OCEANSIDE – CityMark Development has been given the OK to turn five blocks of prime downtown Oceanside real estate from vacant lots into a cluster of condominiums, shops, restaurants and even a public plaza.
The City Council voted 3-1 Wednesday night, with Mayor Jim Wood absent, to approve CityMark's proposal, which officials say will bring millions of dollars in tax revenue to the city each year.
“We want a Gaslamp,” said Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, referring to the San Diego entertainment district. Sanchez cast the dissenting vote, objecting to the amount of residential use and street-level parking in the CityMark project.
“I want something better for our city – we deserve it, we need it,” she said.
Councilman Jack Feller defended the project. “This has been a long time coming,” Feller said. He called the CityMark proposal “one of the most important projects we have ever approved.”
The project calls for 231 condominiums, 124 hotel rooms and 48,000 square feet of retail space. The San Diego-based developer owns the five blocks that are two blocks from the beach, bisected by Mission Avenue and the rail line.
The development calls for seven-story buildings on the south side of Mission Avenue and four-story buildings on the north side.
According to a staff report, the project will provide $2 million in property taxes and $123,000 a year in sales tax revenues to the city. If the hotel is built and is 80 percent occupied with rooms renting for $150 a night, the city also will get $543,000 in annual room taxes.
Plans for the hotel could be changed and offices built instead. That would depend on whether a long-proposed Westin Hotel on an adjacent Pacific Street property can be built before the CityMark project begins.
CityMark does not want to build a hotel, but the city's Local Coastal Plan, which gives development guidelines, calls for more hotel rooms within a nine-block area.
The public plaza is planned for Pier View Way and Myers Street and would include an amphitheater, art displays, kiosks and outdoor dining.
CityMark began holding public workshops on its plans two years ago and has redesigned its project in accord with some of the comments received.
Some leaders of the Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association have objected to what they call a “wall” of same-height buildings that creates an unattractive skyline.
Deborah Smithton, CityMark project manager, said after the meeting that the company hopes to break ground in a year to 18 months.
Smithton said construction will take about two years.
