Master Plan Category
Liberty Station (The Corky McMillin Companies)
(The Corky McMillin Companies)
Liberty Station
On 27th October 1923, the flag was raised over the new Naval Training Center (NTC) for the first time while 100 school children sang The Star Spangled Banner. San Diego’s Naval Training center would ultimately train 1.75 million recruits and help shape their military, their city, and the cause of freedom across the world.
Throughout the next 70 years, NTC remained a vital party of the United States’ military operations, up until the early 1990s. However, in 1993, the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission slated NTC for closure. The Navy officially closed NTC on 30th April 1997, and all military operations ceased and the property was transferred to the City of San Diego for civilian use.
Out of NTC’s remains, however, something new has emerged. A reuse planning committee made up of city officials, citizens and planning professionals embraced a redevelopment vision for the former NTC: to create a community that celebrates San Diego’s Naval history and combines residential, education, business, arts, and open space. The Corky McMillin Companies was selected as the master developer in 1999 to implement the city approved plan. This manifestation of a community’s collective vision was aptly named Liberty Station.
The 165 hectares Liberty Station community, which includes 57 hectares of parks and open space; shopping villages and restaurants; a 13 hectares civic, arts and cultural district; the nine-hole Sail Ho Golf Club; two hotels, and six schools. Nearly 350 families now reside at the pedestrian-friendly Liberty Station and dozens of companies, with hundreds of employees, are doing business here. The spirit of NTC as a celebrated, all-encompassing community lives on at Liberty Station.