{"id":223668,"date":"2016-07-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-vision-for-the-village\/"},"modified":"2016-07-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T07:00:00","slug":"a-vision-for-the-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-vision-for-the-village\/","title":{"rendered":"A vision for the Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Jeff Clemetson | Editor<\/p>\n

Boulevard business owners\u00a0new and old look ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot has been written in local publications, this one included, about the declining number of businesses in the downtown Village along La Mesa Boulevard. But many business owners, both long-time operators and new investors in La Mesa, believe downtown\u2019s future is about to be the brightest it has ever been thanks to improvements like the streetscape project, shifting demographics and a commitment by the city to refocus on popular events.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this kind of natural energy, or shift if you want to call it that, but [downtown La Mesa] is changing and I think it\u2019s changing rapidly,\u201d said Aaron Dean, a business owner invested in several ventures in the Village. \u201cI think over the next three to five years it\u2019s going to be a completely different area. Some will say not for the better, most I think will say for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(l<\/a>
(l to r) Fourpenny House executive chef Joshua Soth, Boulevard Noodles and Sheldon’s Coffee owner Aaron Dean, Guy Blumenthal of Blumenthal’s Jewelers, Public Square owner Aaron Hernandez, City Councilmember Guy McWhirter, Johnny B’s owner John Bedlion, Fourpenny House owner Peter Soutowood and Amethyst Moon owner Theresa Favro (Photo by Jeff Clemetson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dean said he sees the future of downtown La Mesa as something akin to the Little Italy neighborhood in San Diego with lots of restaurants and coffee houses, but also with shops.<\/p>\n

His own ventures along the boulevard speak to that vision \u2014 an Asian-fusion restaurant called Boulevard Noodles; a traditional coffee shop with breakfasts and pastries called Sheldon\u2019s; and a mixed-use building with condos above what he hopes will be a bakery that he is building with the Patio Group.<\/p>\n

Dean is not the only investor banking on the vision of a more culinary-based future. The Cohn Family Restaurants will soon be opening a game-centric taproom called Coin Haus next door to the Bo-Beau Kitchen + Garden it owns on the corner of La Mesa Boulevard and Allison Avenue. Moving into the space once occupied by Cosmos Coffee Caf\u00e9 is the craft coffee shop Public Square owned by Aaron Hernandez. And another new restaurant called Four Penny House, opening next to Boulevard Noodles, will focus on beer, bread and both local and seasonal fare.<\/p>\n

