CARLSBAD, CA—Local authorities have unanimously approved the demolition of seven homes here to make way for a four-story residential-retail mixed-use development.

The building will house 14 residential apartments, 13 timeshare units and a retail space on the ground floor, at the corner of State Street and Oak Avenue, according to a report in the Coast News.

There will be two three-bedroom units reserved for affordable housing, as required by state law, and the other units will range from 740 to 1,360 square feet and are one and two-bedrooms.

Developer, Daniel Cox, says it is hoped that smaller residential units will attract younger families to Carlsbad Village. The project was designed by Carlsbad architect Edward McArdle of MAA Architects.

“We hope that we're going to be able to bring younger people and younger families to be able to afford these units with the lower price point and just bring more vibrancy to State Street,” Cox said.

The building will have a ground floor garage with 33 parking spaces.

The site is required to have 53 parking spaces so Cox opted to participate in the Village Parking-in-Lieu Fee program. The program allows developers to pay the city for the use of public parking spaces if nearby public parking is available.

The developer is from British Columbia, and discovered Carlsbad about five years ago.

“We just kept coming back and realized it's just way nicer than San Diego and the opportunity presented itself with this project,” Cox said.

Cox hopes to begin construction by April or May and believes the project will take about a year to complete.

Click Coast News to read the full story.