OCEANSIDE — The City Council once again approved a revised version of the Seagaze mixed-use project last week, shifting from its original plan of incorporating hotel rooms to focusing solely on studio apartments.
The Seagaze project, which the City Council initially approved in 2022, aims to develop 115 studio apartments and 64 hotel rooms within a 15,589-square-foot parking lot at 712 Seagaze Drive. The hotel will occupy the top two floors of the eight-story building.
However, last year, Kansas-based Elsey Holdings, LLC., the developer behind the project, sought a revision to replace the hotel rooms with apartments, citing challenges in securing financing for the hotel component amid evolving economic conditions.
“Recent economic fluctuations have made financing the hotel portion of the project increasingly difficult,” said Kelly Kanaster of the Carlsbad-based Lightfoot Planning Group, which represents the developer.
The City Council’s unanimous approval on March 13 greenlights the Seagaze project to construct 179 studio apartment units. Originally projected to have a density of 321 dwelling units per acre, the revised plans will see the density escalate to 500 dwelling units per acre.
The studio apartments will be approximately 300 square feet each.
The number of units designated for low-income households has been raised from 12 to 18 to accommodate the project’s heightened density.
Since the project was initially approved before the city implemented an 86-dwelling unit per acre density cap, Seagaze remains exempt from this limit.
Residents raised concerns about the relatively low number of affordable units in the Seagaze project, questioning why the developer was limited to reserving only 10% of its base density for affordable units, especially after the council’s recent decision to increase the inclusionary housing requirement to 15%.
City Planner Sergio Madera said the developer submitted provisions under the state’s Housing Crisis Act last August before the City Council approved changes to the inclusionary housing policy. The move effectively locked in the city’s previous affordable housing requirement.
The developer is now pursuing a grant that, if secured, could facilitate the project by offering 100% affordable housing, according to Kanaster.
Additional modifications involve repurposing the hotel lobby area into 1,581 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 142-space garage with seven on-street parking spots.
Neighbors raised concerns regarding potential traffic congestion and overflow parking in nearby residential areas due to the project’s reduced parking compared to the number of apartments.
Mayor Esther Sanchez was also concerned about the potential parking issues.
“We’re still very car-centric,” Sanchez said.
However, Madera said the project exceeds the required parking allotment, particularly given its proximity to the Oceanside Transit Center.
Sanchez expressed her dissatisfaction with the project’s approval again, but she noted that the constraints imposed by the state’s density bonus law precluded the city from legally denying the project.
