OCEANSIDE -- September is shaping up as an important month for backers of a hotel near the city's pier. First, there will be a public hearing Sept. 8, at which each of the four finalists will present their proposals for a new resort and then take questions from the public.

In late September, the City Council has scheduled a public hearing on the proposals before narrowing the list of finalists to two -- by the end of month or early October. The council will select a winner after the November elections.

Larry Sosna, the president of the Oceanside Coastal Neighborhood Association, said he sees September as a crucial month for a new resort. The neighborhood association represents the coastal Oceanside area between downtown and South Oceanside.

Speaking up

"I think this a critical time," Sosna said. "Everyone that can go should go to the (Sept. 8) meeting. It's a chance for the public to express (itself)."

Maurice Robinson, a consultant on the resort hotel project for the city, said Oceanside still doesn't have that much information on the developers and that the Sept. 8 meeting should be illuminating.

"That should be a great day for the city of Oceanside," he said.

The city has some attractive options to choose from for a future resort on the 2.75-acre site bounded by Pacific Street, Pier View Way, Myers Street and Seagaze Drive, Robinson said in an interview last week. The site is across the street from the Oceanside Municipal Pier.

He said all four teams have solid hotel chains lined up as well as developers who have financing and experience in building large hotels in coastal zones.

The four finalists are SDC LLC of La Quinta, SD Malkin Properties Inc. of San Diego, Pacifica of San Diego, and Faulkner USA of Austin, Texas. The four developers are working with either Marriott, Sheraton or Embassy Suites hotel chains.

"It's just a question of degree now," Robinson said. "We've got four development teams that could pull it off."

Carl Winston, director of the hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State University, said it looks to him like Oceanside learned its lesson from its ill-fated experience with developer Doug Manchester.

Cross-suits

Manchester signed an agreement with the city to build a hotel in 1997, and then proposed a project that didn't meet the city's Local Coastal Program, a guide for development along the coast. After the project was rejected by the California Coastal Commission, Manchester and the city sued each other, resulting in Oceanside paying Manchester $2.2 million in August 2003.

"I think they really nailed it this time," Winston said. "It sounds like they're in good position to choose whoever is best."

There were five finalists, but Pacific Hospitality Group, which proposed a hotel reflecting the open sails of boats, pulled out of the running last week. Pacific was the second developer to pull out of the competition. Fourteen developers expressed interest in the site when the city asked developers for proposals, and the city selected six of them as finalists in April.

Dropping out

Pacific Hospitality's Steve Arnold, who is the general manager of the group's Crowne Plaza hotel in Garden Grove, said the developer pulled out to pursue other projects. In June, Makar Properties of Newport Beach informed the city it was backing out before it submitted a proposal. The company said the project wouldn't meet the company's necessary return on investment without some type of residential component such as condominiums.

Here are the four developers with their hotel chains, hotel operator, and architects, plus comments:

• Faulkner USA has brought in Sheraton as its hotel chain, and hotel operator is the parent company of Sheraton, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Its architect is Lee and Sakahara of Irvine, the same architect that designed the adjacent time share resort being built by Fairfield Resorts.

Faulkner's proposal has the 270-room hotel on the southern block and the 26,000 square feet of retail space on the northern block. City officials have proposed replacing the office space called for in the project with time shares.

• Pacifica's hotel chain is Embassy Suites with its subsidiary as a hotel operator. Pacifica is headquartered in San Diego and operates a 600-room hotel at Los Angeles International Airport and hotels in Phoenix and Tampa, Winston said.

Their architect is Carrier Johnson, which designed the Bridgeworks Hilton hotel in downtown San Diego. Pacifica's project calls for 278 suites and 33,000 square feet of retail space with an angular design with primary colors. It would feature a "view corridor" on the northern block

• SDC is proposing a Marriott hotel with Tishman Hotel Corporation as its hotel operator. Tishman operates hotels throughout the United States, including Chicago, New York, and at Walt Disney World. SDC's construction firm has also built several Marriott hotels.

Its architect is Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, which Robinson said is famous for building four and five-star resorts. SDC will need to rework its proposal for a 240-room hotel with balconies on all rooms because it also features 100 condominiums , which are not allowed under the city's coastal plan.

• SD Malkin is proposing either a Marriott or a Sheraton hotel with 306 rooms and 23,000 square feet of retail. It's hotel operator would be Interstate Hotels, which is the largest independent hotel operator in the country, Winston said.

Robinson said its U-shaped design will help maximize the number of rooms with ocean views, something he said was key for the resort to attract clientele and charge premium room rates.

Contact staff writer Rob O'Dell at (760) 901-4067 or rodell@nctimes.com.