Por Ken Williams | Editor

The best-kept secret in Hillcrest this summer is the name of the buyer of the long-vacant Pernicano’s property, who as of Aug. 13 still hasn’t closed escrow.

But at two public meetings over the past two weeks, a 40-year veteran of the homebuilding industry has emerged as the public face for the Pernicano family.

Sherman D. Harmer Jr., president of Urban Housing Partners, spoke to the Uptown Planners group on Aug. 4 and the Hillcrest Town Council on Aug. 11 about a possible vision for this prime piece of real estate that stands geographically as a gateway to Hillcrest when drivers take the University Avenue exit off State Route 163 onto Sixth Avenue.

Harmer dropped the bombshell news at the Aug. 4 meeting that the unnamed buyer is also negotiating to purchase the Gilman property at the corner of Sixth and University avenues.

On Aug. 13, Harmer told San Diego Uptown News upon further questioning that “we have been in communications with Morgan Gilman. We have had very preliminary discussions about the options available. Mr. Gilman has both long term and short term considerations due to his responsibilities with current and prospective tenants.”

Adding the Gilman property would double the size of the project’s footprint to 50,000 square feet and give it a dominant presence on both Sixth and University avenues, plus access to Fifth Avenue in the midblock between Robinson and University avenues between the #1 Fifth Avenue bar and Local Habit restaurant. A building on Fifth Avenue, long since boarded up, once provided Hollywood royalty a private entrance to Pernicano’s, according to local history buffs.

The Gilman building — which takes up more than half the city block on University Avenue — includes the vacant Harvey Milk/City Deli site and the existing Hillcrest Newsstand, Taste of Thai restaurant, Mint shoe store and Kyber Pass restaurant.

“We see it as an opportunity to not just revitalize the Pernicano’s property but the whole block,” Harmer told a crowd gathered at the Uptown Planners meeting to hear the initial news about possible plans for the site.

“The Pernicano’s property has been an eyesore for many years,” Harmer said.

The rundown building has stood vacant for the past 30 years, and only recently has the family allowed the restaurant’s parking lot to be utilized again. Sixth and Robinson LLC owns the adjacent parking lot on the northwest corner at that intersection, according to the California Secretary of State website.

Pernicano’s became a hotspot in Hillcrest when it opened in 1946 and attracted celebrities such as the Rat Pack, Lawrence Welk and Jackie Gleason. The restaurant closed in 1985.

Although Harmer is speaking publicly and doing community outreach on behalf of the seller, he apparently has insight regarding the potential buyer. He’s also not naming names nor providing public hints about the buyer’s identity.

Harmer later explained to San Diego Uptown News what his role and that of his company would be: “We are development management specialists. We are currently providing services to the Pernicano family. We will not be the developer, but will assist with entitlement, outreach and design process.”

At the planning group meeting, Harmer promised that the project will be a “win-win situation” for the community, but warned that any development must make sense, based on “financial feasibility.”

“There are no designs, yet,” Harmer said, adding that the buyer has been looking at the property since 2010. “We’ve heard lots of proposals for the property. People want something iconic. A boutique hotel. Rental units. Condominiums. Retail. Public spaces. Outdoor dining. Public plaza, public realm. Unique landscaping and lighting. Parking.”

A week later at the Hillcrest Town Council meeting, Harmer said that the “design work may start next week after our meeting with the parking board.” Harmer met Aug. 13 with Tim Gahagan, president of the Uptown Community Parking District, and Elizabeth Hannon, its chief operating officer.

Harmer vowed to return next month to the town council meeting to update the community on the latest news about the project.

At the planning group meeting, longtime community activist Leo Wilson vouched for Harmer, saying they go back 45 years to when they worked in Utah.

“He’s a neighbor,” the Bankers Hill resident said. “He’s a good person to be involved in the project.”

Harmer told Uptown News that he has been asked about the potential for developing the entire city block, where existing businesses operate.

“Developing the whole block would require participation from all the property owners,” he said. “It would most likely spread out in phases over many years. We are in the early stages of collecting ideas. We can be more definitive further down the road. Our focus right now is how to redevelop the Pernicano property in the most efficient and compatible way.”

The Urban Housing Partners website indicates that the company has been involved in some form in the Smart Corner mixed-use high-rise project that includes a trolley station in its midst; the Village Walk and Acqua Vista projects in Little Italy; the Union Square, Park Boulevard East and Park Boulevard West projects in East Village; and the massive One Paseo project in Carmel Valley.

The website asserts that Harmer “specializes in the development of urban infill, multi-family and affordable housing.”

At the Hillcrest Town Council meeting, Harmer noted that his firm has been involved in several key projects in North Park, including the mixed-used La Boheme condominium and retail development as well as the renovations at two historic properties: the Birch North Park Theatre (now known as the Observatory North Park) and the Lafayette Hotel.

—Ken Williams es editor de Uptown News y Mission Valley News y puede ser contactado en [email protected] o al 619-961-1952.