20-Acre Mixed-Use Development Project Heads to Carlsbad Planning Commission

The Carlsbad Planning Commission will decide whether to approve the development of a mixed-use project in its meeting on September 16. 

New Urban West, the project applicant, is proposing the construction of a 20.65-acre project consisting of two separate yet interconnected development areas including mixed-use commercial and multifamily residential development. 

The northern 6.26-acre commercial portion of the site would be developed as a mixed-use commercial development project, with approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial uses within two buildings, 46 senior affordable apartments within one building, and 13 market-rate townhomes within three buildings. 

Proposed commercial uses include a 4,000 square-foot restaurant pad and a 6,000-square-foot specialty retail pad. The proposed restaurant pad would also include an urban farm garden component, as will the senior apartment building.

Architecture firm KTGY designed the single-story commercial buildings in a contemporary farmhouse/Folkstyle to relate to the style and materials of the existing retail/restaurant building on the site and the site’s past history. The buildings feature stucco and board and batten siding, gable and barn-style roofs with composition asphalt shingles, barn doors, and decorative elements including knee braces and a cupola. 

The large townhome buildings on the commercial site will have an architecture similar to the residential portion of the site, with a focus on exterior elements that are complementary to the proposed restaurant and specialty retail buildings. The architecture of the proposed three-story senior affordable apartment building echoes the agricultural past of the site, with stucco and board-formed corrugated siding on the ground floor level, stucco on the upper levels, gable roofs with composition asphalt shingles, a variety of window shapes and sizes, and decorative elements. Carports will cover the spaces in the parking lot, and residents will have access to an urban farm and a passive common recreation area with a pathway, benches, and a rose garden.

The southern 14.39-acre multi-family residential development portion of the site will be developed with 235 townhome units. The majority of the buildings will comprise four or six townhome units each, with the remaining buildings containing three, seven, eight or ten townhome units per building. There will be 46 buildings within this area of the site, and all of the buildings are three stories. Because the developer is pursuing to utilize the State Density Bonus law, 46 of the 235 overall units will be reserved for lower-income residents.

The townhomes are planned to have a ground floor two-car garage and living space, and two floors of living space above.

The architecture of the residential portion of the project is a modern farmhouse/Folkstyle incorporating vertical board and batten, stucco, and lap exterior siding; a variety of window shapes and sizes; flat roofs or gabled roofs covered in asphalt shingles; wood, glass and metal railings; and decorative accent elements including rafter tails, knee braces, shutters, and barn doors. A variety of complementary palettes are proposed for the exterior building colors to further differentiate and enhance the aesthetics of the project. 

Eight active and passive common recreational spaces are provided within the residential area. The active recreation areas include features such as a tot lot, lawn play areas over 10,000 square feet in area, overhead shade structures, built-in BBQ and counter area, seating areas, bocce ball courts and a cornhole play area. One passive recreation area provides a dog park, and several passive recreation areas include lawn, shrubs, and a seating bench. Another area features a second BBQ and counter area with an overhead shade structure and seating.

The project will require a series of discretionary actions and final City Council approval at a future date.