CARLSBAD, CA— Carlsbad Village Lofts, which received unanimous City Council approval recently, even won approval from a council member known for not being developer friendly, AVRP Skyport Studios' chairman and founder Doug Austin tells GlobeSt.com. The architectural firm and developer Gerber Group are collaborating on the proposed mixed-use project, which aims to revitalize a gateway parcel to Carlsbad Village with market-rate and affordable housing, ground-floor retail, public plaza space and a new pedestrian-friendly street connecting Carlsbad Village Dr. to Grand Ave. Its principals intend for the development to become a signature project for the City of Carlsbad and a regional model for smart, sustainable growth.

Gerber Group founder Evan Gerber says, “This success is the result of three years of public outreach to incorporate the community's input and honor the City of Carlsbad's sustainability, infill and affordable-housing goals.”

Carlsbad Village Lofts, which will be located at 1044 Carlsbad Village Dr., will occupy a 2.23-acre parcel that is currently home to a Denny's restaurant. The development will feature 106 apartments (16 of which will be affordable), approximately 9,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 186 parking spaces. Common-area amenities for the new apartments will include a fitness center, a rooftop terrace with vegetable gardens, dining areas, BBQ areas and a communal conference room.

The smart-growth, transit-oriented project also has many sustainable features, including secured bike storage; electric-vehicle-charging stations; priority parking for low- and zero emission vehicles; transportation screens that will broadcast up-to-date times for the Coaster, Amtrak and bus and rideshare programs likes Uber, Lyft, etc.; close proximity to public transportation; and newer energy-efficient building systems. The project has been acknowledged by the US Green Building Council as a model for sustainable growth and is estimated to be complete in mid-2019.

At the Carlsbad City Council meeting, several project consultants answered questions from City Council members, including Austin and experts in traffic engineering and sustainability. Council members lauded features of the project, including its inclusion of affordable housing in lieu of paying a fee for its bonus density. Carlsbad Council Member Michael Schumacher complemented AVRP Skyport's thoughtful design and noted the craftsman and contemporary design features of the project as complementing the existing craftsman, contemporary and Victorian architecture in Carlsbad Village. Overall, AVRP Skyport's design was praised as exceptional for the site and as a gateway into Carlsbad Village.

Austin says, “Carlsbad Village Lofts will transform a blighted site into an invigorated place that encourages walkability and bikability. We are creating a more comfortable and interesting street façade with improved and widened sidewalks, a public plaza, new lighting, and new landscaping. The project is a perfect fit for the activated, cultural center that is Carlsbad Village.”

We spoke with Austin about the project's impact on Carlsbad, its sustainable-growth status and next steps.

GlobeSt.com: What does this project will mean for Carlsbad?

Austin: The most obvious thing is that it creates a brand-new gateway into Carlsbad Village. Right now, there are a bunch of motor homes and trucks parking on a vacant parking lot. There's an aging Denny's and an aging Denny's sign with Motel 6 on it and there's a mediocre Motel 6 there. This will be a brand-new, really good-looking project with nice materials. We really worked hard on the design, and we've worked with the community and staff for the last three years. It's not like some projects with a big sea of asphalt; there will be parking under the building. We're treating this as a little pedestrian-oriented stree. where the pedestrians almost feel more comfortable than the cars. It connects Grand to Carlsbad Village.

Carlsbad Village gets the retail, and we're envisioning a little high-end deli market with nice organic foods; maybe a little bakery; a place where you can get coffee, sit outside, wash your pets. This works there. It really creates a nice environment.

We've stepped the apartments back and created true retail—it's not an afterthought. We'll put stone on the outside, a set-back landscape, a way of blocking the noise from the freeway. The building will create a buffer for the rest of the area, sound barrier from freeway. Our building will be 45 ft. tall, and the eastern hall will actually be a hallway, where our residents will be able to look on the courtyard. It will also be comfortable acoustically on the inside; you'll get this little sound shadow.

They need to be able to bring a fire truck around, so they will allow us to landscape and put hardscape that will support a fire truck in an emergency. You can walk a dog there, and there will be a pathway for bike riding. It'll be a quieter street. People walk to the beach on Grand. It's an entry for residents, an urban area of the village. We've created separate parking for commercial and residential, plus it's convenient parking for motel and commercial spaces, with covered parking for the same.

GlobeSt.com: How will the project represent sustainable growth for the region?

Austin: The first thing is building density in the right space, and the most important thing is a climate action plan. We need housing desperately in California; we have made it so difficult to build, our kids don't have a prayer of living here.

This project is sustainable not only from LEED standpoint, but it's also within walking distance of rail line and buses, so you're not dragging your car through miles of suburban roads before you get on the main arteries, the freeways. This is the place to put the density. Putting it in the right place is the most important thing and also building them in a sustainable manner. There are all sorts of checklists: recycling, quality of materials on the inside, off gassing, natural lights. We'll have green roofs, create our own energy on site, warm our water with the sun. We'll provide energy for the grid and for common-area lighting. Also, with green roofs we'll use natural rainwater, but this will also allow people to grow their own vegetables up there, so you don't have to go to the grocery store or get in your car for that. There will be charging stations for cars, and we're looking into public charging stations. We're talking to Tesla about super charging stations that charge you up faster 20 minutes. I do this in San Juan Capistrano, but I can't do it in San Diego. Our landscape is low water use—we're restricting water wherever we can—and we're using low-flow fixtures. We're putting extra insulation in the building. The mechanical and electric system will be Title 24 compliant. We will be using recycled materials that last longer than wood and don't need to be repainted all the time, but look great.

GlobeSt.com: Where else in San Diego do you see this type of project working?

Austin: Solana Beach, Encinitas—all the coastal towns. It's already happening in Downtown San Diego on a higher scale. cities what want walkable areas. People who have nice homes in Rancho Santa Fe or Del Mar want areas they can walk to; they want to reduce their footprint and don't want a 2-acre yard they have to keep up. Our project will be more affordable than a $2-million condo. Because of the zoning, you have to build for-sale residences to get value—there are only so many units that a developer can build. If they didn't restrict the unit count, you could build more units that are smaller. And the parking—we have more than we need. Ten years from now, we will be able to offer it. I think in the next two years, we will see sea change in how we view cars and parking.

GlobeSt.com: What's the next step in getting this project built?

Austin: Getting the financing, making it real. We need a partner with deeper pockets than us. We've had lots of interest, so we're trying to figure out how we do that. In net 30 days, we will make that decision. T comes the design and development; we're about 2.5 years to market probably.

I want to thank Evan Gerber from the Gerber Group. He's passionate about doing the right project, and it's great to have him; he's the perfect guy for this. Not everybody cares like that. He's a young developer, really an up-and-comer.

We spoke with Austin about the project's impact on Carlsbad, its sustainable-growth status and next steps.

GlobeSt.com: What does this project will mean for Carlsbad?

GlobeSt.com: How will the project represent sustainable growth for the region?

GlobeSt.com: Where else in San Diego do you see this type of project working?

GlobeSt.com: What's the next step in getting this project built?

Instant Insights /

A Groundbreaking MXD Project for Carlsbad Village

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