People ask us some version of the same question: what is going up, and will it change my street? The honest answer is that most of what you hear about is either approved but not started, still under review, or only an idea in a staff report. This guide sorts those apart using the City of San Clemente's own documents, plus local reporting for the story behind each project. It covers hotels, housing, state rules that affect what owners can build, and the public works projects that change daily life along the coast.
How we sourced it: the City's June 17, 2026 Planning Commission staff report on hotel and economic development, the City's 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report (March 2026), the September 2, 2026 inclusionary housing report, the March 4, 2026 SB 9 report, the City's Current Projects page, and reporting from the San Clemente Times and Voice of OC. We read the documents themselves, not summaries. Planning documents lag behind real life, so where we could check a status against a project's own site, we did.
Where can you see what is being built right now?
Start with the City's maps. The Current Projects page links to an Online Development Project Map that shows development projects under review or construction, and to a Capital Improvement Projects map for City-funded work such as streets, pumps and trails. The City's Community Maps page also has a Zoning Lookup Tool that shows a property's zoning district, overlays and primary development standards, plus a map of short-term rentals.
| Tool | What it shows | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Online Development Project Map | Projects currently under review or construction | Seeing what is filed near a home you are considering |
| Zoning Lookup Tool | Zoning district, overlays and primary development standards for a property | Checking what could be built on a lot, yours or the one next door |
| Capital Improvement Projects Map | Budgeted City capital and maintenance projects | Street, pump station and trail work |
| STLU and STAR Map | Short-term lodging units and short-term apartment rentals | Knowing whether a nearby property is permitted for short-term rental |
| Planning Commission agendas | Upcoming hearings and staff reports | Finding out early what a neighbor or developer has proposed |
One caution about maps. They show filed projects, not rumors, and a project can appear, stall and return years later. A listing agent or a neighbor may mention something that is not on the map yet. The map is the best starting point, and a call to the City's Planning Division is the way to confirm anything that matters to a purchase.
How much has San Clemente built lately?
Not a lot, according to the City itself. In its June 2026 staff report, the Community Development Department reviewed non-residential and mixed-use projects from 2015 to 2025 and wrote that development activity "has been somewhat limited relative to the City's visitor-serving economic potential." Its count: twelve major projects permitted and built, and ten approved projects awaiting construction. The report adds that the approval timeline for many sites often exceeds two years, which it attributes to strict zoning, coastal protections and thorough review.
| Type | Project, as the City describes it |
|---|---|
| Hotel / lodging | Hotel Clemente: 28 rooms, restaurant and rooftop lounge |
| Hotel / lodging | The Lodge: 130 rooms, conference center, rooftop restaurant |
| Hotel / lodging | Hanson Hotel: 61 rooms and a restaurant |
| Hotel / lodging | Sea Cliff: an 11-unit motel and restaurant in a restored historic building |
| Restaurant / retail | Outlets building: 23,000 square feet of retail |
| Restaurant / retail | Miramar Food Hall: 12,600 square feet of dining and event space in a restored historic building |
| Restaurant / retail | Salty Turf: mini golf with a 2,000-square-foot clubhouse and restaurant |
| Mixed use | Calvada: 10 residential units and 6,681 square feet of retail and office |
| Mixed use | Lamar Business Park: 11 flex buildings, 74 business suites |
| Other | San Clemente Senior Housing: 250 units and a 7,500-square-foot medical office |
Read that table with care. It is a planning snapshot, and it can be behind real life. Miramar Food Hall, for example, appears as permitted but not built, while its own website now says it is open, with 15 food vendors and two bars inside the restored Miramar Theatre at North Beach. We list the table so you can see what the City has approved, not as proof that each project is still waiting. The projects the City lists as permitted and built include Zov's, In-N-Out, Starbucks, the Valencia Building, Publik House, Shoreline Dental, a 150-unit Shorecliffs senior housing project and an 88-bed memory care facility.
