The Golden Triangle, commonly referred to as UTC, is about to surf a new wave of explosive growth. The first rolled in during the 1970s when the Bren Co. built the 3,000-unit Colony, a combination of apartments, condominiums and retail outlets. That wave also included a number of other condominium and rental projects and, of course, the Hahn Co.’s UTC regional shopping center.

That development evolved in the 1980s with a burst of office construction that included the three monumental Hahn/Summer-built Towers across from UTC. Fueled by the wonderful days of high-flying syndication and loose international funding, the 1980s also brought the Costa Verde shopping center along with two age-restricted towers: Pacific Regency and what is now the Hyatt Classics and the Michael Graves-designed Aventine. UTC also saw the development of business-class Marriott, Hyatt and Embassy Suites hotels.

In the early 1990s, life in the Golden Triangle was relatively quiet. The silence was broken in the mid-1990s when the Monarch Group embarked on what was the area’s first luxury apartment project: the 450-unit Regents La Jolla. That mighty effort was followed by Bren’s La Jolla Palms, Garden Community’s 1,200-unit Costa Verde Village and Lincoln’s Regent Court.

In addition, and not well publicized, was the extensive development of R&D and office space in the Eastgate Park. Originally developed by the city of San Diego and largely dormant, the lots were later sold to developers who have now built out more than 2 million square feet of high quality employment space.

In the 1990s, the nonprofits also were busy. The Braille Institute was completed, La Jolla Country Day School added a gymnasium, theater and dining pavilion and the Jewish Community Center completed an impressive expansion.

Now, with interest rates low and capital plentiful, a massive new round of development is about to begin. Leading the parade will be Garden Communities with its high-style high-rise community at the corner of La Jolla Village Drive and Genesee.

Already Garden Communities is completing the first new rental tower in the county in more than a quarter century. The 16-story, 300-unit luxury project will open in May. A second 300-unit tower will be built as soon as the first tower rents out. Still in its very early stages, Garden Communities is creating a village of exciting rental and condominium towers destined to be a cornerstone of the Golden Triangle.

The 42-acre Nobel Research Center being built by Cisterra Corp. for Idec is part of a UTC construction boom that will create thousands of square feet of commercial space and thousands of new residences.

The Garden Communities developer also has begun construction on the first 633 of the 1,500-unit Crossroads Apartments at the intersection of Interstate 805 and Nobel Drive. That project will include 162,000 square feet of R&D space.

Sharing the Crossroads site is the smashing new headquarters of Idec. Teaming with Steve Black and Todd Anson’s Cisterra Corp., Idec is creating the 42-acre Nobel Research Center. When completed, the center will house as many as 1,000 Idec employees.

The first phase will consist of 352,000 square feet of office and research space designed by HOK Architects. The first phase also will include a fitness center, cafeteria, conference and meeting rooms. Most of the employees will be moved from their several sites off Torrey Pines Road.

On the northwest corner of I-805 and La Jolla Village Drive, where massive grading is underway, Makar Properties is planning for La Jolla Commons. The project will feature a signature office building, 327-room hotel and 115-unit, 25-story condominium tower. Construction may start as early as summer.

Two major educational institutions are under way with a myriad of new projects as well.

La Jolla Country Day School has completed its master plan and looks forward to replacing a number of its aging buildings, many of them there before the school moved to its site in the 1960s. The centerpiece will be a new library and administration facility.

Across the street, UCSD has embarked on a gargantuan building campaign. In addition to a multitude of new dorms and a new college, the 270,000-square-foot John and Rebecca Moores Cancer Center is under construction along Regents Road. For those who haven’t recently strolled the campus, it is definitely worth a look. While there, check out the Preuss School along Genesee Avenue. It is a UCSD magnet school for very smart kids.

Not to dwell on UCSD, but the school is on a path to grow from its present complement of 22,000 students to more than 30,000 within a decade. That expansion calls for another 700 instructors and a host of support personnel.

Last, but by far not least, plans are afoot for a mighty expansion of Westfield’s UTC shopping center. The addition will include residential, office space, possibly a hotel and lots of parking in structures. Creating a well-rounded village around a major shopping center is definitely smart growth and the community should welcome the addition.

Someday, perhaps in our collective lifetime, UTC will have trolley service. Adding a billion dollars of new construction and 10,000-plus people may provide the impetus to use public transit. Better yet, maybe UTC will really function as a village where most people walk to work, to shopping and to school. Novel concept. Might work. I, for one, am willing to give the experiment a chance to succeed.

When I attend public hearings nowadays, I always find a few people with a well-defined mental illness. They are incapable of accepting change in any form. Anything that is different from the life they led in high school is seen as anathema. It’s a spreading sickness. Maybe we can start a fund to provide research on this terrible illness that constricts the supply of housing, destroys creativity and inevitably leads to a community’s economic obsolescence.

Meanwhile, enjoy the remarkable future of UTC. It is one of the most exciting urban centers in the nation.

Alan N. Nevin is director of economic research with MarketPoint Realty Advisors (www.marketpointra.com), a consultancy providing real estate and demographic statistics, feasibility studies and litigation support to the California land use industry and legal professions.