San Diego North Economic Development Council hosted its July 2024 board meeting in which three major projects are up and running in North County!
LAB HOLDING PROJECT
Shaheen Sadeghi, CEO of LAB Holdings LLC, shared the happy news that after 6 years in the making, their “artisan’s village” project in San Marcos is underway. Planned on 9 acres of vacant land, this project prioritizes business and residential growth and development in San Marcos, and embodies the company’s “Four C’s: Community, Culture, Commerce, and Consciousness.”
Locally based businesses that specialize in any product or service are the focal point of this project because they will bring a sense of community, conversation, culture, and commerce. This project aims to bring the San Marcos community together with affordable units for tenants while still providing quality architecture and a space where people want to gather. Take a look at their project in Downtown Anaheim for a taste of what LAB Holdings wants to bring to San Marcos:
OCEAN KAMP
Jon Corn, CEO of N4FL Worldwide, was the next to present at the board meeting, with an update about Ocean Kamp. The 95-acre development project recently gained its final approval from Oceanside City Council. The main goal of this development is to create a village and a destination for people to enjoy. Ocean Kamp will be composed of a residential area with a 300-room hotel, around 700 residential units (10% allocated to affordable housing), and 135,000 square feet of commercial space.
Ocean Kamp embraces Oceanside’s surf culture with their wave pool amenity. These pools are the first subproject on the list for the Ocean Kamp development project, which is expected to be completed by mid-2025. The wave pools will be open to the public to create incentive to get people interested in the area, with housing and retail projects to follow. Four proposals were introduced to make people’s experience with the wave pools enjoyable and affordable:
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- Buy a time slot for a publicly available group session. Depending on the purchase, the customer will get to ride a certain number of waves.
- Book a private session with access to the entire pool for 1-2 hours. Customers can book private lessons with friends.
- Customers can sign up for a membership, which includes certain perks such as faster access to surf session bookings and their own locker to keep their belongings. This creates value because other wave pool destinations around the world typically book lessons at least 3-4 months out.
- Instill programs that are community-friendly for people within the city, local high schools, and more. The goal is to make Ocean Kamp a high-quality but affordable amenity that can be utilized by residents in Oceanside and the rest of North County.
SOCAL WORKFORCE
The last board meeting presenter was Aaron Byzak, former SDNEDC Chairman. He has been working with SDNEDC on the Student Opportunities for Career Awareness and Learning (SOCAL) project to gather more video content to highlight San Diego County occupations. SDNEDC wants to focus on occupations that are specifically attainable through local higher education institutions. Byzak shared three new videos recently made in partnership with MiraCosta College’s Technology Career Institute:
SOCAL’s video library currently features 101 occupations across 18 different industries to help students and transitioning adults explore career options.
Preparation for fall career and college fairs is underway to increase awareness about the program for college students and career-transitioning adults. Even though there are already many solid partnerships between higher institutions and SOCAL, the program also desires to do more outreach with North County entities. If you are interested in partnering with SDNEDC or one of the North County Chambers of Commerce to be featured on the SOCAL website, please email Erik at ebruvold@sdnedc.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SDNEDC will be hosting its chairman’s dinner in Encinitas on August 15. These dinners gather some of the largest employers in the region to strengthen ties and the local supply chain.
SDNEDC and North County Chambers will be heading to Round Rock, TX from October 23-25 for their study tour to explore and learn more about economic development in another suburban area within a larger metropolitan area. Please contact Caitlyn at ccanby@sdnedc.org for more information.
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About the Author
Katja Hokanson is the Marketing and Events Coordinator at SDNEDC. She has her bachelor’s degree in history with a Minor in Business obtained from UC San Diego. She has experience in the hospitality and tourism industry as well as in marketing and communication. Katja moved to San Diego from Los Angeles and loves learning more about and being a part of the San Diego community. Katja enjoys traveling, exploring new places, picking up new hobbies and overall being creative!