A New Twist at NAVWAR: A Potential Data Center Raises Bigger Questions
A 400-megawatt data center has surfaced as a possible use at the NAVWAR site, in place of the housing, hotels and retail previously associated with the project. Nothing has been approved, but the questions it raises about power, permitting and federal land are worth following.
San Diego's NAVWAR redevelopment has a new possibility on the table. Voice of San Diego reported that Manchester Financial Group has explored a 400-megawatt data center as part of the project. The concept introduces a significant potential change to plans previously associated with housing, hotels and retail, although no final development has been approved.
New facilities for NAVWAR remain the central objective. The Navy confirmed October 8 that its modernization proposal continues to move forward. Under the proposed partnership, private development would help finance new Navy facilities in exchange for development rights on other portions of the property. The commercial mix may change, but delivering modern NAVWAR facilities remains the purpose of the effort. Final approvals, funding and construction timing are still unresolved.
Federal ownership also makes this different from a typical San Diego development as the site does not require city development permits. A local restriction or prohibition on data centers therefore would not automatically decide the property's future. However, federal ownership does not remove every regulatory requirement: environmental review and applicable state coordination remain part of the process.
Power may be the more practical challenge. The development team has reportedly discussed electricity pricing with San Diego Community Power and requested an SDG&E engineering study. Those discussions do not establish that enough power is available or that the infrastructure needed to deliver it is in place.
While SDG&E operates the grid, any necessary excavation in city streets could bring municipal permits, traffic coordination and street-restoration requirements into the picture. That could make city cooperation important even without city approval of the development itself. Still, SDG&E's existing franchise rights and state utility regulation mean those permits should not be treated as an automatic city veto. The actual connection plan will determine how much local involvement is required.
The Navy's forthcoming revised environmental analysis should help clarify those trade-offs. For now, the data center is another possibility within an evolving redevelopment, not a final decision about the campus's future.
Sources: Voice of San Diego, October 15, 2026; U.S. Navy Old Town Campus Revitalization, October 8, 2026 announcement.