Notice the mix. Almost all of the projects are restaurants, retail, hotels, event space and senior housing. There is no large market-rate apartment or townhome project on the City's list of permitted-but-unbuilt projects. The only residential entries are a ten-unit mixed-use building at Calvada and a 250-unit senior housing project. We looked for one and did not find it, so if someone tells you a big apartment complex is coming to your street, ask for the project name and look it up on the map.
Want to see what living near Avenida Del Mar and the pier is like? Start with the Downtown guide. See Downtown & Pier Bowl
What is happening with the hotels?
Hotels are the most visible new construction in the pipeline, and they are also the most uncertain. Mayor Rick Loeffler told Spectrum News in February 2026 that the city has few places for visitors to stay, and the 2028 Olympics at Lower Trestles, which we cover in our Olympics guide, has made lodging a bigger topic. Voice of OC reported that council members cited the Games as a reason the city needs an upscale hotel.
Hotel Clemente, Avenida Del Mar
Hotel Clemente is a boutique hotel planned for the historic structure at 225-229 Avenida Del Mar. The San Clemente Times reported that the City Council approved the project, along with the Loretta's restaurant, on October 15, 2024, by a vote of 3-2, after an appeal. The approval covers a 28-room hotel with a rooftop deck for guests and a restaurant open to the public. It also includes demolishing a duplex at 232 Avenida Granada to make way for two new buildings, and merging five lots into one parcel. The council imposed conditions on noise and parking, including off-site employee parking and 12 additional spaces.
Parking and noise were the main objections at the hearing. One speaker said the plan for 36 spaces using hydraulic lifts would not cover both guests and restaurant patrons. Others raised noise from the rooftop and whether the project fits the town's small-scale character. Those are the kinds of concerns worth reading in full if you own or are buying near the pier or Avenida Del Mar. Our Downtown and Pier Bowl guide covers what the area is like to live in.
The status today is unclear. The City's June 2026 report captions the project's rendering as "Permitted, pending construction," which tells us it has approvals and that construction had not been confirmed as started. The San Clemente Times reported in 2024 that the project needed further California Coastal Commission review and that the architect hoped to break ground the following summer. We did not find whether that review finished or whether work began. The hotel's original website was not reachable when we checked. If the location matters to you, the Development Project Map and the City's Planning Division are the sources to ask.
The Lodge at the Outlets
The Lodge at San Clemente is a hotel project at the Outlets at San Clemente, first approved in 2004 for up to 130 rooms. In September 2025 the City Council approved an updated plan and a height exception. The standard height limit is 45 feet. The council allowed 55 feet to the plate line and 62 feet at the highest point, which matches the exception the Outlets' movie theater received earlier, to fit a new fifth floor with a rooftop restaurant and bar. According to Voice of OC, staff confirmed the rooftop cannot have amplified sound and cannot serve alcohol after 10 p.m.
The same Voice of OC story reported that residents of the Marblehead area across the freeway raised concerns about noise, light and blocked views, and that some said the original environmental review, from the 1990s and early 2000s, is outdated. The developer's representative described the rooftop lounge as restricted and reasonable in occupancy. On the money side, council members pointed to hotel bed tax: Voice of OC reported that San Clemente expected about $3.5 million in hotel tax that fiscal year, compared with more than $16 million for Dana Point.
No operator has been named in the City records or the coverage we read. We did not find a construction start date, and rumors about brands are not confirmed, so we do not repeat them. If you want background on the land around the Outlets, our Sea Summit guide covers the former Marblehead Coastal property.
Why the City wants more hotels
The numbers in the City's report explain the push. Using State Controller data for 2024, San Clemente collected $3.24 million in transient occupancy tax (the hotel tax), compared with $17.6 million in Dana Point, $17.9 million in Oceanside and $31.7 million in Newport Beach. Placer.ai data in the report put San Clemente at about 725,700 visitor trips and 1.2 million visit nights between April 2025 and March 2026, with the longest average overnight stay of the comparison cities, 3.6 nights. The report estimates about 161,400 visitor nights, roughly 11.6 percent, are lost to other cities where day visitors choose to sleep.
