Carlsbad, CA – As most La Costa, and in particular La Costa Oaks, homeowners know, construction has been halted on La Costa Town Square indefinitely.

A local community organization, North County Advocates, has filed a lawsuit requesting that the development be changed to be more reflective of the neighborhood that it is part of. The corner of La Costa Avenue and Rancho Santa Fe Road is already one of the busiest intersections in Carlsbad.

However, in addition to the legal troubles regarding La Costa Town Square, there are also has supposedly been a denial of the project from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. According to a local newspaper, the project failed to comply with local water standards. Supposedly, the denial letter was received in July, however the information was never shared with the public.

We have tried to reach Aspen Properties to get some clarification. However, since the stop of development, they have not returned our calls or emails.

We will continue to try to keep Carlsbad, La Costa, and La Costa Oaks residents informed about updates to La Costa Town Square.

If you or anyone you know has questions about La Costa and Carlsbad real estate, please contact The Mewborn Team. Our objective is to be your La Costa and Carlsbad real estate expert resource!

La Costa Town Square originally was proposed to include 284,000 square feet of shopping, two office buildings making up 55,000 square feet, 64 detached homes and 128 multifamily units. After hearing concerns from community members, the City Council made two changes to the project. The section of the project set aside for more dense multifamily units will now be single family detached homes, and the size of the anchor store has been limited to 100,000 square feet. Restricting the size of the anchor store will eliminate the possibility of certain mass-retailers moving in, something opposed by some of the project’s neighbors.

The project, which has been compared to the popular Forum shopping center in South Carlsbad, is slated to include restaurants, shops, banks, gas stations, retail stores, small kiosks, drug store, grocery store and a department store. The project’s design features a main street feel with a clock tower and open air plazas that can be used as community gathering places. The project is also designed to be walkable, connecting to surrounding neighborhoods with new sidewalks, trails and bikeways.

By 2012, Aspen estimates that almost $1 million in new sales tax revenues will be generated for the City of Carlsbad’s general fund, an increase of about 20 percent over the sales tax revenues now generated by existing shopping centers within the city. The city’s general fund pays for basic city services such as police, fire and parks.

Traffic generated by the project was accounted for with the recent widening and realignment of Rancho Santa Fe Road. The developer has committed to pay $9.5 million in traffic fees, much of which would go toward street improvements, new traffic signals and synchronizing traffic signals to improve traffic flow in the area.

The city’s General Plan has designated the project site for commercial and residential uses since the early 1970s as part of the La Costa Master Plan. The General Plan sets out a long-range vision and comprehensive policy framework for how the city should plan for projected growth and development and provide public services. – TAKEN FROM CITY OF CARLSBAD’S WEBSITE!

The opinions are wide and varying!  Some La Costa Oaks residents are excited about having the potential La Costa Town Square within walking distance.  They are hoping for nice restaurants and boutique shopping.

Some La Costa Oaks (and other Carlsbad residents) are concerned about what may be coming to our neighborhood.  Many residents oppose a big box tenant, and came to the most recent Carlsbad City Planning meeting with photos of other big box locations that are already unoccupied (Circuit City, Linens and Things, Albertsons on El Camino Real Encinitas, Vons at the corner of El Camino Real and La Costa Avenue).  Everyone wants to see La Costa Town Square represent our neighborhood – a development of beautiful homes, with a small town neighborhood feel!

At the Carlsbad City Planning meeting on August 11th, the city decided that they wanted another week to think about their recommendations before giving any approval or disapproval of La Costa Town Square.  One thing that they mentioned is that if they approve the project, they may require the land across Rancho Santa Fe to be single family residences, rather than multi-family.  They are no longer hearing testimony, but they are requesting from Aspen that the La Costa Town Square development be at least as nice as the Forum Shops.

Although we don’t yet know how this will play out, we are all eager to find out!  This will change the landscape of our community – either for the better or the worse!

Aspen Properties will be meeting with the Carlsbad City Council TONIGHT, August 11th at 6 pm in the City Council offices at 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive – one block east of Pio Pico Park.

This will be one of their final hurdles in the actual approval of the process. All La Costa residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice your opinions.

