Sun Street Centers plans to build an adolescent residential treatment center in Seaside.

Sun Street Centers, which operates facilities for substance abuse prevention, treatment and recovery in Monterey County and beyond, is gearing up to open a short-term adolescent substance use disorder residential facility in Seaside. CEO Anna Foglia says the facility would be the first of its kind in the county.

“There’s an urgent need for kids to have a residential treatment program in our area,” Foglia says. “Although we have several agencies that provide outpatient services, sometimes that’s just not enough.”

The nonprofit has had a youth substance abuse treatment facility in its strategic plan for nearly a decade. Foglia says they’ve been waiting for the right opportunity, which was found in Seaside at 1732 Fremont Blvd.

The site currently contains a roughly 10,000-square-foot mixed-use building with a restaurant and office space. Sun Street Centers plans to renovate the existing building to contain 18 beds. A proposed second two-story building on the site would be approximately 5,400 square feet, with 22 beds and additional office space. The property would include 16 parking spaces and two electric vehicle charging spots. The facility will serve youth ages 12 to 17 and will accept patients with Medi-Cal or private insurance.

“It will be a place for healing,” Foglia says. “It will also be a place where they continue their education while they’re in treatment. We’re expecting to have lots of additional classes for exercise and creativity and self-awareness and hopefully get kids in a place where they can step down into a lower level of care.”

The real estate group known as LA’I Communities, which was founded by local real estate developer Galen Ishii and others, worked with Foglia to obtain an approximately $10.1 million state grant to build the facility.

Ishii says the development team “creates intentional therapeutic environments that uphold dignity and deliver specialized care to underserved communities, with the goal of fostering lasting, positive generational impact.”

The Seaside Planning Commission approved the project by a 6-0 vote, on Wednesday, March 25, where some community members voiced opposition to the facility. A group of residents from the nearby Seaside Mobile Estates attempted to appeal the project to the Seaside City Council, on the grounds that it would worsen traffic and parking issues and cause noise and disturb the existing community.

The appeal letter, penned by Seaside Mobile Estates resident Chris Thomas on behalf of herself and other residents, was filed after the city’s seven-day appeal deadline, however, so the city rejected it. Foglia says that she understands the concerns but feels that through her experience of opening other facilities, she believes the new facility will be “a very good neighbor.”

“I can’t wait to tour the neighbors and be a valued community member in that neighborhood,” Foglia says. “I do care about what they think, but I really feel like we’ll be a jewel in the crown of Seaside.”