Of roads, town halls and apartment buildings

Don’t go messing with San Elijo Road

Meanwhile, over at San Marcos, motorists take care.

Beginning Monday, May 16, otherwise known as today, when the story filed, traffic was reduced to one lane on both north- and southbound sides along San Elijo Road and S. Twin Oaks Valley Road “to accommodate roadway improvements critical to student, pedestrian, bicycle and traffic safety while paving the way for future access to the new Double Peak School,” San Marcos officials said.

Traffic hassles, i.e. lane closures, continue at least through September, officials added.

In a very lengthy news release — 400 words, but hey, who’s counting — officials said, “Roadway safety improvements associated with the construction of Double Peak School include extended turning lanes into the school site from both directions that will result in widening of the road, relocation of the center median, relocation of major utility infrastructure and the installation of traffic safety improvements such as traffic signals and crosswalks at the intersection into the school.”

While these scheduled traffic impacts “may cause short-term inconvenience, the work paves the way for long-term improvements to traffic flow and will provide access enhancements to the new Double Peak School that are critical to student and motorist safety,” officials said.

Double Peak School, San Marcos Unified’s first K-8, will serve the communities in and around San Elijo Hills and offer a focus on music, arts and innovation. A grand opening will coincide with the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.

Want to know more about these lane closures, etc. Contact San Marcos Unified School District’s project contractor Mike Gussa with Lusardi Construction at (760) 497-3097 or mgussa@lusadi.com.

For more information about Double Peak School, please contact San Marcos Unified School district administrative secretary Jenny Axford at (760) 752-1227 or jenny.axford@smusd.org.

Escondido Town Hall meeting

Start spreading the news.

Hear Ye’, hear ye’, as the town crier may say, Escondido Mayor Sam Abed wants all to know: Town Hall meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18 at City Hall, 201 N. Broadway.

Following a brief update by the mayor, residents will have an opportunity to ask questions or share their thoughts on any topic relating to city government.,” said Escondido spokesperson Joyce Masterson in an email statement  “The event is free and no reservations are required.”

Nor should reservations be required. In case, one can’t attend in the rest, rest assured, in the privacy of one’s home, the grand event m=can be seen at 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday on Cox Channel 19 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99.

“This is the eleventh town hall meeting Mayor Abed has held since his election as mayor,” Masterson said.

Vista International buys another apartment complex

Garden View Apartments changes hands.

Actually Vista International is located at San Francisco, go figure, but the somewhat obscure company keeps buying Escondido apartment buildings. Again, who knows. Online searches revealed the equivalent of zilch about the company, so it’s anybody’s guess.

This much is known, however.

San Francisco-based Vista International Inc. has acquired a 56-unit apartment property in Escondido for $8 million, according to brokerage firm Berkadia and CoStar Group.

The seller of Garden View, built in 1972 at 250 S. Rose St., was San Pio V Co. of Redondo Beach, represented by Berkadia’s Ed Rosen, John Chu and Tyler Sinks. The buyer represented itself, according to CoStar Group.

“Escondido has seen a tremendous amount of deal flow during the past 18 months,” Sinks said in a Berkadia statement. He said apartment properties of this size “rarely become available for sale in San Diego County.”

Estancia Apartments.

This is the second recent Escondido apartment purchase for Vista International, following its previously reported acquisition of the 100-unit Estancia at 725 N. Fig St., for approximately $16.7 million, according to CoStar Group. The property was built on 4.7 acres in 1972 and renovated in 2009.

The sellers in that deal, San Francisco-based Fowler Property Acquisitions and PCCP LLC , were represented by Darcy Miramontes and Kip Malo of brokerage firm JLL.