This big multi-use project got design approval from the city way back in 2019. That approval was appealed to the Coastal Commission, which is finally going to hear the appeal this month.
The site has been, for many years, the Dream Inn parking lot. In this design, the hotel parking will remain, but underground.
The rendering above-right is a view from across West Cliff Drive, at the Dream Inn entrance. The central space is a recessed courtyard, surrounded by retail/public uses. Above the street level on this side are apartments. The top-floor units will each have a private rooftop deck.
The view at left is another rendering by the project architect, looking toward the Dream Inn tower from Bay Street. The brown fence at left is the one surrounding the existing mobile home park.
As can be seen in the rendering, the new buildings are separated from existing ones by a wide driveway with entrances on both streets, similar to the existing parking lot design.
Also in this rendering, the existing condos can be seen on the right side of Bay Street. I don't know if the city plans to do away with the existing metered street parking there, which is not shown in this rendering.
While it's not hard to imagine a project design that would be more appealing to existing residents, it's also hard to argue that this project won't be better looking than the existing parking lot. Of course, a blessing by the Coastal Commission doesn't tell us when/if this will actually be built; or, if it is, whether it will look anything like these renderings. We'll have to watch what happens in coming years.
