San Marcos is going urban after 12 years as the fastest growing north county suburban city. San Marcos approved not just a couple of blocks, but 200 acres to become the largest mixed use urban development north of the Gaslamp District. University District (UD) fully integrates residential, retail and office uses in a dense, transit oriented and walkable community. UD is located adjacent to CSUSM and a Sprinter station and south of SR 78. A free shuttle will connect all areas with three Sprinter stations, employment centers, shopping and Palomar College. A main street Lifestyle center of 500,000 sf will feature residential and office uses above retail, dining, and entertainment, and a major freeway visible corporate office area will be fully integrated into the adjacent residential/retail mixed use area. UD incorporates a future 800 student elementary school site easily walkable from most of the 2,600 multifamily homes, 4 parks interspersed throughout the residential development, paths connecting the parks to the San Marcos Creek trail system, and pedestrian bridges linking UD with surrounding neighborhoods and CSUSM. Additionally, there will be up to 800 student housing units adjacent to the campus with parking on campus only. The project exceeds the proposed LEED ND standards and individual buildings will meet or exceed LEED Silver standards. The entire community of UD is designed around a Form Based Code (FBC) standard that will allow uses to change with the market over time. The FBC designates greatly reduced parking standards and encourages cross usage of those parking spaces by different building types. Other State of the Art Transportation Demand Management (TDM) features include “Park Once” Strategies, unbundled parking costs from leases, car sharing and parking benefit districts. University District evolved from an 18 month long process involving a publicly appointed Task Force and the San Marcos Planning Department that held over a dozen public meetings and workshops. The project received strong public support and was approved unanimously by both the Planning Commission and City Council with not one citizen voice in opposition. The City of San Marcos approved not only a state of the art Smart Growth project but did so by building broad public support in the process. The City of the future in North County!

Project Information

Project Address: 

San Marcos, CA

Project Owner/ Developer: 

City of San Marcos

Owner Contact Name/ Email: 

Jerry Backoff, Director, Planning Division, City of San Marcos, jbackoff@ci.san-marcos.ca.us

Project Architect/ Designer: 

Safdie Rabines Architects, Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects, RBF Consulting/ Urban Design Studio

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