Oceanside

In a key move for Oceanside’s downtown redevelopment effort, the City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to begin negotiations with investors seeking to build a 275-room hotel near the municipal harbor.

The proposal calls for a 10-acre complex at the harbor between Interstate 5 and the railroad tracks.

Sitting as the city’s community development commission, the council agreed to allow the city’s redevelopment agency to negotiate with Developer’s Equities, the partnership planning the hotel project. Under terms of the deal, the negotiations must be completed within four months.

The $20-million project calls for a 250-room Radisson hotel with conference rooms and restaurants. In addition, a satellite facility with 25 suites, a restaurant, pool and spa would be built near the main hotel.

Margueretta Gulati, Oceanside’s redevelopment director, said the hotel would serve as a “major anchor project” in the downtown area, attracting more tourists and visitors to the waterfront. The city has been working for several years to draw a major hotel with conference facilities to the downtown area.

The developer’s proposal calls for a hotel similar to the Radisson hotel in Oxnard, she said. Besides the Oceanside project, Developer’ Equities is building a 240-room Doubletree Hotel in Anaheim, Gulati said.