There has been a rumor that Wal Mart has taken the space formerly leased to Kohls. Aspen Properties states this is not true. There is one proposed tenant at this time – St. Tropez Bakery and Bistro. There is also a plan for two gas stations – something that many neighbors are against. Many La Costa Oaks neighbors have also expressed a desire to avoid any additional nail salons and dry cleaners – focusing instead on small restaurants, bistros, etc – maybe even with live entertainment. Aspen Properties has promised that this development is supposed to have the feel of the Carlsbad Forum Shops. They also have asked for our input.  If you have an opinion – either about the development itself or what goes into the development, PLEASE use this opportunity to make your voice heard.

Please consider attending the meeting! Please consider contacting Aspen Properties with your suggestions for the center! Please use your voice to make this the best scenario for all involved. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact us. We are always happy to be a resource about La Costa and Carlsbad Real Estate Happenings!

Aspen Properties will be meeting with the Carlsbad City Council on Tuesday, August 11th at 6 pm in the City Council offices at 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive – one block east of Pio Pico Park. This will be one of their final hurdles in the actual approval of the process. All residents are encouraged to attend the meeting and voice your opinions. For anyone who can not attend, we will be notifying everyone of the outcome on this blog on either the 12th or 13th. If you have any questions prior to that time, please contact us.

There has been a rumor that Wal Mart has taken the space formerly leased to Kohls. Aspen Properties states this is not true. There is one tenant at this time – St. Tropez Bakery and Bistro. There is also a plan for two gas stations – something that many neighbors are against. Many La Costa Oaks neighbors have also expressed a desire to avoid any additional nail salons and dry cleaners – focusing instead on small restaurants, bistros, etc – maybe even with live entertainment. Aspen Properties has promised that this development is supposed to have the feel of the Carlsbad Forum Shops. They also have asked for our input.

Whether you agree with the project or not, it is close to being approved and has been part of the Carlsbad Master Plan for many years. If you DO have strong opinions – either about the development itself or what goes into the development, PLEASE use this opportunity to make your voice heard. This project is going into our back yards! It will affect our quality of life – either good or bad, depending on the perspective.

Please consider attending the meeting! Please consider contacting Aspen Properties with your suggestions for the center! Please use your voice to make this the best scenario for all involved. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact us. We are always happy to be a resource about La Costa and Carlsbad Real Estate Happenings!

News Flash on La Costa Town Square

The City Planning voted 5 in favor, none opposed on the building of La Costa Town Square, in Carlsbad, CA.

Aspen Properties is trying to get an August 15th date scheduled with the Carlsbad City Council to make their presentation for approval.

As of right now, there still are no signed tenants. We will keep you updated as we know more. If you have any questions about La Costa Town Square or any other Carlsbad real estate happenings, please contact us. We are always happy to help.

Pat O’Day – the general contractor of the project ran the presentation. The project was started in 1972. This is the third revision. As part of the project, the developer is $9.5M toward traffic fees.

Some of the restaurants interested in coming to our neighborhood are:
St. Tropez Bakery and Bistro, The Chop House, The Daily Grill. Tommy Bahama has expressed interest in being one of the retail stores. They expect to have a drug store and two gas stations – one with a car wash.

As of right now, Vons has the lead position to be the grocery anchor. We have heard from a number of neighbors that they would really love to have a Bristol Farms for the daily fresh dinners.

Some of the neighborhood participants requested – The Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Ruth’s Chris, Souplantation,

Our estimate was that about 70% of the attendees were for the project and about 30% were against it.

Although it does look like the project will go through, we DO have a say in the tenants. The developer DOES want to hear what we think. They do want to be able to go to prospective tenants and show our feedback.

If you have an opinion, PLEASE contact the developer and let them know what you would or would not like to see in your neighborhood.

Please contact Gretchen at Aspen Properties to express your opinions and desires.  Her email is:  gearly@aspen-prop.com.

Also, please visit our blog and leave comments under the La Costa Oaks Neighbors page. We will forward any information to Gretchen.

If you have any questions about La Costa Town Square or any other local real estate questions, please contact us below.