OCEANSIDE -- Development of Ocean Ranch Corporate Center, the 400-acre business and industrial park that has become a flagship for Oceanside, should be completed in 18 months, the park's developer said this week.

All of but two of the available lots in the park, which is located between Rancho del Oro Drive, Oceanside Boulevard and Mesa Drive, are either sold or are in escrow, said Dougall Agan, the principal of Stirling Enterprises, the park's developer.

He estimated that all the construction in the park, which includes the Biogen Idec manufacturing plant, should be done over the next 12 to 18 months and that the property should be filled with tenants sometime over the next two years.

"We have committed every lot to development, and now we're moving toward building," Agan said.

Stirling is asking city officials to rezone one of the remaining two available lots -- 26.5 acres at the northernmost end of the park -- from industrial to residential land to make way for nearly 400 units of high-end condominiums and townhouses.

On the second lot, Stirling has a letter of intent from an undisclosed company.

The lots that have been purchased over the past six months will hold a 125-room Residence Inn by Marriott hotel, a 40,000-square-foot medical office complex, a 100,000-square-foot office building, two unidentified high-end restaurants and 30 acres of land purchased by San Diego developer Cruzan/Monroe for 500,000 square feet of industrial space.

In addition, Stirling has formed a partnership with Hamann Construction to build industrial space on two of the lots in the park. On one lot, the two construction giants will build individual industrial buildings between 20,000 and 40,000 square feet, and on the other lot the companies will construct two large industrial buildings featuring a total of 200,000 to 250,000 square feet of industrial space.

Venture, a developer from Northern California, has also purchased one of the lots to construct office space.

Agan said the developer has finished most of its planning, road work and utilities work on the business park, adding that the next step is building the commercial, industrial and office space at the park.

He said the project is ahead of schedule, noting, for example, that the hotel and office-space plans are being designed for construction in 2005. Agan said he had not planned for either to be part of the development for some time.

Ocean Ranch is a joint venture between Orange County based Stirling Enterprises and a Swiss family that owns the 400 acres that was approved for a business park by the city in 1999.

The developers hooked the big fish by inking Biogen Idec -- at the time Idec Pharmaceuticals -- to build a $400 million manufacturing plant in the park.

"With Idec, that just jump-started the momentum," Agan said.

Since then, the park has secured Ashworth, Inc., a Carlsbad-based golf apparel maker, Car Sound and Magnaflow Performance Exhaust, an Orange County company that makes catalytic converters and after-market car exhaust systems for cars and trucks. The company is owned by Paolone, LLC.

One Source, a distributor and engineering company specializing in electronic controls, became the first company to open its doors in the park in early 2003. Robert Mann Packaging followed One Source into the park. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Southern California announced earlier this year that it would build an 80,000-square-foot distribution center in the park, and Calvary Chapel has unveiled plans to build a 43,000-square-foot church in the park.

Numerous small business have already agreed to locate into a smaller business park inside Ocean Ranch called Oceanic Enterprises. The two phased project features a total of 200,000 feet of industrial space, and is being developed as partnership between Hamann Construction and Carltas Development Co.

Agan estimated that the entire park, including Idec, could create between 4,000 and 8,000 jobs when finished.

Some have criticized some of the businesses going into the park for either being very small businesses that won't attract large jobs, or large "warehouses," like Coca-Cola that generate traffic but not high paying jobs.

However, David Nydegger, the chief executive officer of the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, said most successful business parks need to have a mix of large businesses such as Biogen Idec, and small businesses to succeed. Agan agreed.

"Small businesses are the heartbeat of America," Nydegger said.

He added that the business park has been very successful.

"I think he has sone very well," Nydegger said of Agan. "It seems he has been able to bring in some good business tenants."

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