OPINION: The Port Got It Right — City Hall Got It Wrong

By Rich Riel

In 2019, I ran for mayor of San Diego with a message rooted in fiscal realism and civic imagination. The key to solving homelessness and unaffordable housing isn’t more subsidies or density giveaways — it’s reclaiming control over our most undervalued asset: land.

Six years later, the crisis has deepened. As of 2025, San Diego County’s homeless population stands at 9,905, with 5,714 people living unsheltered. Despite a modest 14% decline from the previous year, the city’s shelter system remains overwhelmed, and encampments continue to sprawl across sidewalks, parks, and freeway underpasses. The City’s 2025 budget includes an $18.3 million increase in homelessness funding, yet the structural causes remain unaddressed.

Meanwhile, the most financially sound public entity in the region — the San Diego Unified Port District — offers a model we’ve ignored for too long. While the City hemorrhages land and revenue, the Port thrives.

Created in 1962 to manage tide and submerged lands in San Diego Bay, the Port District is prohibited by charter from selling its land. It leases 2,404 acres, generating over $200 million annually in revenue, with a projected surplus of $40 million this year — and no unfunded liabilities. Its pension fund is fully funded. No taxes. No structural deficit. Just disciplined stewardship. Contrast this with the City of San Diego, which relies on property taxes, sales taxes, transient occupancy taxes, and franchise fees for 70% of its General Fund revenue. Less than 4% comes from leases or land-based income. Since 1968, the city has sold over 60,000 acres of public land — land that could have been leased to generate perpetual revenue and shape housing affordability.

The wealth of San Diego lies not in the buildings we erect, but in the land we own — and how we manage and zone it. For over fifty years, City Hall has enriched politically connected developers by granting zoning exceptions and density bonuses. Developers buy low-density land, design high-density projects, and lobby for rezoning. They promise jobs, fund campaigns, and shape the headlines. The mayor is elected, the zoning is changed, and the developers walk away with millions.

The citizens? We lose our land. We gain congestion, unaffordable housing, and strained infrastructure. Our parks and beaches grow crowded. Our highways gridlock. And the lie persists — that more housing will lower prices. It hasn’t. It won’t.

The solution is bold but simple: a charter amendment prohibiting the sale of City-owned land. Developers seeking zoning changes must sell the land to the city, which will then lease it back under long-term agreements. This restores public control over land use, housing affordability, and civic revenue. Take Horton Plaza as a case study. Once a vibrant retail anchor, it now stands as a cautionary tale. Stockdale Capital Partners acquired the site in 2018, promising a tech-oriented office campus. They secured a $360 million loan, but the project stalled amid shifting market dynamics and pandemic-era remote work. In August 2025, the property was returned to its lender after failing to sell at auction. Astonishingly, the City did not bid — missing the chance to acquire a $400 million asset for $130 million. Why? Because our city leaders are not stewards of the land; they’re salesmen for the developers.

San Diego should seize this moment. Instruct the San Diego Housing Commission to issue a Request for Proposal for a development partner to buy the land back from the lender. The City would grant the successful bidder a 99-year lease to develop a one-stop civic high-rise — designed by the developer, approved by the City.

We could preserve the parking garages and retail footprint, then rezone the property for high-rise residential mixed-use development. The City would provide construction and take-out financing, ensuring units are sold under long-term leases to low-, moderate-, and median-income San Diegans. This isn’t a giveaway — it’s a civic investment.

Working with the Housing Commission and Planning Department, we can build a team to deliver housing that truly reduces prices — not through market manipulation, but through land control. By owning the land and setting lease terms, the City can stabilize costs, prevent speculation, and ensure affordability across generations. And this model scales. Imagine if, instead of selling 60,000 acres, the City had leased them. Today, San Diego would enjoy a robust revenue stream, a diversified housing portfolio, and leverage over developers.

We could tie zoning changes to public benefit — not campaign donations. We could build civic villages for the homeless on leased land, with modular housing, sanitation, and case management. We could prevent homelessness before it starts, using land-based revenue to fund rental assistance and eviction diversion.

This isn’t a theory — it’s proven. The Port District does it. Cities like Singapore and Vienna do it. Even Houston, often cited for its success reducing homelessness, relies on coordinated land use and housing-first strategies.

San Diego must stop selling its future. We must stop believing the myth that density alone solves affordability. We must reclaim our land, our planning authority, and our civic dignity.

A charter change is the linchpin. It would prohibit land sales, mandate leasing, and require developers to transfer land ownership in exchange for zoning benefits. It would create a public land bank, managed transparently, with revenues reinvested into housing, infrastructure, and homelessness solutions.

This isn’t anti-development. It’s pro-citizen. Developers can still build, profit, and innovate — but on leased land, under public terms. We can still grow, but with infrastructure, parks, and transit aligned. We can still welcome newcomers — without displacing longtime residents.

San Diego stands at a crossroads. We can continue down the path of privatized land, speculative zoning, and unaffordable housing. Or we can choose a new direction — one rooted in civic stewardship, fiscal discipline, and moral clarity.

I challenge San Diego to be better than we are. Stop selling our land. Become stewards of it — for the benefit of our children.

Take back our land today, so it is theirs tomorrow.

Rich Reil is a downtown San Diego resident, a licensed real estate and mortgage broker with over 25 years of experience. A former San Diego Housing Commission specialist and retired CFO for Southern California’s largest minority-owned construction firm, he has long worked to expand access to affordable housing.