The City of San Marcos, along with a JV of two local developers—Gary Levitt and Mike McDonald—is launching an ambitious plan to create an urban village, similar to Downtown San Digeo’s Gaslamp District, around the Cal State San Marcos (CSSM) campus in an area the city has designated as University District. Plans call for about $1B in live-work projects in a 204-acre area along the South Twin Oaks Valley Road corridor, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Gary and Mike, who have dubbed the district North City, are underway on the second project, a five-story, residential mixed-use project called Block C with 200 market-rate apartments and a restaurant and coffee shop on the ground floor. The Quad (pictured) was the first project and opened in 2014. The student housing complex is across the street from the CSSM campus. Up to 3,400 residential units, a hotel and about 700k SF of commercial space is planned, including 300k SF of hip retail amenities.

The district will eventually connect to San Marcos’ planned Creek District, planned as a true downtown for the community with a mix of housing, commercial and open spaces. [SDUT]