Tweaking An Idea That's Ahead of its Time

SAN DIEGO—When IDEA1 was first conceived more than three years ago, it was considerably different than the project that recently broke ground Downtown, panelists at CREW San Diego‘s lunch presentation here yesterday told attendees including GlobeSt.com. The event, titled “IDEA1: A Case Study in Collaboration and Creativity,” drew in members and guests interested in hearing more about the residential-but-flexible project Lowe Enterprises is developing in the East Village area of Downtown San Diego.

IDEA1 began as a true mixed-use concept of 50% office/50% residential, the brainchild of Mike McNerney, SVP of Lowe, David Malmuth and Pete Garcia from I.D.E.A. District, McNerney said. “Pete, Dave and I formed a partnership with a compelling vision for what we wanted to do.” The original idea was something different for the East Village, “a place to connect, collaborate and collide; to innovate; to blend work, chilling and gathering,” according to the video presented at the event.