14th Street starts closing on weekends, which would give downtown a festival space east of the Gaslamp for the first time.

Whether you live near 13th and F or a few blocks from Fourth Avenue, both parks are worth following closely, and I'm happy to talk through what an opening could mean for your block. You can see how I cover the area on my Downtown San Diego neighborhood page, or request a free home valuation from Ben Crosby whenever you'd like a clear read on where your home stands.