A three-year extension request for a mixed-use project with a hotel heads to Salinas City Council.

The Salinas City Council is set to decide whether to approve a one-time 36-month extension for the development of a mixed-used project at the southeast corner of John Street and Abbott Street intersection on Tuesday June 30.

The Planning Commission recommended granting the extension on June 3, at the request of the property owner and project applicant, Uni-Kool Partners. The City Council first approved the project in 2024. 

This project was originally approved as part of a larger seven-phase, mixed-use development that includes a 70,000-square-foot hotel with 11 guest rooms, 197 residential units, retail space, and 30,900 square feet of office development, totaling approximately 441,600 square feet.

If the City Council approves the time extension, it would move the tentative map's expiration date from June 11, 2026 to June 11, 2029.

An automatic short-term extension has already been granted, pending Planning Commission and City Council deliberations, Salinas Associate Planner Bobby Latino told commissioners on June 3.

Uni-Kool Partners requested the extension on May 8, seeking additional time for project review, infrastructure planning, environmental testing and permit processing.

“Our consulting engineer, [L&S Engineering And Surveying Inc.], has submitted civil drawings for on and off site infrastructure improvements to the City of Salinas Engineering Department. The review process is ongoing,” Uni-Kool Controller/Manager William Colesberry wrote in the May 8 request to the city’s Community Development Department. “The building permit for this project cannot be issued until the tentative map is recorded. Because no lots have been created a building permit cannot be issued. Further, continued environmental site investigations require further testing to satisfy the Regional Water Quality [Control] Board.”