SAN MARCOS: Drugstore project gets early support from potential neighbors

Proposed CVS pharmacy would be near Palomar College

By ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Thursday, November 20, 2008 12:16 AM PST ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- Residents who got their first look Wednesday at plans for a proposed drugstore near Palomar College seemed to like what they saw.

About a dozen people attended a City Hall public workshop where consultant Jim Simmons explained commercial developer World Premier Investments' plan to build a CVS pharmacy on the northwest corner of Mission Road and Las Posas Road.

The San Marcos site is just down the street from the college.

The drugstore would be the first phase of what World Premier hopes will eventually become a 9-acre shopping center on what is now a vacant and fenced property, Simmons said.

The developer has a strong track record in San Marcos that includes construction of the Grand Plaza, a 300,000-square-foot shopping center just south of Highway 78 between Las Posas Road and Via Vera Cruz. The center opened in 2006 and has more than a dozen stores and several restaurants.

World Premier also built Nordahl Marketplace, which has a Wal-Mart and a Kohl's department store on the east end of the city, and San Marcos Plaza, an 18-year-old shopping center on the corner of Rancho Santa Fe Road and Palomar Airport Road.

Simmons said Wednesday that World Premier has owned the triangular-shaped property at Mission and Las Posas roads for 25 years. The property is zoned for commercial use.

"They've just sort of been waiting for enough growth to take place to justify development," the consultant said.

He also said World Premier and city officials alike want to see a grocery store that would serve adjacent residential neighborhoods go up on the site.

A tentative development plan includes a roughly 60,000-square-foot grocery store in the middle of the proposed center, called Mission Pointe. A 23,500-square-foot office building would go on the northern end on the site, and the drugstore would be built on its southern end.

Simmons said the developer has been talking with "just about every grocery store (chain) imaginable" about opening a store in the center but has yet to find one willing to commit to such a deal.

Kindercare, meanwhile, has expressed interest in opening a day care center in the office building but is still considering its options, said Simmons.

However, CVS wants to proceed with its part of the project, the consultant said.

The proposed store would be 14,000 square feet with a 24-hour drive-through. The business' main entrance would face the Mission-Las Posas intersection.

A CVS representative who attended the workshop said the company hopes to break ground for the store in February and open it in late 2009.

Several audience members said they would love to see a Trader Joe's specialty market in the proposed shopping center. But Simmons said Trader Joe's officials have said they want a site already anchored by a large grocery store.

A bookstore was also on residents' wish lists for Mission Pointe. However, all seemed to like the idea of a shopping center near their homes, and one woman said she thought people who use a nearby station for the Sprinter light-rail train would benefit by having a drugstore nearby.

The project is expected to go to the city's Planning Commission for approval in January.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.