The Miramar Came Back First. The Beach Trail Is Next.

"There's going to be a great ocean view," San Clemente City Manager Andy Hall said about the rebuilt stretch of the San Clemente Beach Trail at Mariposa Point. He told the San Clemente Times that work now looks likely to finish around October, after the city had hoped for September. OCTA's September 2025 notice said the project's equipment and materials would be staged mainly in the North Beach parking lot. On the other side of El Camino Real, the Miramar reopened in June after more than 30 years of sitting empty.

These two projects had different owners, budgets and timelines, and they are finishing within months of each other. Together they make North Beach a place people reach on foot again. A food hall now fills the old bowling center. The city has planned a crosswalk to link it with the beach side of the street. And the trail running south from the North Beach lot is expected back this fall.

Thirty-Four Years Dark, Three Months Open

The San Clemente Theatre opened on this corner in 1938. Architect Clifford A. Balch designed it in the Spanish Colonial Revival style that marks many of the city's early buildings. The San Clemente Bowling Center was added next door in 1946. The theater closed in 1960, reopened in 1969 as the Miramar Theatre, and closed again in 1992. The complex then sat empty until 2026.

Miramar Food Hall opened in the old bowling building on Thursday, June 18. It has 12,600 square feet, an indoor bar, an outdoor bar, ocean views and patio seating. The official ribbon-cutting followed on Wednesday, July 1. Tiger Hospitality partner Eren Unur and General Manager Eric Taylor hosted, with Mayor Pro Tem Steve Knoblock, Supervisor Katrina Foley and San Clemente Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Susie Lantz attending.

The food hall's website lists 15 vendors. Opening coverage and the official roster together name these:

• MOTO Pizza: pan pizzas mixing Detroit and Sicilian styles, with flavors from founder Lee Kindell's Filipino heritage. The menu includes Dungeness crab, hot honey, beef adobo and the "Mr. Pig." This is the company's first permanent California restaurant.
• Sidelines Sandwiches: cheesesteaks, burgers, soups and salads from Anthony Sloma. He has run a franchise in Oceanside and still runs a food truck at Camp Pendleton.
• Egg&Out, Immersion Coffee Co., Hen Haus, Lobster Lab and MOTO Swirl, all on the current official roster.
• Cosmos Burger, El Puerto Street Tacos, Graciously Thai, It's Allll Rice, La Vida, Norigiri, RolledUp SC and The Pita, named when the hall opened.

Kindell said the historic building made the build-out harder. "It's always a challenge, especially when you're dealing with a historic building," he told the San Clemente Times.

Why a Crosswalk Became Part of the Story

You'll see the Miramar listed at two addresses. Some coverage uses 1720 N. El Camino Real. The food hall's own site uses 150 W. Avenida Pico. Both make sense, because the building sits on the corner where the two streets meet at the entrance to North Beach.

That corner affects how people get there. The San Clemente Times reported at the ribbon-cutting that visitors had been crossing El Camino Real from nearby parking. In response, the city was adding e-bike racks and a crosswalk from the lot north of the hall to the Casino San Clemente side of the street. The brokers now marketing the property also list its location near the beach, the Metrolink station and Interstate 5 among its selling points. The city's first planned fix for the new crowds is aimed at people on foot and on bikes. Coverage so far hasn't said whether the crosswalk and racks are finished.

The schedule has also loosened since opening week. Early coverage said vendors would open at 7 a.m. The official site now lists these hours:

The official events calendar shows nothing scheduled right now. Sunset Trivia advertises an in-person trivia night at the Miramar every Tuesday at 6 p.m. Hours and vendors change quickly in a new food hall, so check the site before you plan a breakfast run around Egg&Out's 2 p.m. close.

What Comes Back When the Trail Reopens

The trail project is the second half of this fall's reconnection. OCTA's Coastal Rail Emergency Project Area 3 is building a 1,400-foot catchment wall on the bluff side of the tracks at Mariposa Point, from the El Portal beach access to Linda Lane. The San Clemente Beach Trail is being restored as part of the same work. OCTA's trail flyer describes an elevated path next to the railroad with open coastal views, plus a retaining wall with fencing. According to OCTA's September 25 alert, crews are installing handrails, irrigation and landscaping. Grading on the stretch between North Beach and El Portal is scheduled through Friday, October 2.

The El Portal to Linda Lane section has been closed since OCTA mobilized in September 2025. That's a long time without one of the city's main walking routes. In February, Triton Times described walkers and runners choosing among stairs, neighborhood streets and loose sand, or turning back, and quoted a competitive runner who said the closure made off-campus runs harder.

Until the project is finished, here's how access works, according to OCTA's project page:

1. North Beach lot to El Portal: closed during work hours, open again at the end of each workday and all day Sundays.
2. El Portal to Linda Lane: closed until the project is complete.
3. Beach access: the Mariposa underpass is closed, and the Dije Court and El Portal access points are temporarily closed. The El Portal beach underpass and the Linda Lane beach underpass are open.

OCTA describes the reopening as expected "upon project completion in Fall 2026" and has not announced a date. The finish work is also still underway. When Hall walked part of the site, crews were still grading and hadn't yet laid decomposed granite or other finishing elements.

The North Beach parking lot is also partway back. An OCTA alert dated September 18 scheduled removal of construction staging and restoration of the lot for Wednesday, September 23, and said Calle Deshecha parking would be available during that closure. The project page still lists the North Beach lot as a staging area, though, so expect some equipment there until OCTA confirms the work is done.

What Is Still Waiting on This Corner?

The old theater auditorium makes up the rest of the Miramar complex. Wedgewood Weddings leases it as the Miramar Event Center, a venue for weddings and private events with room for 250 guests. In February, Wedgewood announced the venue and began taking bookings for 2026 and later. A later San Clemente Times report said the Event Center had not opened yet, and no first event date has been published.

The property itself is changing hands, too. Less than two months after the food hall opened, the San Clemente Times reported that the real estate at 150 Avenida Pico and 1700 N. El Camino Real was being prepared for sale without an asking price. The sale covers the building only, not the food hall or Event Center businesses. Both tenants signed 10-year leases with renewal options, and about a decade remains on each. The broker said the building's historic character will stay central to its future. For anyone eating at the food hall, the leases are the important detail. They mean both operators, the food hall and the Event Center, hold leases running roughly another decade, whoever ends up owning the building.

Another project is moving forward near Avenida Pico. On May 19, the San Clemente City Council upheld approval of the Hanson Hotel, a proposed 61-room hotel at 1801 N. El Camino Real. Construction still needs a Coastal Development Permit.

For now, this is what you'll find on the corner this month. The food hall is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, trivia runs Tuesdays at 6 p.m., and a crosswalk to the Casino San Clemente side of El Camino Real is in the city's plans. South of the North Beach lot, the trail is open after work hours and on Sundays as far as El Portal, while the stretch from El Portal to Linda Lane stays closed until OCTA finishes the project.

If you're wondering what the reopened Miramar and the returning beach trail mean for the homes nearby, Green Group Real Estate is following both projects closely and is glad to talk them through with you. Contact us anytime.