$87-Mil Pledge Becoming Real Estate Reality

SAN DIEGO-Construction is well under way on the 12.3-acre Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center in the Mid-City area of San Diego. When completed in August 2002, it is expected to attract a membership of some 30,000 area residents and to be used by approximately 2,000 people daily.

Austin Veum Robbins Parshalle, the design firm headquartered in San Diego, is providing full master planning, architectural and interior design services for the $47-million, 175,000-sf project.

A pledge of $87 million to the Salvation Army by philanthropist Joan Kroc—-the largest in the Salvation Army’s history—-is funding the project. Her late husband was the founder of the McDonalds’s fast food franchise. Hard and soft development costs amount to $47 million, providing the center with a $40-million endowment for operations. With an additional $7 million investment by the Salvation Army, the total project is valued at $94 million.

San Diego-based Roel Construction Co. is building the project along a quarter-mile stretch of the south frontage of University Avenue between Aragon Drive and 69th Street in East San Diego.