The North County Transit District (NCTD) won a $338,580 grant to continue exploratory work at the Solana Beach Transit Station on a transit development project in cooperation with the City of Solana Beach. The goal is to balance mixed use commercial and/or residential development with easy access to a variety of transit services while coordinating with the surrounding neighborhood.

The grant will address the needs of NCTD and the development vision of the City of Solana Beach.

 “The grant will aid in the Transit District and city’s goal of developing and implementing a train station transit parking study that will ultimately lead to a long-term parking solution for the Solana Beach Train Station Transit Center users and lead to the creation of a mixed use commercial development for the site that will be compatible with and enhance the community character of Solana Beach,” David Ott, Solana Beach city manager, said.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration grants will fund a parking management study, real estate advisory services, project design and environmental activities.

Still under consideration is the issuance of a Request for Qualifications to select a developer and a development concept.

The grant required a local funding match of $84,645, bringing the funding for this phase of the project to $423,225.