Downtown San Diego is the heart of the city and the seat of local government. From its storied history to its news makers today, the community always generates new developments to talk about.
That’s why we couldn’t narrow a list of top posts of 2025 to just five items. Plus, downtown is the home of the Padres, San Diego’s premiere sports team. But its recovery from COVID-19 has been mixed, with a floundering office market, though residents continue to move into the urban core.
Here’s a look at the seven headlines that dominated downtown in 2025.
1. Fees and more fees
Paid parking at Balboa Park, doubled parking meter fees everywhere and special $10 parking meters during big events at Petco Park, new valet permits and higher fees for sports leagues at public parks were just some of the ways the city tried to close a budget gap, nickel and diming residents and tourists alike. That’s not to mention the unrelated implementation of new trash fees, which was approved by voters, but it was still all anyone could talk about for a while there.
2. Office market woes
The year started grim for commercial real estate downtown with news that IQHQ, the vaunted life science hub downtown, failed to woo any anchor tenants after its completion. Axios San Diego reported on their first life sciences tenant inking a deal in May. But office vacancy rates have only risen since with two other announcements worsening the outlook: Campus at Horton went into foreclosure, diminishing redevelopment hopes, and Irvine Co. pulled out of San Diego.
3. Terminal 1 reopening
Years of construction resulted in a brand new Terminal 1, with lots of exciting eateries and art. So what if the new entrance causes traffic to backup on Harbor Drive? At least the indoor airport experience is smoother than before and boosts the airport.
4. Immigration court – ICE, the clergy and a makeshift prison basement
Immigration enforcement has been a top concern of San Diego’s border community this year. Much of the story unfolded in a downtown immigration court where immigrants doing annual check ins, responding to summons and more found themselves suddenly arrested and detained. Soon, this influx of detainees led ICE to set up a basement prison of sorts, with inhumane conditions, an investigation from reporter Lillian Perlmutter found. Local elected officials attempted to gain access to the building to see the conditions, while activists protested. The officials were denied, kicking off a new conflict with ICE.
5. Growing arts focus
With eyes on the Civic Center and other efforts to revitalize downtown, one solution has emerged: bring the arts back. Plans are in the works to create an official arts district, but already arts venues and events bring life to downtown streets. That’s in line with the opera houses and small theaters that used to stand in Core Columbia where office towers loom today. Now a more balanced, resilient downtown with workers, tourists and residents is the focus of stakeholders.
6. No Kings rally breaks attendance records
San Diego had its biggest protest ever on June 14 when over 60,000 people packed Waterfront Park for a No Kings demonstration. The San Diego Police Department praised the crowd for how peaceful it was.
7. Padres ownership squabble
San Diego sports fans watched the tiff between late Padres owner Peter Seidler’s widow Sheel and his brothers as they fought for control of the MLB team. Even amid fears that without Seidler, ownership might not prioritize improving the roster, or even sell again, fans’ enthusiasm did not diminish. The Padres, who made a brief playoff appearance, broke attendance records once again, with 3,437,201 fans attending home games in 2025.