“Working In The City” is The San Diego Sun’s feature Q&A series with downtown San Diego business operators. It’s a way to get to know the city by meeting the people who work here. This is the 16th in an ongoing series.
Company: UC San Diego Park & Market (1100 Market Street in East Village). Opened to the public in May 2022.
What happens here: This building is one of the newer event, conference and meetings venues. It offers soaring interiors and state-of-the-art audiovisual amenities. Park & Market is also home to 20 office tenants, including: Burnham Center for Community Advancement (BCCA); San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC): CONNECT; Black Chamber of Commerce; and Media Arts Center San Diego, which operates the Digital Gym Cinema on the second floor (the only indoor movie theater in downtown San Diego.)
Specialties: Park & Market is a multi-faceted representation of UC San Diego. It’s recognized as a top-20 research university, aiming to create a culture of community, cultural and civic collaborations and partnerships in an off-campus setting that strives to spark discoveries that advance society and drive economic impact.
Extras: The street-level Senses Bistro offers a coffee and lunch service and a Tuesday night jazz series. Arts & Culture programs and concerts from Camarada, Opera Neo, and UC San Diego also happen on a regular basis.
Manager: Todd Miller, Director of Asset Management, UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies. Born and raised in La Jolla, now live in Bay Park. It’s 20 minutes to work either by car or on the trolley Blue Line.
Employees: There are six UC San Diego staff and 20 building tenants, so on any given day there can be 50 people working at Park & Market.
Best aspects of working downtown: The vibrancy that East Village offers from the San Diego Padres, concerts, great food and beverage options, and it’s all walking distance.
Worst aspects of working downtown: Traffic and street closures for construction.
Parking: There is never enough parking downtown, especially for an event venue that hosts hundreds of guests. We are fortunate to partner with ACE Parking to help manage our needs.
Most surprising part of working downtown: The growth and continued building in East Village.
Funniest downtown sight: Seeing many local residents’ dogs dressed up as they walk past the building.
Scariest memory: After a big storm, when all the patio furniture blew off the balconies of a neighboring apartment building onto the roof of Park & Market.
Big event boosts: Yes, we rely on referral business from the Convention Center, San Diego Tourism Authority and Comic-Con.
Homelessness: It’s an ongoing issue that affects retail businesses but also offers Park & Market an opportunity to be part of the solution. UC San Diego is vested in partnering with civic and community organizations that are focused on resolving the homelessness issue.
Business friendliness of the city, on a scale of 1 (easiest) to 10 (hardest): Park & Market is fortunate to be under the umbrella of UC San Diego so permitting is not an issue.
How can the city be more business friendly: Allow the various downtown BIDs (Business Improvement Districts) to become more instrumental in helping to make the city more business friendly.
If our business was made into a movie, it would be called: Changemaker, with Helen Mirren cast to play Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of Extension Mary Walshok.
Favorite downtown business that isn’t yours: Cowboy Star — great food, drink and service.
Best insider tip for running a downtown SD business: Become active on your neighborhood groups or committees, such as the EVA (East Village Association). SDSun
