OCEANSIDE — The Economic Development Commission advisory group unanimously recommended Sudberry Properties Soccer Field of Dreams as developer for the El Corazon site on Aug. 9. The primary reason for the selection was that the Sudberry Properties development plan is in closest compliance with the specific plan for the 465-acre park and business site.
A vision plan, land use plan, and master plan for El Corazon led up to the specific plan that was adopted in 2007.
“It has been 15 years of community input and discussion on what the community wants to see on site,” Michelle Lawrence, deputy city manager, said.
A key feature of the Sudberry Properties plan is that recreation facilities will be ground leased to a third party and 20 temporary multi-use fields will be installed immediately. This will bring the Soccer Field of Dreams Surf Cup tournaments to the park and help generate commercial business interests.
“It will generate interest in the property while waiting for development of the rest of the site,” Lawrence said. “I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
Stirling Development was not recommended as developer during the requests for proposals process. The Stirling Development plan focuses on extreme sports and health and wellness businesses. The plan features an extreme sports complex, multiuse athletic fields, a farmers market, and holistic and preventive medical businesses. The plan’s broader proposed uses would call for the specific plan to be amended.
“We’re focused on creating a world class destination for health, wellness, sports and recreation,” said Dougall Agan, president and CEO of Stirling Development. “It provides diversity that the boarder community is looking for.”
During the review process developers were invited to bring three team members to share plan details with the selection committee at a question and answer session.
“The Sudberry plan was a much better fit with the specific plan,” Lawrence said. “A long labor was put to bed.”
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