San Marcos Developer Underway On Hotel-Centered Mixed-Use Project
Local developer Mike McDonald is underway on a mixed-use project on a 19-acre vacant lot (pictured) at the intersection of San Marcos Boulevard and Twin Oaks Road, beginning with a 119-room Fairfield Inn & Suites, followed by a restaurant, commercial space and maybe townhomes. The city plans to upgrade these streets with more turn lanes and a new stoplight on Twin Oaks.
Dubbed Corner@2Oaks for the location, the project is part of an ambitious plan by the city and a JV of Mike and developer Gary Levitt to create a hip urban village, similar to Downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp District, around the Cal State San Marcos campus, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mike believes the location is ideal, as it’s across the street from a busy retail complex with an L.A. Fitness, Old Spaghetti Warehouse and other small eateries—a project Mike built in 2002.
Development will be on 11 acres, while eight acres along the highway and San Marcos Creek will remain open space. The plan calls for a restaurant next to the hotel and a two-story, 14k SF commercial building with retail on ground level and office space above. The developers won’t break ground on the restaurant or commercial buildings until there are interested tenants. [SDUT]