Steve Billings shows off a tractor (decorated for Halloween) inside The Original 40 Brewing Company to reflect North Park’s early development. (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)

Entrepreneur Steve Billings Has North Park In His Blood

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

It was less than a year ago when Steve Billings learned that his great-grandmother worked for James Monroe Hartley, who in 1893 purchased a 40-acre parcel of land that is now modern-day North Park. 

Hartley’s vision was to farm the area and turn it into multiple lemon orchards. But the effort was arduous and short-lived.

The revelation of a historical connection to North Park was made to Billings by his mother and an aunt years after he coincidentally established two businesses in the neighborhood—the U-31 bar, and The Original 40 Brewing Company, named to reflect North Park’s original 40 acres. Both are located on University Avenue across the street from each other.

A fourth-generation San Diegan and a North Park resident for the past 19 years, we quizzed Billings about his personal ties to the hood and the pros and cons of its remarkable evolution.

Downtown Condo Guys: Where in San Diego did you grow up? And did North Park factor into your life as a kid?

Billings: I grew up in La Mesa and lived in Mission Beach for a while. I then moved to North Park almost 20 years ago when realizing that living close to work is really nice. But my dad was a builder and he built a fair amount of condo and apartments in North Park. So when I was 7 or 8 years old, he would drive me around the lots on tractors. They were pretty small developments with about seven or less units in each. Most of them are still standing. My dad also used to get his hair cut at a barbershop on North Park Way, and I would go with him.

Downtown Condo Guys: When did you launch your businesses in North Park?

Billings: I opened U-31 in 2006 as an evening venue for live music and DJs—and with a bar, but no food. Although as the demographic changed, we added food. Today we’re a sports bar/cafe by day with 25 flat screens, and a music venue at night with primarily DJs playing all genres of music.

Original 40 Brewing opened in 2019. My wife and I were beating our heads against the wall trying to figure out what to name it. So we hired a consultant that cost us around $5,000 or $6,000—and still nothing resonated. Then I thought of Original 40 Brewing, but we were concerned that customers might confuse it with 40-ounce beer cans. We finally decided that the name really reflects the neighborhood’s history, and that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if some people didn’t understand it. Although we have vintage photos on the wall explaining the history, and we had picked up at auction a red tractor that represents North Park’s early farming and development days.

Downtown Condo Guys: So then what does the name of your other business, U-31, signify?

Billings: It represents the location, at University Avenue and 31st Street. It is somewhat unique because 31st Street doesn’t actually intersect University; it dead ends right at U-31 and then picks up the next block down.

Downtown Condo Guys: When did you discover that you had a family connection through your great-grandmother to the history of North Park?

Billings: It wasn’t even a year ago. One of the Hartleys works at a business down the street. When she told me she is a Hartley, she gave me some photos and I told my mom about it. My mom said, ‘Oh my gosh, my grandmother worked for Hartley as a bookkeeper.” Her name was Olive Regina Puryear. Since then, stories about her have come up in random conversations. My mom has very fond memories of Olive, such as how she would ride the trolley with her down University Avenue.

Downtown Condo Guys: Do you have keepsake photos and documents of Olive’s work or activities in the North Park Community?

Billings: Yes. Mostly photos and a 150-page family tree that one of my aunts put together in a book for all of us to have.

Downtown Condo Guys: What are the boundaries of those 40 acres that Hartley owned?

Billings: Boundary Street to Texas Street is the east-west border, and University Avenue to Dwight Street is the north-south border. Coincidentally, my wife and I live inside that corridor.

Downtown Condo Guys: What eventually became of Hartley’s land?

Billings: At some point the second generation of Hartleys found that the land wasn’t great for farming. Getting water up here to the area in those days was difficult. So the family started subdividing the acres for housing, which I believe was selling for between $6,000 to $8,000 per lot.

Downtown Condo Guys: Have you worked with any historical organizations locally or nationally pertaining to the history of North Park?

Billings: No. But as we’re speaking about it, it sounds like it would be a good, enjoyable thing to do.

Downtown Condo Guys: Since you came onto the business scene in North Park in 2006, how would you describe the neighborhood’s evolution?

Billings: Well the tenant base has really changed from a younger, hipster demographic to more of a 9-to-5 full-time worker demographic. That’s because the rents have gone up so much and people go out less on the weekdays. When I first bought my house in 2008, I don’t think any of my neighbors had kids. Now I have neighbors on three sides of me with kids, including myself.

Downtown Condo Guys: What improvements, if any, would you like to see made in North Park in the coming years?

Billings: I would have liked for them [the city] to have not taken all the parking away. But I think we’re on a really great path. And the North Park Main Street Association is really supporting our small businesses and the growth of the neighborhood.

Downtown Condo Guys: Do you plan on ever opening a third business in North Park down the road?

Billings: Before having a daughter, the answer would have been yes. But now that I’m a father, the answer is no. I don’t have the time or desire.

Downtown Condo Guys: When you walk the streets of North Park today, do you ever feel a spiritual or karmic connection to the area compared to other neighborhoods in San Diego?

Billings: I do. It’s not just because of my great-grandmother, but it’s also because of my mom and aunt telling me stories. There’s a sense of belonging to North Park, for sure. There was a time when I thought I’d want to move outside of North Park into a larger house with more land. But the more I’ve gotten to know my fellow neighbors and business owners, I won’t be doing that. And it’s a nice feeling.