Carlsbad Village's Fall Calendar Is Set. Two of Its Best-Known Corners Are Still Waiting.

A yellow sign now hangs outside the gate of the shipping-container plaza at Carlsbad Village Drive and State Street. As FOX 5 San Diego reported on September 26, it's the public notice for a four-story building that would replace Crackheads and Choice Juicery. Half a block up State Street, the Carlsbad Theatre has been closed since 2019. In September it changed hands for the first time since 2017.

Both corners are waiting on a public decision, and neither decision has a date yet. The rest of the block runs on a fixed schedule. Through the end of November, the Village has a set date for a musical, a Halloween afternoon, the fall Street Faire and a weekly market.

The Sign at State and Carlsbad Village Drive

The project is called Carlsbad Village Square. It sits on a 0.17-acre lot at the northwest corner of the intersection. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune's August 7 report, the Carlsbad Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the City Council approve it. The plan calls for seven condominiums over ground-floor retail space. One condo would be deed-restricted for a low-income household.

This proposal has been on the table before. In 2018, the City Council denied an earlier five-condo version for the same site. Council members found it incompatible with the one- and two-story commercial buildings around it. The Union-Tribune reported that state housing laws have since changed, and that several commissioners said the city has little room to deny the project under them. The site is within half a mile of the Carlsbad Village Coaster station, so state law allows the project to skip parking entirely. The applicant still plans nine resident spaces. Eight of them would sit in four garages with hydraulic lifts that stack one car above another.

The lot also has a long history. From the early 1920s to the mid-1980s it was a gas station and auto service center. The city's community development director told the commission that the underground fuel tanks came out in 1998. He said soil samples didn't show contamination at a level that would require more cleanup.

What hasn't happened is the City Council vote. The city's October 6 Council agenda listed no public hearings. As of FOX 5's September 26 report, the project was still headed to the Council. Until the Council votes, Crackheads and Choice Juicery remain listed in the Carlsbad Village directory at 430 Carlsbad Village Drive.

A Theater at 99, Seven Years Closed

The other waiting corner has a longer story. The Carlsbad Theatre at 2822 State Street opened in February 1927 with a showing of the Clara Bow silent film "It," according to The Coast News. The roughly 300-seat house has been closed since 2019. It was on the market for much of that time, and community members worried it could be torn down for new development.

The sale to Carlsbad Theatre LLC closed on September 22. The Union-Tribune reported that project lead Kipp Gstettenbauer described the goal as "a place where people can grab dinner, have a drink and catch a show, all under one roof." The owners still need permits and a tenant to build out the space. The Union-Tribune added that the exact use, tenant mix and day-to-day operations will be worked out through the city's entitlement process. The Coast News reported on September 29 that final plans were still in progress.

The sale came after the city had started looking into the theater's future. In July, City Council member Melanie Burkholder asked city staff, with the full council's support, to look into options for preserving the building. The Union-Tribune reported that she later called the plans "a win for the Village and for Carlsbad." Nate Larson of the Save the Carlsbad Theatre group, which formed in 2023, told the paper he hopes the building "will continue to serve the community as it always has, as a theater." The new owners said they plan to keep working with the Boys & Girls Club of Carlsbad and the Carlsbad Community Theatre. The Community Theatre now performs at the Community Cultural Arts Center at Carlsbad High School on Lancer Way, outside the Village.

Where Each Corner Stands as of October 12

Neither column has a date in its last two rows. The theater's fate rests with a private owner that still has to find a tenant. Village Square rests with a City Council vote. Both are years in the making, and neither is likely to change anything you can see on State Street this fall.

The Company Across the Street Keeps Its Own Clock

Across the street from the old theater, New Village Arts runs a 100-seat theater and a 60-seat cabaret. Both are in a renovated hardware and lumber building that the company leases from the city. Live theater stayed in the Village the whole time the Carlsbad Theatre sat empty.

This fall's show also closes a chapter for the company. The Carlsbad Village Association reports that the musical version of As You Like It runs October 16 through November 29, 2026, during New Village Arts' 25th anniversary season. Founder and Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner is directing her final NVA production before she retires. Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery adapted the Shakespeare comedy, with music and lyrics by Taub. This staging sets the court in old Hollywood and moves the Forest of Arden to a setting inspired by Joshua Tree, with cast members playing instruments live on stage. The Village association describes the production as bringing the company full circle, 25 years after its first trip into the Forest of Arden. Kurner is also the scenic designer, working with Music Director Angela Parrish and Choreographer Nikki Antoine.

Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Evening shows are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Opening night is Saturday, October 24, with a champagne reception and Handel's Ice Cream.

The Openings That Already Arrived

The Village's other changes this year came through ordinary storefronts without a hearing. Barons Market opened at 2800 Roosevelt Street, with grand-opening celebrations on June 27 and 28. Carlsbad Village Books opened its doors on July 2 at 640 Grand Avenue, with Marla's Coffee part of the plan for the same space.

Both opened on dates announced ahead of time. The two State Street corners need public approvals before anything changes.

The Seven Weeks Between Now and November 29

Unlike the two corners, the fall calendar has firm dates:

1. Wednesdays, 2:30 to 7 p.m. The State Street Farmers Market runs every week. Its vendor page says Palmera Date Co. is on seasonal break until November.
2. Friday, October 16. Previews of As You Like It begin at New Village Arts.
3. Saturday, October 24. Opening night of As You Like It.
4. Saturday, October 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Halloween in the Village brings trick-or-treating from business to business, games, a costume contest and sensory-friendly activities.
5. Sunday, November 1, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Carlsbad Village Street Faire returns with more than 750 vendors, children's rides, an international food center and a pancake breakfast. It has been held every May and November since 1975.
6. Sunday, November 29. As You Like It closes, and with it Kurner's last production as NVA's director.

Halloween and the Street Faire fall on back-to-back days, so the Village has events from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon that weekend.

If you own near the Village and want to know how pending projects on State Street factor into your home's value, Debe McInnis can walk you through them. Request a Confidential Home Valuation, and you'll get a private, current read on your home's value.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.