– Kids gymnastics studio coming to Pacific Beach
The Franco Realty Group represented the landlord in successfully leasing approximately 8,300 square feet of commercial space at 929 Garnet Ave. to G3 Kids Inc., a gymnastics-based program for children.
According to its website, “G3Kids is a learning facility for all children combining gymnastics with traditional educational programs to build a foundation for a successful life. G3kids is the marriage between a gymnastics-based athletic program and an interactive learning academy. G3 offers traditional and untraditional gymnastics classes while ensuring safety and exploration.”
G3 is expecting its doors to open for business in mid-June. – Sprouts expanding next door
Sprouts Farmers Market at 1260 Garnet Ave. is expanding into the former American Apparel clothing store at 1280 Garnet Ave.
“American Apparel filed for bankruptcy and closed down,” said Pacific Beach commercial Realtor Tony Franco, president of The Franco Realty Group. “Sprouts is currently demolishing the space and converting it into a grocery store.” – Carl’s Jr. is out, Vallerta Express is in at 1375 Garnet Ave.
Franco said Vallerta Express outbid Carl’s Jr., which had a restaurant onsite. “Vallerta Express is open for business,” he said. “Carls Jr. is now scrambling trying to find a new location in 92109. It’s a sign that local and regional tenants are willing to pay more than national name-brand tenants.”  – Pueblo to open next month
Chef Sean McCart of Pueblo Baja coastal cuisine, formerly The China Inn at 877 Hornblend St., has been working on the menu of the new upscale restaurant that is still slated for a mid-June opening, said one of the new restaurant’s managers, Lindsay Blanchard.
“McCart has been working to perfect our Baja menu and spends almost all of his weekend time in Baja with local fisherman and developing new recipes,” Blanchard said. “Our chef has a home in Baja and dives into the culture, cuisine and of course the surfing as much as possible.” – New tenants at The Rose Center
Two office spaces in The Rose Center on the corner of Garnet Avenue and Fanuel Street have been leased. One business, Lotus and Luna, specializes in selling authentic handcrafted accessories from Thailand while empowering women.
According to LotusandLuna.com, “each Lotus and Luna accessory is handcrafted by female artisans living in various small villages in Northern Thailand, providing them and their neighbors with consistent, fair employment.”
The other business, NatX-ray, at natx-ray.com, notes that it’s “dedicated to helping speed up and improve X-ray and neutron-based sample analysis, and to provide researchers and industries with the latest highly automated techniques with equipment that implement them.” – Villa Grande Triplexes at 1634, 1644 and 1652 Grand Ave.
Project architect Tim Golba described Villa Grande as “an odd mixed-use site,” noting the location is three original lots, with the far western lot being zoned commercial, and the two eastern lots as multi-family.   
“We elected to do a project that we thought was one of the first projects to reflect the whole eco-district for Pacific Beach,” said Golba. “This site was tailor-made for that type of infill, and we designed a very sustainable model to reflect many of the goals from that charrette process.”
Golba said smaller-scale triplex structures were chosen versus the typical Grand Avenue big-box. He pointed out the project’s designed to be “very energy efficient and incorporate many sustainable features into the final product.”
From an architecture standpoint, Golba said, “We wanted to do something more ‘urban’ given the very commercial context around this site.” Other openings/closings
– Crunch Gym has a new gym under construction at the former Trader Joe’s site at 1211 Garnet Ave. 
– Papa Lunas at 1404 Garnet Ave. was sold and has closed and is to be replaced by a new poke restaurant, according to Franco. 
– Gelson’s on Turquoise (formerly Albertsons) is under construction. “Gelson’s is very bullish and opening several locations throughout Southern California,” Franco said.