BIOTECH, RESTAURANTS FOR OCEANSIDE’S EL CORAZON ON TRACK

Carlsbad’s Ionis to open manufacturing facility at center

A pharmaceutical research-and-development center, four drive-thru restaurants, a gas station and retail stores planned for Oceanside’s El Corazon property got another thumbs-up last week.

The city’s El Corazon Standing Committee reviewed the proposal Thursday and recommended approval for a development plan and nine conditionaluse permits when the 51-acre project goes to the Oceanside Planning Commission later this year.

The Oceanside City Council approved the sale of the property in November 2022 to Sudberry Properties for the project. Sudberry is the lead developer for Oceanside’s 465-acre El Corazon property. The family-owned, San Diego-based company purchased two other El Corazon commercial parcels from the city in 2021 that are now being developed as apartments and the Frontwave indoor sports arena.

The proposed commercial and industrial uses are at the northwest corner of Oceanside Boulevard and

Rancho Del Oro Drive. Other facilities planned, under construction or completed in El Corazon include the El Corazon Senior Center, the William A. Wagner Aquatics Center, the Socal Sports soccer fields, apartment buildings, ballfields and more.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced late last year it would open a development and manufacturing center with 200 full-time jobs in El Corazon. The company will occupy the three largest buildings totaling almost 500,000 square feet of the 533,700 square feet to be constructed.

The 33-year-old biotech company headquartered in Carlsbad makes three commercially approved medicines and has several more in advanced studies. It plans to move into the new facility in 2025 and begin making pharmaceutical products there in mid-2026.

Several possible tenants have expressed interest in the restaurants and retail buildings, and their names could be announced after the project goes to the Planning Commission, said Mark Radelow, a senior vice president and director of development for Sudberry Properties, at Thursday’s committee meeting.

Committee member Jim Schroder asked why the commercial and industrial buildings all need to have the same Irving Gill-inspired architecture used in other structures at El Corazon and elsewhere in Oceanside’s municipal buildings. Gill was a noted local architect in the 1920s who designed the city’s original City Hall and fire station, and other buildings in the region.

“It’s a nice style, but we already have it ... everything is Irving Gill, Irving Gill,” Schroder said.

Radelow responded that the El Corazon Specific Plan recommends the style as a way to keep the look of the community consistent, but there is f lexibility for individual buildings.

“We will work with tenants to allow some individuality,” he said.

El Corazon, named for its location in “the heart” of Oceanside, is a former openpit sand mine the city acquired in 1994 from the U.S. Silica company.

Residents, city officials and consultants worked together to create the specific plan adopted in 2009. It sets aside specific areas for parks, open space, municipal facilities, and commercial and residential uses.

The commercial and residential projects are intended to provide revenue for the construction and maintenance of recreational activities within El Corazon.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com