SDSU - National City
Brownfields
Assessment Project
Progress Update + Technical Assistance Panel Presentation Presentation to City Council | September 16, 2025
Item 7.2
Brownfield Site
Identification
Compile a list of
brownfields in National
City and identify past
uses using resident
expertise, existing
databases of
environmental
contamination, and
mapping software
(GIS)
Site Prioritization
Develop site
prioritization criteria.
These criteria may
include (but are not
limited to) community
planning priorities, site
location and size, past
use, neighborhood
context
Environmental
Assessments
Determine existing
environmental
contamination through
Phase 1 and Phase 2
Environmental Site
Assessments
Reuse Planning
Coordinate future site
plans based on
community priorities
and site conditions
Community Engagement
Planned Activities
Planned Activities
Brownfield Site
Identification Site Prioritization Environmental
Assessments Reuse Planning
Community Engagement
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
we are here!
Year 4
NATIONAL
CITY GREEN
CORRIDOR
PROJECT
Technical Assistance Panel Report
THE CLIENT
The material presented in this document was prepared by members of the Urban Land Institute’s San Diego-Tijuana chapter in spring of 2025. The report seeks to provide an informed outlook on local real estate and planning topics and as understood by ULI San Diego–Tijuana and our contributing members. The analysis, views and opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and not necessarily their employers, the ULI, or the ULI San Diego–Tijuana chapter. The material that follows was developed from a number of sources: interviews, research by individual contributing authors, surveys, and forecasting. While the information contained in this report represents informed analysis of issues in the San Diego–Tijuana region, it should not be used to make business decisions in lieu of professional consultation.
Jessica Barlow, PhD
Professor of Sustainability, Executive Director
of Center for Regional Sustainability
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Madison Swayne, PhD
Associate Professor of City Planning, Associate Director of Center for Regional Sustainability
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
THE TAP PROCESS
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 Define the problem
Assemble the team
Build the briefing book
Site tour
Stakeholder interviews
Panel deliberations
Presentation and final report
PANELISTS
TAP COMMITTEE CHAIR REPORT WRITER REPORT DESIGNER
PANEL CHAIR
Identify placemaking, mobility, and development
strategies that have been implemented in comparable
areas of study that will help advance the overall vision for the Green Corridor project.
SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Assignment
The San Diego State University (SDSU) Brownfields Project is partnering with the San Diego-Tijuana Chapter of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to conduct a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for the National City Green Corridor Project.
In 2023, ULI San Diego-Tijuana created another TAP report to reimagine four other National City sites that were identified within the SDSU Brownfields Project work. That report and this one were funded through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control for the SDSU Brownfields Project.
ULI studied two sites that make up the Green Corridor Project:
Joe’s Pocket Farm, a parcel of land owned by National City that Mundo Gardens had transformed into a community garden.
Mat Mata’yuum (indigenous Kumeyaay word for ‘bringing people together’), a parcel of land under Interstate 805 at the northeast corner of Palm Avenue and Division Street that is vacant, save for a temporary construction staging site operated by CalTrans.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Key Criteria
The panel’s recommendations articulated in this report were based on the criteria they designed after stakeholder interviews, tours, and research. The panel considered the following principles:
• Promoting sustainable growth and mitigating the impacts of gentrification and displacement.
• Addressing the influence of climate change and its
environmental events.
• Prioritizing broader community opportunities that could increase the impact of the Green Corridor Project.
MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
The two sites studied, Joe’s Pocket Farm (and the nearby pedestrian trail) and the vacant parcel of land under I-805 at the northeast corner of Palm Avenue and Division Street, present excellent opportunities to reconnect historic divisions created in the neighborhood by transportation infrastructure.
CONTEXT
THE CHALLENGE
National City’s long history of industrial activity, proximity to freeways, and mixed and often incompatible land uses have created multiple paths for environmental contamination and many potential brownfields.
Freeway construction that divided parts of the community and the practice of redlining also negatively impacted the livability and prosperity of the area for generations.
This TAP is aimed at identifying placemaking,
mobility, and development strategies that have been
implemented in comparable areas of study that will help advance the overall vision for the Green Corridor project.
This study is part of a greater effort to address the
historical harm caused by transportation barriers that
have long separated National City and limited mobility, access, and economic opportunity.
THE SITE
The TAP study site sits
below the intersection of
I-805 and the two ramps
that would have been the
eastern end of SR 252.
The ramps, which extend
west from I-805 at this
site, are operational
today as ramps to and
from I-805. However,
they are vestigial pieces
of what was meant to be
SR 252.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS
SHORT-TERM (0-5 YEARS)
SHORT-TERM (0-5 YEARS)
MID-TERM (5-10 YEARS)
MID-TERM (5-10 YEARS)
LONGTERM
(10+
YEARS)
LONGTERM
(10+
YEARS)
Implementation
Schedule
Overview
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDIES: SHORT-TERM
• Composting Workshop & Courses
• Temporary Retail Spaces
• Mobility & Art Connections
• Public Underpass Spaces
• Public Art: Urban Underpass
• Bridge Girder (Underpass) Art
• Passive Recreation Facilities
• Social Spaces
CASE STUDIES: MID-TERM • Progress Park
• Active Recreation Facilities
• Active Recreation: Coleman Skatepark
• Active Recreation: Pickleball Courts
• Urban Orchard
CASE STUDIES: LONG-TERM
• Bloomingdale Trail (the “606”)
• The Rail Park
• Casa Familiar, Community Land Trust
LEARN MORE ABOUT TAPs
ULI TAPs
How to request a TAP for your community:
• Contact ULI San Diego – Tijuana
• Complete a TAP Application
How to get involved as a volunteer TAP Panelist:
• Visit the ULI website to submit a short volunteer application View Past Reports
Contact Us
Contact ULI San Diego – Tijuana for questions related to partnering on a TAP project or supporting our work. Contact [email protected] to learn more.
Q&A