One of Pacific Beach’s more prominent businesses, Café 976, a longstanding coffee house and breakfast destination, located in a 1920s-era cottage on the corner of Cass and Felspar streets, closed recently after more than 20 years of service in the beachside neighborhood.
The café is being renovated, re-painted and up-graded with new fixtures and appliances. The plan is to re-open by the end of July with the same format, under new management. The Café 976 Felspar will have the same menu, and most of the same staff. Many are familiar with the property’s most recent incarnation as a café with surrounding rose-filled patio.
But did you know that the site was previously a gardening business named “Too Pooped to Plant.” Or that it was once the residence of Earl and Birdie Taylor, for whom Pacific Beach’s nearby library is named?
Over the course of its nearly century-long existence, the corner space has gone from being a home to a school to an antique store, until finally becoming a coffee shop in 1993, according to PB historian John Fry.
For years students and others had spent many an afternoon plugging away on their laptops within the gardens of Cafe 976. It was the first place where many enjoyed their first acai bowl after moving to San Diego.
Commercial Realtor Tony Franco said Cass Street Real Estate Holdings LLC, led by local developer Michael Turk, purchased 4612-20 Cass St. for $2.5 million in cash on May 29, 2015.
“The selling CAP rate was 5.5 percent,” Franco said. “The property was previously owned by the American Diabetes Association and includes both Cafe 976 and the Cass Street Bar & Grille.”
On July 9, 2015, Franco said Turk took a loan out for $1.25 million for the 7,513-square-foot lot. 
“I do not know if Mr. Turk plans on simply releasing the restaurant,” said Franco. “However, based on Mr. Turk’s development experience, he is likely going to redevelop the property into a mixed-use project at some point.”
Turk could not be reached for comment by Beach & Bay Press.