Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hillcrest squeezes in gay history and cheaper housing

Metal plaque and QR barcode on Fifth Avenue

The seven-story project will provide 43 dwellings.
The seven-story project will provide 43 dwellings.

As Hillcrest considers turning its core into a historic district, gays have lost one of only two sites dedicated to the LGBQT community.

The planning commission voted unanimously last week to approve a development permit for a mixed-use project that will demolish the Albert Bell Building, also known as the Gayzette, at 3780-3786 5th Avenue.

The site, now occupied by several businesses, served as a community support center founded by local activist Albert Bell during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

Albert Bell welcomed AIDS patients here in the 1980s.

It was designated historic on April 28, 2022 - no surprise to the Los Angeles-based developer who was already at work on plans for a mid-rise apartment tower with commercial and office space.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"When we started the process two years ago, we soon found it was likely to be designated historic," said Max Zeff, with the real estate firm Kolanymous.

The building that will be demolished is composed of four sections built at different times. The historic designation covers a two-story 1968 addition, a 1932 Spanish Eclectic building, and the courtyard between them.

Currently, there are 10 multi-family residential units housed in three of the buildings. The new 7-story project will provide 43 dwellings, including two very low-income, and 22 visitor accommodation units.

In 2020, there were 24,203 homes in Hillcrest, only 849 of them affordable housing. The in-progress Plan Hillcrest aims to protect Hillcrest's historical resources important to the LGBTQ community and add more housing.

"We are not thrilled by the loss of the historic site," said Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage. "In fact it's something we wouldn't normally support, particularly in this type of site, which is a civil rights site."

He added that the developer has worked diligently, along with SOHO, for over two years to mitigate some of the losses.

According to a staff report, the mitigations will include a Historic American Buildings Survey, photos, written history, and a metal plaque or display with a QR barcode link to online material outlining "the historical events and activities associated with the former community spaces and occupants of 3870 Fifth Avenue."

Charles Kaminski, speaking as a historian for the San Diego LGBQT Historic Sites Project, urged the commission to approve the mitigation measures.

"The Historic Sites project would have preferred that the developer retain and incorporate the resource into the new development. Unfortunately, that has not occurred."

He was not there to oppose the development, he said, but to remind them that the LGBT community is represented by only two sites and there will be only one left.

The new building will be named in honor of Albert Bell.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
The seven-story project will provide 43 dwellings.
The seven-story project will provide 43 dwellings.

As Hillcrest considers turning its core into a historic district, gays have lost one of only two sites dedicated to the LGBQT community.

The planning commission voted unanimously last week to approve a development permit for a mixed-use project that will demolish the Albert Bell Building, also known as the Gayzette, at 3780-3786 5th Avenue.

The site, now occupied by several businesses, served as a community support center founded by local activist Albert Bell during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.

Albert Bell welcomed AIDS patients here in the 1980s.

It was designated historic on April 28, 2022 - no surprise to the Los Angeles-based developer who was already at work on plans for a mid-rise apartment tower with commercial and office space.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"When we started the process two years ago, we soon found it was likely to be designated historic," said Max Zeff, with the real estate firm Kolanymous.

The building that will be demolished is composed of four sections built at different times. The historic designation covers a two-story 1968 addition, a 1932 Spanish Eclectic building, and the courtyard between them.

Currently, there are 10 multi-family residential units housed in three of the buildings. The new 7-story project will provide 43 dwellings, including two very low-income, and 22 visitor accommodation units.

In 2020, there were 24,203 homes in Hillcrest, only 849 of them affordable housing. The in-progress Plan Hillcrest aims to protect Hillcrest's historical resources important to the LGBTQ community and add more housing.

"We are not thrilled by the loss of the historic site," said Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage. "In fact it's something we wouldn't normally support, particularly in this type of site, which is a civil rights site."

He added that the developer has worked diligently, along with SOHO, for over two years to mitigate some of the losses.

According to a staff report, the mitigations will include a Historic American Buildings Survey, photos, written history, and a metal plaque or display with a QR barcode link to online material outlining "the historical events and activities associated with the former community spaces and occupants of 3870 Fifth Avenue."

Charles Kaminski, speaking as a historian for the San Diego LGBQT Historic Sites Project, urged the commission to approve the mitigation measures.

"The Historic Sites project would have preferred that the developer retain and incorporate the resource into the new development. Unfortunately, that has not occurred."

He was not there to oppose the development, he said, but to remind them that the LGBT community is represented by only two sites and there will be only one left.

The new building will be named in honor of Albert Bell.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Seals hook up with Beaver

Salty’s Escape is a Mexican-Style cerveza brewed with corn and puffed Jasmine rice
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.