Adelante project moves forward after final San Diego approval

Last Updated on May 1, 2025

The townhomes will bring 13 residential and one commercial unit to Bird Rock.

Despite strong opposition from some community members, the Adelante Townhomes project in Bird Rock received unanimous approval from the San Diego Planning Commission.

The project proposes the demolition of an existing office building at La Jolla Boulevard and Forward Street in Bird Rock, the subdivision of one lot into 13 condominium units and one commercial unit and construction of one new two-story, multi-family residential building with a basement level, covered parking and roof decks.

One of the residential units in the 21,485-square-foot project, brought forth by Murfey Company, will be affordable to very low-income households; the inclusion of the affordable unit means Murfey Co. is able to waive a La Jolla Planned District Ordinance requirement that 50 percent of the ground floor of such a development have retail space, among other waivers and incentives.

The La Jolla Community Planning Association approved the project in May 2023, city of San Diego staff member Benjamin Hafertepe said at the Planning Commission’s Sept. 19 meeting.

“Staff recommends the Planning Commission approve the project,” he added.

The commercial unit wasn’t in the original designs; the Murfey team added it after vociferous community objection to the lack of retail space despite the waiver.

“We’ve been to over 10 community meetings,” Russ Murfey, also a Bird Rock resident, told the Commission. “We heard from the community that having retail was really important to them [and] added 1,060 square feet of retail.”

“Our townhouses are going to go a long way to bringing additional shoppers to the area … and really help enhance the mixed use area,” said project architect Steven Dalton.

However, the one commercial unit isn’t enough to appease the project’s opponents.

“It is a precedent that could end retail on the boulevard in Bird Rock,” said La Jolla resident and former San Diego City Councilmember Sherri Lightner.

But “repetitive vacancies persist,” argued Steve Avoyer, president and founder of Flock & Avoyer Commercial Real Estate. “Putting more commercial on the boulevard will only accelerate the demise of existing, struggling tenants.”

Bird Rock Community Council President Joe Terry expressed several concerns with the project; among them, the affordable unit “does not meet the standard for comparability” in size, he said.

City staff confirmed the project is in compliance with all regulations.

“There is a huge housing crisis in San Diego,” said Harry Bubbins, speaking as a Bird Rock resident and not in his role as La Jolla Community Planning Association president.

“Multi-unit residential developments with comparable affordable units and homes are needed across the city, including in high-resource coastal communities,” he said, urging the Commission to approve the project.

“Think this is a very handsome project, architecturally,” Planning Commission Vice Chair Matthew Boomhower said. “It works really well in this location and I believe it’s going to add a lot of value to the Bird Rock community.”