Four Penny House owner Peter Soutowood sees La Mesa as a great investment because of a changing demographic that is hungry for the kind of social activities they are accustomed to.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my friends my age or younger who lived in North Park or South Park, started families and they are moving out here \u2014 a lot of them,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they want places to eat and places to go and hang out like what they had there. I don\u2019t think La Mesa is really a retirement community anymore. I don\u2019t think it ever was.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Bedlion said he saw the potential of La Mesa\u2019s downtown area years ago when he bought the \u201cdrug-infested, dangerous and awful\u201d establishment he turned into what is now Johnny B\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bought it because of La Mesa, not because of that particular place,\u201d he said. \u201cI bought it because I saw this Village and I loved the feel of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The improvements he put into Johnny B\u2019s helped inspire other businesses in the area to do the same, he said. \u201cI think people saw the potential of this area. The potential down here then was amazing and I think it\u2019s even more amazing now and I\u2019ve watched it grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bedlion also sees La Mesa growing into a destination for people to eat out and shop because there is a shortage of quality restaurants, not just in the city, but in most of East County. However, not everyone will be accepting of the changes to La Mesa\u2019s sleepy feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s going to be some pushback; not serious stuff, but you get it from people you don\u2019t know about,\u201d he said. \u201cSome of it might be legitimate and some of it probably isn\u2019t and we all have to come to a common ground with that; but I think in the long run we\u2019ll all benefit from more restaurants, more diversity, more shops.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order for downtown La Mesa to have that eat, shop and play feel, it will need to replace existing office-type businesses that currently occupy much of the potential retail space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real estate offices and escrow offices and some of those places need to get off the main street,\u201d Dean said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean they shouldn\u2019t be part of the community, but that main street is exciting and I think it is where you\u2019re going to see the change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soutowood agrees that to achieve a vibrant downtown, the businesses need to be the kind that pique peoples\u2019 interest to stroll in and out of buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI totally agree that there are some businesses that are not walk-in businesses that shouldn\u2019t be on the main drag because I don\u2019t think people say, \u2018Ah, I\u2019m going to stop in and get some title insurance,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be on the second floor, that\u2019s fine, but if you have stuff every single door where people want to come in, you\u2019re going to see the sidewalks busy all day and right into the evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guy Blumenthal of Blumenthal Jewelers agrees and he recently moved his showroom on La Mesa Boulevard to a cottage on Date Street because it is a better fit for his business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re opening up a design house there, less inventory showing and doing a lot more design and trunk shows,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool little house and we can make it into something very different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blumenthal has operated in La Mesa for over 25 years and in that time, his vision for downtown has shifted with the changes in how retail business is done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to say I wanted [downtown] to look like Palo Alto. I don\u2019t know if today that\u2019s possible. The days of a lot of really nice brick and mortar retail stores are dwindling,\u201d he said. \u201cThe jewelry store that I once had is a thing of the past. You can\u2019t have those heavy inventories sitting there, those giant showrooms \u2014 it\u2019s just not the way it\u2019s going to be. The only way to compete with online is keeping your costs down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Neighboring<\/a>
Neighboring restaurants Boulevard Noodles and Fourpenny House are both currently under construction and set to open soon. (Photo by Jeff Clemetson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Keeping costs down is what eventually will cause the office businesses on the boulevard to move as well, Blumenthal said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that there\u2019s so many offices on the boulevard just says the rent is too cheap. It\u2019s just a fact,\u201d he said. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t be there if the rent was higher. They\u2019d be upstairs or on the next street over or someplace else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rent used be as low as $300 a month, which attracted hobbyists and not serious businesses, Blumenthal said, which made it difficult to market the area and bring people to shop and dine there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we met as a city and the new City Council, we realized that one of the goals for us to do was promote and market our city,\u201d City Councilmember Guy McWhirter said.<\/p>\n

Marketing La Mesa has taken many forms, from promoting and revamping events like Oktoberfest, the classic car shows and Christmas in the Village, to the streetscape project that \u201cremodeled\u201d the sidewalks along La Mesa Boulevard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Guy and the council have done with the redevelopment of the street is fantastic,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n

But not everyone was pleased and many people blame the roughly year-long project for closures of several local businesses along the Boulevard, an allegation that McWhirter refutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe received a lot of criticism that [we] put these businesses out,\u201d he said. \u201cI guarantee that the city did not put one business out of business, it was a combination. Was this the straw? Maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, he added, businesses like Sanfillipo\u2019s had other issues like the coming $15-an-hour minimum wage to contend with; O\u2019Dunn Fine Art Gallery found that La Mesa wasn\u2019t ready for an art gallery; and Cosmos had a change of ownership that effected business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you read the papers, it says after five years, only 25 percent of new businesses are still in business. I think downtown La Mesa is double that. We still have 50, 60 percent of new businesses that are still here after five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theresa Favro, owner Amethyst Moon, moved her gift shop back to La Mesa just before the streetscape project began. Before that, she operated her shop in El Cajon but moved after she sold her building because a similar construction project there slowed her business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that they were going to tear up the street; I knew what was going to happen and I was prepared for it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was sad to watch all the other people that weren\u2019t prepared for it because I had gone through the same thing in El Cajon \u2026 I knew the businesses down here didn\u2019t know what was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favro, like other retail spaces that rely on walk-in traffic, struggled through the streetscape but now sees the finished boulevard as a great opportunity for expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as they reopened the street, business picked right back up,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d like to open one or two more stores in the Village as spaces come available, that\u2019s my plan. If there\u2019s going to be mom and pop stores, I think why shouldn\u2019t I own them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Comun\u00edquese con Jeff Clemetson en jeff@sdcnn.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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