ESCONDIDO — A developer has purchased land from the city of Escondido as part of a 124-unit housing project under development along the city’s northern boundary.
The Escondido City Council approved the sale of 44,096 square feet of city-owned property — including portions of two parcels on either side of North Nutmeg Street — to KB Homes for $15,400 at its April 1 meeting.
Leia Cabrera, the city’s engineering manager, said the sale was anticipated and had been included in a previously approved 2019 city resolution.
In 2019, the City Council approved plans for the Nutmeg Homes development to build 135 units on both sides of North Nutmeg Street between Interstate 15 and North Centre City Parkway.
Updated plans from 2024 show developers now plan to build 124 homes on the 7.49-acre site. Of those, 34 homes are planned on 2.42 acres north of North Nutmeg Street, and 90 homes on 5.07 acres south of it.
The three-story units have similar layouts, with a garage on the first floor, the kitchen and living areas on the second floor, and bedrooms on the third floor, according to project documents.
Units will range from two to four bedrooms and include either 2.5 or 3.5 bathrooms. The smallest units will total 1,125 square feet, while the largest will total 1,795 square feet.
Grading and drainage construction have already begun, and construction vehicles are active at the site.
San Diego Gas & Electric, Cox and AT&T provided written confirmation to the city that they do not own facilities on the 44,096 square feet included in the sale.
The city acquired the land in November 1978, when the California Department of Transportation relinquished it to Escondido, according to city records.
The land was vacant at the time of the sale.
As part of its approval, the City Council also accepted a March 6 notification from the California Department of Housing and Community Development stating the property is exempt from the requirements of the Surplus Land Act.
Cabrera said exemptions include land that was a “former street, right-of-way or easement conveyed to the owner of the adjacent property,” which applies in this case.
