Up for a swim in the sky? San Diego’s highest pool completes construction

Downtown San Diego’s newest apartment tower has an amenity that stands out: the county’s highest swimming pool.

At roughly 480 feet above ground, the pool at 800 Broadway on its 40th floor makes it the highest place to do a cannonball in all of San Diego County. The luxury tower opened earlier this year, but the pool wasn’t completed until two weeks ago.

Don’t expect a group tour. Only renters — and their guests — are permitted to use the pool, and it is at one of the most expensive complexes in San Diego County. Average rent at 800 Broadway is $3,496 a month.

“They love the views,” said Lucas Roof, community manager at 800 Broadway during a Wednesday tour of the pool. “A lot of people say they can’t wait to put it on Instagram.”

Measuring 30 feet long and 15 feet wide, the pool isn’t gigantic. It’s also not an infinity pool, which runs to the edge of a structure and might make some people squeamish. (During an earthquake in late March in Thailand, videos of a Bangkok infinity pool spilling water onto the street went viral.) There’s roughly 10 feet from the pool at 800 Broadway to the glass wall on the 40th floor.

There is also a small hot tub at 800 Broadway, 7-by-15 feet, so it has the highest hot tub in town, too.

Downtown San Diego buildings have height limits because of the airport’s flight path, so towers cannot exceed 500 feet. The pool at 800 Broadway is likely the tallest a pool can get downtown. The highest known pool in the world: The Guangxi China Resources Tower in southern China has an outdoor pool that is 1,060 feet above ground.

Amenities are a way to get higher rents in a competitive environment, said Alan Nevin, economic research researcher for construction management firm Gafcon.

“There’s no question it is a great marketing tool,” he said of the pool.

Nevin worked as a consultant on 800 Broadway (about the unit mix, not the amenities) and said all new luxury towers downtown need to charge high rents to make up for the cost of construction. One way to stand out, he said, are amenities.

Shahin Hashemi, 35, a cybersecurity engineer, was sunbathing on a lounge chair at the pool Wednesday. He said he’s been renting at 800 Broadway since it opened, and the pool is one of his favorite things, often sharing one of the cabanas with his girlfriend.

Hashemi said the high rent is worth it for everything it includes: a gym, a speakeasy with a lounge and 10-seat conference room, an outdoor lounge with grilling stations, a coworking area, high-end appliances, and washers and dryers in every unit.

“You pay for what you get,” he said.

The average rent for a studio at 800 Broadway, real estate tracker CoStar said, is $2,527 a month. A one-bedroom averages $3,291 a month and a two-bedroom, $4,583. There are also four three-bedroom penthouses that average $12,040 a month.

The complex has 33 apartments for low-income renters spread throughout the building, which quickly filled. To qualify, renters had to earn 50% of the area median income, or about $57,900 for an individual.

Even with the pool, making a splash with potential renters might take some work. Downtown has seen a significant increase in apartments in recent years and has San Diego County’s highest vacancy at 12.4%. There are plenty of options, especially if you don’t care about what floor your swimming pool is on.

There likely won’t be a ton of diving at 800 Broadway’s pool, which is 4 feet at its deepest. Still, that didn’t stop a rocking Hawaiian-themed party last weekend for residents to celebrate the pool opening. Roof said they had a DJ and a bartender.

He said the main renters so far have been those in their late 20s to 40s so, basically, millennials.

800 Broadway was built by Chicago-based CA Ventures, which faced pandemic shutdowns and other delays. Construction started in May 2021 on a former downtown parking lot, but plans for the site stretch back to 2017. CA Ventures declined to give a final cost estimate, but similar projects downtown have been built for $100 million and up.

Other U.S. cities are also seeing high pools show up as a way to entice renters. New York’s Brooklyn Point complex, which opened in 2020, has an infinity pool that is 680 feet above the ground, and the Aston Martin Residences in Miami, which opened last year, has an outdoor pool around 600 feet above ground.