Downtown T.O. development construction begins
On June 23, 2026 Thousand Oaks [T.O.] City Council finalized $100 million plans for construction centered around the Civic Arts Plaza at 2100 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
The new development will consist of 240 housing units including 39 affordable housing units specifically for low-income families according to the Ventura County Star. As well as construction of a 142-room hotel; a commercial space of 47,000 square feet, a two acre park and a one acre amphitheater.
Mikey Taylor, current mayor and candidate for district one city council advocates for the new development’s affordable housing, at a panel for city council hosted by the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce at California Lutheran University on Sept. 17.
“When we’re navigating through the state mandate of housing, what we’re really looking at is on the affordable side. Where can we concentrate it? Again, we do not want it to spread out into the neighborhood. So when we looked at this site, which was designated as a housing opportunity, it had infrastructure. The height allowance was changed back in the 90s, we felt like this was a good area to concentrate this housing unit,” Taylor said.
According to the Ventura County Star, the city has set aside $45 million for the project. The rest of the cost is expected to be covered through reserve allocations, surplus land sales, one-time grants, leases from the new city hall tenants, a lease revenue bond and tax revenue from private developments. Project Oaks explains there are eight new zones planned throughout 2027-2034 to be built consisting of an amphitheater, a splashpad and 142-room hotel room with a roof-top restaurant/bar, a banquet hall, another restaurant on ground level, and a space for a farmers market.
Victor Hayek, candidate for district three city council, Duty Superintendent and Chief Business Official of CVUSD, raised points on how the new space will economically affect the city to the rest of the council.
“This is an economic development. We’re here to stimulate the city’s economics that leads again to the revenue side of our businesses…. We need to stimulate the economy in projects such as this, however they end up to be. We need to make sure that they’re financially viable and they work to the best interest of all of us in the community, and into our budget as well,” Hayek said
A timeline from Project Oaks breaks down the projected plan: phase one consisting of site preparation, roadways and utilities; will take place from mid-2027 to 2028. Next phase 2A will be the construction of mixed-use buildings and a new hotel during 2028-2031; phase 2B will end with the construction of Carpenter Park and park restaurant in 2028-2031. Finally, Phase 3, taking place between 2031-2034, all amenities are planned to be finished.
Since 2018 the T.O. City Council has had plans to create a walkable downtown center for Thousand Oaks. Now the city is one step closer.
“We’ve never had a town square before. We’ve never had a public market. We’ve never had a home for a farmers market […] On the economic point, this project will single-handedly raise every single business along the boulevard,” Taylor said.
