Encinitas's Planning Commission voted 3-1 Thursday to approve a design review permit for an 87-unit condominium project on El Camino Real, clearing the way for a development that started out as apartments before financing troubles pushed its builder toward homeownership units instead. The project sits on a nearly 2-acre site just north of El Camino Real's intersection with Garden View Road, wedged between a plant nursery and an office building.
The approval, first reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, marks the second time in three years that city planners have signed off on development at this site. The four-story building will include 6 studio units, 42 one-bedroom units and 39 two-bedroom units, along with a pool, fitness areas, a resident lounge and 108 on-site parking spots. Commissioner Bridget Kimball said the site is suitable for a large development, while Brent Whittaker said the condominiums would provide diversity to an area dominated by commercial businesses.
The project's footprint is nearly identical to what commissioners approved in October 2024, when the same site was set to become an 87-unit rental complex called Camino Apartments, according to The Coast News. That earlier plan called for 75 market-rate rental apartments and 12 affordable units. A city staff report attributed the shift away from rentals to the previous developer's inability to obtain funding for rentable apartments, leading builder Nolen Communities to pursue for-sale condos instead.
A Site Shaped by State Housing Mandates
City officials had limited room to reject the project regardless of format. The 1.93-acre parcel was rezoned for high-density multi-family housing, up to 30 units per acre, during Encinitas's 5th Cycle Housing Element update, a move required to help the city meet state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation quotas, the same Coast News reporting shows. Because the project also qualifies under California's density bonus law, planning staff determined it was statutorily exempt from full environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
That legal framework was tested once already. In January 2025, former planning commissioner Rubén Flores appealed the project's original approval to the City Council over the planned removal of two Torrey Pine trees, but the council voted 2-1 to deny the appeal, one vote short of what was needed to overturn it, per the same Coast News account. Councilmember Luke Shaffer voted against denying the appeal, while Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes was absent. This time around, the design review permit required no City Council approval at all.
Commissioners Split Over Ownership Versus Rentals
Not every commissioner was on board. Michael Quinn voted against the project, citing concerns over traffic, entrance design and on-site parking, while Steve Dalton recused himself from the vote due to a conflict of interest. The commission also raised broader worries about congestion on El Camino Real and pressed the developer on its decision to sell rather than rent the units.
Kimball proposed a condition aimed at preventing the condos from becoming second homes or short-term vacation rentals, an outcome commissioners worried could undercut the project's value as local housing stock. Nine units will be set aside for very low-income families, down from the 12 affordable units planned under the 2024 rental version. San Diego County's area median income currently stands at $130,900, putting the very low income threshold at roughly $70,000 for a two-person household, which is 50% of that county figure.
A Developer With Local Roots
Nolen Communities is led by managing partner Brian Grover, a former principal at Encinitas-based environmental planning firm Dudek. Grover previously developed Fox Point Farms, a 21-acre agrihood in Leucadia built around a working organic farm that includes 250 residential units, according to background reported by The Coast News.
The shift from rentals to condos comes as Encinitas's rental market keeps climbing. One-bedroom rents in the city averaged $2,950 a month in August, a 6% year-over-year increase, according to Hoodline. That backdrop has sharpened local debate over whether new housing supply along corridors like El Camino Real should prioritize rentable apartments that ease pressure on renters or entry-level ownership opportunities that let residents build equity.
The El Camino condo project isn't an isolated case. The same commercial strip has already absorbed the 120-unit Sage Canyon Apartments south of Sage Canyon Drive, approved with 24 low-income affordable units under the same state density bonus provisions, the Coast News reported in January. Encinitas has also weathered years of legal battles over density bonus enforcement, including lawsuits from the Building Industry Association of San Diego challenging city attempts to limit base density calculations and affordable housing concessions, according to reporting from Voice of San Diego.
