SOLANA BEACH — Cedros Avenue has long been the cultural heart of Solana Beach, known for its hip commercial offerings and artistic focus.
And a new 26,000-square-foot development project, called 330 Cedros, seeks to drive that focus home. The two-story industrial-style building will offer a restaurant, retail and office space, and eight luxury units, but also huge, vibrant murals created by several local artists.
“I think it fits in really well,” said Adam Robinson, principal with San Diego developer RAF Pacifica Group.
The $26 million project is currently undergoing finishing touches, though Robinson anticipates future tenants will be able to move into the residential units as early as January.
Robinson said RAF Pacifica has pinned down tenants for three of the four retails spaces, which will welcome a new location for fitness franchise F45 Training and an interior design group. They are still in the process of finding tenants for the remaining retail and street-level restaurant spaces.
The development brings 8,000 square feet of office space to the area, which will be situated behind the commercial offerings, above a parking structure with about 80 parking spots.
Robinson said the project’s residential component will not only bring more much-needed housing to the coastal city but offer high-end living spaces in a section of town that currently doesn’t have any.
The six two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units are “not like your normal apartment project,” said Robinson, adding that the units will look more like condo-spec, high-end Airbnbs.
Local developer Sean McLeod designed the project, which was cleared by the city before being sold to RAF Pacifica. The developer took over the construction permitting process and construction itself, which took about 14 months.
“We’re getting pretty close,” Robinson said.
As far as integrating the project into Cedros and adding a bit more color to the design district, Robinson said he wanted “to do something a little different.”
That meant bringing on North County artist Skye Walker (@skyewalker_art) as an artistic consultant on the project, as well as the creator of one of its murals. Walker selected two other local artists for the project – Tierney Moses (@tierneymoses) and Mark Warren Jacques (@mwjstudio) – to offer something more stylistically diverse.
The murals sprawl across several walls within the project, with Walker bringing art to a 45-foot wall on the side of the restaurant space, Jacques completing a 28-foot section and Moses painting two approximately 18-foot and 20-foot sections on the project’s exterior.
“All three of our pieces are very different from each other, which is perfect for the space,” said Walker.
Walker said the project is his first in Solana Beach — the artist has worked with Robinson in the past, on a RAF Pacifica project in Cardiff.
“I’ve always wanted to do something on Cedros,” he said. “When Adam spoke to me about this, I was really excited because it’s really an art-driven district.”
Robinson said that the project was more difficult than RAF Pacifica’s typical development — they often develop office spaces in industrial districts with much more land to work with. As an Encinitas resident, Robinson said having a project in his community that he will now be able to pass regularly and use has been “more fulfilling.”
“I think we need to see more of these types of projects,” he said.