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What is the City proposing to encourage hotels?
In June 2025 the City Council asked staff to look at zoning changes to increase hotel development, and in 2026 the work grew to include El Camino Real and other commercial areas. On June 17, 2026, staff presented a draft menu of options to the Planning Commission and recommended that the commission review it and table the item to a date uncertain. These are options, not adopted rules.
| Option | What it would do |
|---|---|
| 1. Ease approval | Allow hotels as a permitted use in several commercial and mixed-use zones, skipping the longer permit hearing |
| 2. Economic development overlay | Adjust floor area, height or lot coverage for projects with pedestrian-friendly ground floors |
| 3. Hotel standards | Remove the limit on rooms per lot area and allow a parking study instead of a fixed minimum |
| 4. Coastal program | Streamline Local Coastal Program certification and prioritize an in-lieu fee for lower-cost overnight accommodations |
| 5. Freeway height | Waive the freeway height restriction |
| 6. Entitlement carry-over | Let approved entitlements carry over to redevelopment on the same parcel for up to five years |
| 7. Reduced parking map | Publish a map of areas with reduced parking for commercial, non-hotel projects |
| 8. Tax sharing | Explore sharing hotel tax revenue to attract luxury hotel operators |
The report's reasoning is worth knowing. It explains that a use allowed by right can go to plan check and a building permit within weeks, while a conditional use permit routinely adds three to nine months or more, adds uncertainty and raises carrying costs. That is the City's own description of why hotels are slow to arrive. If a version of these options is adopted later, expect hearings and public comment first, and watch the Planning Commission agenda.
What housing is actually being built?
The best source is the City's 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report, published in March 2026, which tracks housing applications, permits and completed units for the year. It is a modest picture. In 2025 the City received 72 housing applications for 77 proposed units, entitled 18 units, issued permits for 47 units and counted 43 units constructed.
| Measure | Units |
|---|---|
| Proposed in applications | 77 |
| Entitled | 18 |
| Building permits issued | 47 |
| Constructed (finaled) | 43 |
| Permitted: accessory dwelling units (ADUs) | 37 |
| Permitted: single-family detached | 6 |
| Permitted: two to four units per structure | 4 |
| Permitted: five or more units per structure | 0 |
| Projects using SB 9 (duplex or lot split) | 0 |
| Projects using a density bonus | 0 |
Most new homes in 2025 were small. ADUs, the secondary units added to an existing property, made up 37 of the 47 permitted units, and 33 were completed. Six were single-family detached homes and four were in small two-to-four unit buildings. The City recorded no multi-family buildings of five or more units, and no projects that used the state's SB 9 duplex or lot-split rules. If you are picturing large complexes, that is not what the City's 2025 numbers show.
The state also sets housing targets. San Clemente's allocation for the 2021 to 2029 cycle is 982 homes: 282 for very-low-income households, 164 low, 188 moderate and 348 above moderate. The City's report counts 335 permitted so far, 288 for 2021 to 2023 and 47 for 2025, leaving 647 to go. The report states there are adequate sites to meet the remaining need without adding sites. The table in the report has no separate 2024 column, so read the 335 as the City's own total.
| Income level | Target | Permitted so far | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very low | 282 | 10 | 272 |
| Low | 164 | 49 | 115 |
| Moderate | 188 | 69 | 119 |
| Above moderate | 348 | 207 | 141 |
| Total | 982 | 335 | 647 |
That target is why you will hear about the Housing Overlay. The City adopted a Housing Action Plan on November 19, 2024, and the council approved the second reading of the zoning ordinance on December 10, 2024. It added a Housing Overlay and objective design standards for multi-unit projects. The City's page describes it as allowing residential and mixed-use development at identified sites in addition to the existing zoning. It does not tell you which parcels, so the overlay map is the document to open if you want to know whether a nearby commercial site could one day include homes.
