The Brick Hotel Nears Completion In Downtown Oceanside: Photos

OCEANSIDE, CA — The journey is nearing the end. Those words cannot come soon enough for the Aldrich Family, as they near completion of the painstaking transformation of the historic Schuyler building into The Brick Hotel.

Oceansider's have watched with keen interest as the retrofit enters the second year of construction in Downtown Oceanside. The Patch took a hard hat tour of the renovations last year in May of 2021 to see up close the challenges of converting one of the oldest buildings in Oceanside into a modern boutique hotel with restaurants and even a rooftop bar.

The Brick Hotel: Inside Look At Rebuilding An Oceanside Original

"There is a reason not many take on projects like this", said Tom Aldrich, "and yes, we are probably crazy to do this. But there were some creative advantages to saving an old building that most don't realize, and maybe it leads to more adaptive reuse projects."

The Aldrich family bought the building in 2017 but it took almost two years to get all the approvals and permits needed to begin the project. The construction began in 2019 and grew to include the building next door, which is now home to Frankie's.

The efforts made to keep as much of the original building as possible included taking down the front and rear walls, then cleaning the original brick, and building it back up after the foundation and steel reinforcement was set.

Now that the project is within the final months of completion the Patch caught up with Tom Aldrich to see how it's going and what locals can expect from the restaurant collaborations when The Brick Hotel opens.

The first noticeable change since last year's visit is the ground floor lobby bar that is taking shape and will be the centerpiece of the main floor. This will be the home of the Q & A Restaurant and Oyster Bar, an intimate New Orleans-style restaurant and oyster bar.

On the top floor, you can see the outline of the CocoCabana, a rooftop Caribbean cocktail bar coming into focus.

The hotel rooms on the second and third floors have classic black and white doors, windows, and bathroom fixtures throughout the rooms that accentuate the exposed brick walls.

Once complete The Brick Hotel will be the anchor for an alliance of restaurants and local establishments that will complement and support each other. These collaborations illustrate the distinct community approach that embodies the entire project.

According to Tom, the openings will likely be in stages with the hotel opening first and the restaurants to follow.

In Part 2 of our look at The Brick Hotel we will explore each of the collaborations and what they bring to the project and to Oceanside.

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