New hotel, condos and shops coming to this SLO County city. Here’s a look.
Atascadero is getting a new mixed-use residential and commercial space along El Camino Real within the next few years after the Atascadero City Council approved the project last month.
At its meeting on June 25, the City Council voted 4-0 to OK plans for the Dove Creek mixed-use development, with Councilmember Heather Newsom absent.
“Thank you for investing in our community — I know this has been a long-coming project,” Mayor Heather Moreno said following the approval. “I wanted to thank all of you that are involved on the applicant team and also all of the residents who have engaged and made this a better project.”
The 71-unit residential condominium, hotel and commercial space was met with mixed feelings by neighbors, who expressed concerns about the project’s size, noise and impact on traffic and parking.
Dove Creek Homeowners Association manager David Singer voiced several concerns about the future of maintenance on bordering Cashin and Bliss streets and asked the council to take resident feedback on parking and traffic concerns.
“If there’s not enough parking in the commercial district’s parking area, you know they’re going to be on Cashin (Street) — they can’t be on Bliss (Street) because you can’t really park there, so they’re going to come into our association,” Singer said during public comment.
What will Dove Creek project look like?
The Dove Creek project is located near the residential community of the same name and fulfills the commercial component of the project originally planned 20 years ago, according to the meeting staff report.
The project will fill a vacant 5.2-acre piece of land between the 11600 and 11700 blocks of El Camino Real that has been slated for development since 2004 as part of the Dove Creek Mixed-Use Project.
The new residential buildings will consist of three two-story structures bordering Cashin and Bliss streets and an additional three-story building that includes ground-floor garages and larger condos.
At the center of the development, a three-story, 20-room hotel is planned to lead into the commercial side of the project, which features space for several small visitor-serving businesses.
According to the staff report, these commercial buildings are expected to be one story high and could host businesses such as a market and deli, coffee shop, ice cream shop and brewery.
Businesses will be arranged along the eastern side of the property on El Camino Real, and will be surrounded by public recreation space, a children’s climbing structure and shaded outdoor dining space.
The development will share an agrarian barn aesthetic and will include a total of 178 parking spaces for visitors and residents — 166 of which are for shared use.
The remaining 12 spaces will be located on the ground floor of the three-story residential building.
The project includes a looped access drive that connects to off-site parking and will be accessible by a driveway on Bliss Street and two more on Cashin Street.
Construction on the Dove Creek project is expected to start within the next year.
This story was originally published July 13, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
