SAN DIEGO—After June's “Context: What's the Big IDEA” event, the wheels are in motion for development of university co-laboratory space, mixed-use construction and the East Village Green city park in Downtown's East Village, San Diego Architectural Foundation spokesperson and principal of Architectural ConceptsMargit Whitlock tells GlobeSt.com. We spoke exclusively with Whitlock about the event, the next steps for this emerging submarket and how the real estate community can and should plan for growth.

GlobeSt.com: What came out of the “Context: What's the Big Idea” event last month?

Whitlock: It went super well. We had about 150 people, and the speakers were fabulous. Each had a different take on the topics. UCSD is looking into developing a co-laboratory in the East Village, an annex site for the study of urban culture, and they want to partner with other universities and the New School in conversations about urban sprawl, job generation and growth and other topics. There was talk about how the East Village is the new Torrey Pines Mesa, what happened in the '60s with the university settling there and how it changed the whole landscape. East Village has that opportunity now—and has that opportunity to miss if they don't follow through with it.

GlobeSt.com: What's the next step for an organized and structured development plan for the East Village?

Whitlock: IDEA 1, I.D.E.A. District's first creative-office, mixed-use flexible concept, is in design and development and will break ground about mid-October. There will be 50,000 square feet of office and 280 residential units with loft/work-type spaces that could be considered commercial or residential and 5,000 square feet of retail. David Malmuth is talking with San Diego and the New School to do another collaboration in one of his office areas and is trying to get that off the ground, too. IDEA 1 will be finished in mid-summer 2017.

Also, Stacey Pennington of Makers Quarter said construction will begin in the next year on three blocks including mixed-use residential and 5,000 square feet of collaborative-office hub at the corner of F St. and 15^th St. Things are cooking for sure.

We've decided we want to do a follow-up to keep the conversation alive, so in January, the Foundation will host an event update in the form of a PechaKucha, which means chitchat in Japanese. It started as an architectural phenomenon by a British architect in Japan, and now on the third Thursday night of the month all over the world, stakeholders including developers, schools and tenants get together and each show 20 slides, 20 seconds of slides each. It goes quickly. We try to do three to four of them a year.

GlobeSt.com: What should the real estate community be doing now to prepare for this growth in the submarket?

Whitlock: The key is being able to occupy all the space that's being built; in the next two years, more than 100,000 square feet of office and residential are being built in this market. The City needs to help with the homeless situation, we need to support Downtown San Diego Partnership's Clean & Safe initiative, and it would be nice to see that block-and-a-half-long East Village Green park completed by the City. It's all designed and partially funded, but it's stuck in some political stuff. There will be 300 parking spaces underneath it in three or four levels, which is so needed for events, baseball games, etc.—plus, a lot of residences are being built down there with a low parking ratio.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the event and future plans for this submarket?

Whitlock: There's so much space being planned, it's really exciting. People should be aware and keep smart growth in mind and be environmentally sound as well as futuristic in their thinking. Let's try to let it grow organically.