Motorists on Interstate 8 in Mission Valley are well familiar with the baby blue building that once boasted a large mural of a meat cutter — home of UFCW Local 135.
Wednesday night, officials with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said they had acquired a new home in Scripps Ranch.
“Previously owned by the Cabrillo Federal Credit Union, the new building offers a welcome change from the challenges faced at the Mission Valley location,” said officials of the local with 12,800 members.
The current building — erected in 1962 to house the Retail Clerks Union Local 1222 — has a leaky roof, outdated plumbing, limited parking, insufficient space and poor air conditioning, officials said.
“The decision to seek new office space was further enforced by the city’s unfathomable approval that is allowing The Home Depot to construct a massive store next door on the property formerly occupied by the Scottish Rite Center,” officials said in a new release Thursday.
Todd Walters, Local 135 president, told Times of San Diego that his union paid $4.5 million cash for the Cabrillo bank building at 10075 Carroll Canyon Road.
“We partnered with a brokerage Avison Young,” he said via email.
The new home — a two-story structure built in 1983 — has 17,000 square feet on a 1.11-acre parcel and is just off Interstate 15. The property features a small courtyard and has 65 parking spaces.
Walters, who succeeded labor kingpin Mickey Kasparian in late 2018, said the Cabrillo venue was the fourth building his group bid on.
“We were outbid on the others,” he said.
Local 135 started to look at buildings within 10 miles of its current HQ about 18 months ago, Walters said, but they brought on a broker closer to two years ago.
Plans for the Mission Valley building will be considered in “due course,” the union said. “Options may include selling or leasing the property, with decisions guided by the best financial interests of the membership.”
The move into the new building may take nine months to a year, the union said.
Said Walters: “We are meeting with contractors and architects now and we are designing a space that will better serve our members. We will have a larger meeting hall, lots more parking and privacy rooms for members and retirees.”
In its news release, Local 135 acknowledged the nostalgia held about the Mission Valley building at 2001 Camino Del Rio South.
“While the Mission Valley office holds a significant historical legacy dating back to the Meat Cutters and Retail Clerks unions, the challenges posed by the proximity to The Home Depot will be insufferable and insurmountable,” it said.
“The anticipated increase in traffic on narrow two-lane Camino Del Rio South during construction and upon the store’s opening would have disrupted operations and posed significant safety risks for members, retirees, and staff.”
Local 135 added: “The recent death of a cyclist by an inattentive motorist in front of our building is but one example of the current dangerous conditions.”