Eyeing a home near a planned project? Ask Alex what is filed around the address. Talk to Alex
What does the inclusionary housing review mean?
Inclusionary housing is a rule that requires developers of larger projects to include some affordable homes or pay a fee instead. San Clemente's program began in 1980. The City's September 2, 2026 report found a conflict. The Zoning Code requires 15 percent of new units in developments of six or more to be affordable at several income levels, but the Housing Element, which the state certified, assumes a 4 percent requirement for very low-income households. The report explains that a 2021 attempt to change the set-aside failed at its second reading, so the code stayed at 15 percent.
The report adds that only a few projects have been subject to the rule since 2021, and all of them chose to pay the in-lieu fee rather than build affordable units. The consultant recommended raising the affordability term from 20 to 55 years. Staff asked the Planning Commission to recommend that the City Council start a zoning amendment to set one consistent percentage between 4 and 15. A news summary we could not open in full reported that the commission voted to recommend keeping 4 percent, but we could not confirm that outcome or any council action. The thing to know as a homeowner is that this affects new multi-unit projects of six or more, not single-family homes.
What can a single-family owner build? ADUs and SB 9
For most people, the new-housing question is closer to home: what could the neighbors add, and what could I add? State law has loosened the rules. SB 9, passed in 2021, requires local governments to approve, without a discretionary hearing, up to two primary units on a single-family lot or the split of a single-family lot into two, if the project meets state requirements. SB 450 in 2024 amended the law, and the City's March 4, 2026 staff report proposed updating its code to match, including a 60-day review for applications.
Two details from that report help you read it. First, SB 9 applies only to parcels in a single-family residential zone, so a house in another zone that allows single-family homes is not covered. Second, the City's proposed standards are drafts for the council, and we did not find whether they were adopted. The City reported no SB 9 projects in 2025, so the impact so far is limited. ADUs are the more common path, which matches the 37 ADU permits above. If you are buying a home with an ADU or hoping to add one, check permits and local rules before you count on rental income or square footage.
Not sure which neighborhood fits? Compare all six before you tour. Compare neighborhoods
What public works are underway that you will notice?
Not everything being built is private. The City's Current Projects page, as of late October 2026, lists work that affects daily life along the coast and in neighborhoods. Dates change, so use the page for the latest.
| Project | Status and dates on the City's page |
|---|---|
| Beach Trail crossing equipment (PAWS) replacement | Active, September 28 to November 4, 2026, weekdays 6:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Train horns may sound during testing. Beach access stays open |
| Metrolink track work, Calafia to Calle Ariana | Scheduled 9:00 PM Friday, November 6 to 5:00 AM Monday, November 9, 2026. Expect noise, vibration and light towers |
| Casa Romantica slope repair | Phase I complete as of the June 17, 2026 update. Phase II is in review, with Coastal Commission review, council design approval, permits and construction still ahead |
| Beach Trail at Mariposa Point | Complete. OCTA held a ribbon cutting on October 9, 2026. Includes a nearly 1,400-foot catchment wall and more than 500 native plants |
| Poche Beach water reclamation | In design. Construction complete targeted for April 1, 2028 or sooner |
| FY 2026 street rehabilitation | September 2026 to January 2027, citywide |
| Calle Real pump station and Reeves booster pump station | Pump station work from July 2026 to September 2027, and booster station from October 2026 to January 2028 |
If you live or plan to buy near the railroad or the Beach Trail, the Metrolink items are worth a look. Our Beach Trail guide covers access points and the train, and our beaches guide covers the stretches of sand.
What should you check before you buy?
We cannot tell you how any of these projects will affect a particular house, and we found no sourced data on how they move prices. What we can give you is a short routine that works for any address.
