OCEANSIDE – Economic recession aside, the developer of a proposed shopping center that would be the largest ever built in Oceanside is optimistic that it will open in a couple of years full of tenants.
The 92-acre center is planned on the site of the defunct Valley Drive-In theaters on Mission Avenue/state Route 76 at Foussat Road west of Interstate 5.
Dubbed the Pavilion at Oceanside, it is to contain 950,000 square feet and house up to 16 movie screens, big-box stores Target and Best Buy, small shops, a health club, restaurants and three drive-throughs on Mission Avenue.
The developer is Thomas Enterprises of Newman, Ga., which also built the popular Forum shopping center in Carlsbad.
Several residents have said they wanted something similarly upscale in Oceanside and expressed disappointment that two of the anchors are Target and Best Buy.
A private consultant's economic study says the center will provide $3.8 million annually in new sales, property and business-license taxes and employ 2,800 people.
Oceanside, with a population of 180,000, long has lagged behind the rest of San Diego County in its ratio of the number of jobs to the number of households.
That means residents leave town to go to work.
And they have also have left town to shop, meaning Oceanside doesn't get as much sales tax per person as other cities, especially compared with Carlsbad.
Proponents of the Pavilion had hoped it would reverse the trend and attract shoppers from other cities.
Some voiced their unhappiness Monday, saying the city already has a Target, a Best Buy and two theater complexes.
The Planning Commission unanimously approved the plan on Monday night.
Yesterday, representatives of both Target and Best Buy not only confirmed their commitment to the Pavilion but also said the megacompanies will retain their existing stores, which are about two miles away.
“It's very common for us to have more than one store in a city and close to each other,” Jessica Hauser, a spokeswoman for Target, said.
Justin Barber, spokesman for Best Buy, confirmed that it hoped to have a store open in Pavilion in 2010.
Mel Kuhnel, vice president for development of Thomas Enterprises, said, “we are in final negotiations with over 60 tenants.” He also has been talking to four movie theater chains.
