OCEANSIDE — The City Council recently gave the final greenlight for Modera Neptune, an eight-story mixed-use project replacing a Motel 6 and the former MiraMar Restaurant along North Coast Highway 101 near state Route 76.
The development, featuring a 360-unit apartment complex and 62-room hotel, is slated for the 1.72-acre site at 815 and 901 North Coast Highway 101, directly across from one of the northern gateways into the city and its downtown.
The Downtown Advisory Committee approved the project 7-1, with two members absent, in March.
The Modera Neptune project will comprise 260 one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments with an average of 726 square feet of space and 100 two-bedroom, two-bathroom units with an average of 1,068 square feet.
Of those units, 36 units, or 10% of the overall project — 26 one-bedrooms and 10 two-bedrooms — will be reserved for low-income households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income.
According to City Planner Sergio Madera, under the current cost of living conditions, these affordable units would cost a maximum of $1,424 per month for a one-bedroom and $1,613 for a two-bedroom apartment.
The project proposes a three-story subterranean parking garage with 493 parking stalls for the hotel, apartments and guests. Access to the garage will be on Neptune Way through a gated entrance 80 feet from the road to accommodate a line of cars entering.
Other amenities include more than 10,000 square feet of common open space within a central courtyard and rooftop pool deck, plus clubhouse rooms, a fitness area and a swimming pool room with more than 6,000 square feet of area. A wine bar and cafe will also be included and available to the public.
The project will also install a traffic signal at the Neptune Way and North Coast Highway 101 intersection, something the developers tacked on to the plan to address traffic concerns for the project’s neighbors.
Several residents who live next door or close by expressed their support for the project after the developer appeared to listen to and address most of their concerns. Some also noted they were happy to eliminate the current motel there.
Dan Niebaum of The Lightfoot Planning Group, who represented developer Mill Creek Residential at the June 26 council meeting, noted that the site is widely considered a problem property due to the high levels of criminal activity the motel attracts. He also noted the buildings are fairly deteriorated.
Neighbors appeared to agree.
“It’s been a huge eyesore for a long, long time,” said Oscar Delgado.
Steve Maschue, another nearby resident, also supported the project but warned that the city needed to consider improving local coastal access, given the number of people who will live at the project in the future.
While Councilmember Eric Joyce acknowledged that the project sounded great in theory, he was skeptical about its massive size and density.
The eight-story project would have approximately 210 dwelling units per acre, far from the city’s original 43 dwelling units per acre before the City Council removed its cap on downtown density in 2019.
“I think it’s going to knock some hair back when people drive up the 76,” Joyce said.
The City Council unanimously approved the project with additional direction to staff to come back with funding options to create a comprehensive downtown area plan that maps out what the city needs to sustain the 15 or more developments coming down the pipeline along with its current infrastructure.
Mill Creek Residential is also the developer of Modera Melrose, a 323-unit mixed-use project in Oceanside near the Vista city limits.
1 comment
I am glad that the counsel approved this new project getting rid of Motel 6 it has been something out of Breaking Bad show; cleaning up our great city.
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