Numbers talked about in the video:
The site of the Golden Tee apartments was purchased for $23 million. The sellers have the right to make that kind of bank, and the buyers must have done their homework – and their plan of developing 218 apartments must have been within the existing rules. You can’t blame either of them for doing what they did. Blame the rule-makers.
It cost $30 million to build a 50-unit apartment house for homeless veterans, or $600,000 per unit. The City of Carlsbad contributed $8 million of it, yet there is talk of shutting it down after three years. How was that not foreseen as a possibility? Seems like a real boondoggle.
Downtown Carlsbad is slowly turning into an older person’s version of Pacific Beach.
The place you called out for all the police action is where the homeless hang out / live. Hopefully they’re not veterans.
The restaurant that’s closed in front of the grocery store used to be Miko Sushi. The only sushi restaurant I know of that burned down in a fire. Seems like something that shouldn’t happen as often when you serve raw fish. They were going to repair everything but likely gave up when the property underneath was sold.
Carlsbad is likely to grow because it’s right in the middle of multiple worlds. You can commute to Irvine/Orange, or downtown SD, or Inland North County and still live by the beach.
But I agree, the 5+ floor monstrosities with no parking aren’t going to make things better.
Mikko’s does fine in downtown Vista. Any of these retailers would have a chance if the rents were to stay reasonable.
But that’s what comes with these new commercial developments. They make enough money on the high rents they charge for residential units that they can get ridiculous on the retail and wait until a few big-money suckers come along,
They are turning Carlsbad into La Jolla, rent-wise.
The buildings are so maxed out across the street that there isn’t any parking in front of the stores, so they must be relying on walk-bys? Not a great plan for retailers in that location.
Hey, at least my Bell Dental office that I have been going to for 30+ years is staying put! But will I be able to find parking within 6 blocks at some point? I get downtown Carlsbad 2-3 x a week, pretty crazy the changes in the last 5 years especially
Just look at the traffic in the video. Then add 300+ more cars to that immediate location!
I wouldn’t mind owning the 7-11 gas station though!
The La Jolla-i-fication of Carlsbad won’t be complete until construction begins on the coaster lot. NCTD sold off the rights to develop lot last year, so it’s only a matter of time before you won’t even be able to park downtown (or, better, it’ll cost $20). Downtown is definitely in a pretty awkward place right now, not old Carlsbad, and definitely not La Jolla. But to me parking remains a critical resource. I hear most of those new tenants will just take the train to work, right?
Oh well, at least we we still have the Cantina for another year or two!
Last I heard there were only “6” veterans living at Windsor Pointe as the city accepted grant money that no longer restricts the units being occupied by veterans only, which the city council now claims to not realizing that at the time of approving this funding. The majority of tenants at this unit are now shipped in from other areas outside of Carlsbad severely mentally ill people & drug addicts.
In the last city council meeting they claimed that there is a 55 year lease on Windsor Pointe & their hands are tied now and they cannot close it down.