- Open the Development Project Map and look at the streets around the home, not just the lot.
- Run the Zoning Lookup Tool for the address and for neighbors to see the district, overlays and primary development standards.
- Check the Housing Overlay map to see whether nearby commercial sites could include homes.
- Read the last three months of Planning Commission agendas for the area, and ask the Planning Division about anything unclear.
- Ask the seller about known neighbor projects, ADUs, additions or lot splits, and look at any disclosures.
- For coastal and bluff-adjacent homes, ask about Coastal Commission requirements that may apply to work on the property.
- Visit at different times. Parking, rooftop noise and traffic show up on busy evenings and weekends, not at a Tuesday morning showing.
For the buying process itself, see our buying guide, and for the numbers behind pricing see the October market update. Our neighborhoods overview helps you compare areas.
Considering a home near Downtown, the Outlets or another area with projects nearby? Alex can pull current listings and help you check what is filed around any address.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
What is being built in San Clemente?
According to the City's June 2026 report, ten approved projects are waiting to be built, including Hotel Clemente (28 rooms), The Lodge (130 rooms), Hanson Hotel (61 rooms) and Sea Cliff (an 11-unit motel), and twelve major projects were built from 2015 to 2025. The City's Development Project Map shows what is under review or construction.
Is Hotel Clemente being built?
The City's June 2026 staff report labels it "permitted, pending construction." The council approved it 3-2 on October 15, 2024, as a 28-room hotel at 225-229 Avenida Del Mar. We could not confirm that construction has started.
Who is building the hotel at the Outlets?
The project is The Lodge at San Clemente, first approved in 2004 for up to 130 rooms. The council approved a height exception to 62 feet and a rooftop restaurant in September 2025. We found no named operator and no confirmed construction start.
Are new apartments being built in San Clemente?
We found no large new apartment project. The City's 2025 housing report counts no buildings of five or more units permitted that year. It lists 37 ADUs among 47 permitted units.
What is the Housing Overlay?
A zoning overlay the City adopted in late 2024 that allows residential and mixed-use development at identified sites in addition to existing zoning, with objective design standards for multi-unit projects. The City's Housing Overlay map shows the sites.
How many homes does San Clemente have to plan for?
The state's allocation for 2021 to 2029 is 982 homes. The City's report counts 335 permitted so far and 647 remaining.
Can I add an ADU or split my lot?
State law, including SB 9 and SB 450, limits how much a city can restrict ADUs, second units and lot splits on eligible single-family lots. Eligibility depends on zoning. Check your zoning with the City's lookup tool and talk to the Planning Division before you plan.
Will new hotels change home prices?
We found no sourced data on that and would not trust a confident prediction. Decide based on your own timeline and the specifics of the street.
How can I find out what is planned near a house?
Use the City's Online Development Project Map and Zoning Lookup Tool, read Planning Commission agendas, and ask the seller about neighbor projects. Call the Planning Division for anything unclear.
Where can I see the City's current construction projects?
The City's Current Projects page lists active public works, including Beach Trail work, Metrolink track work, Casa Romantica slope repair, street rehabilitation and pump stations.
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Further reading
- City of San Clemente, Current Projects
- City of San Clemente, Community Maps
- Planning Commission staff report, June 17, 2026 (hotels and economic development)
- 2025 General Plan Annual Progress Report
- Planning Commission staff report, September 2, 2026 (inclusionary housing)
- Planning Commission staff report, March 4, 2026 (SB 9)
- San Clemente Times: Council approves Hotel Clemente
- San Clemente Times: Council approves height exception for the Outlets hotel
- Voice of OC: San Clemente's coastline is about to get more crowded
- Miramar Food Hall
- Olympic surfing at Lower Trestles
- Downtown and Pier Bowl
- San Clemente beaches
- San Clemente Beach Trail guide
Figures are from the cited sources and change over time. Confirm current details with Alex or the MLS before making decisions.
