Merge, Carmel Row aims for completion in 2016 with restaurants, residences

More dining and residential options are in store for the Carmel Country Highlands neighborhood as the Merge project builds toward completion.

At its Sept. 24 meeting, the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board approved a planned development permit for the sale of spirits in association with a restaurant at the Merge mixed-use center on Carmel Mountain Road and Carmel Country Road.

Construction on the commercial part of Merge has begun, with the first tenants slated to be open for business by mid-2016. The project will feature 31,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor with office space above.

“We are approaching one-third leased with more tenants in negotiations to put us over 50 percent,” said Gary Levitt, principal of developer Sea Breeze Properties.

Levitt said it is too early to release the names of the potential restaurants, but said he is in discussions with some of San Diego’s best restaurant operators and a great coffee shop.

In the project’s residential component, Carmel Row, 22 “city-homes” are being built. As Levitt explained, they are not considered townhomes, as the garages are pulled away from the units to create small rear yards. The units should be complete in early 2016 and reservations for tenants have already begun.