Redevelopment of La Plaza where Jack\u2019s nightclub once stood is advancing with demolition nearing completion, redesign under way and more than a dozen tenants being “recruited” by developers for the new high-end boutique shopping center at the corner of Girard Avenue and Wall Street.
\n“Demolition started in June and we\u2019re getting very far along with that, anticipating the exterior renovation of the property will be completed in December, though our first tenant won\u2019t likely be open any sooner than January,” said Marcelle McAfee, regional manager for developers Davlyn Investments.
\nSeveral weeks ago, Lissilaa Boutique at 1250 Prospect St. was the first tenant to announce it would be moving into La Plaza.
\nPanera Bread, the sole remaining tenant at the old Jack\u2019s site at 7863 Girard Ave., closed Sept. 15, leaving the complex temporarily uninhabited.
\n“We\u2019re hoping to find a top-notch international brand that\u2019s seeking a flagship store for what is arguably the most iconic corner in the Village of La Jolla,” said McAfee.
\nThe plan, said McAfee, is to redevelop the high-profile center in the middle of La Jolla\u2019s downtown Village with an array of “luxury boutiques and brands,” though no names have yet been confirmed.
\n“We\u2019re still collecting letters of intent and we are speaking to candidates,” said McAfee, adding the intent is to find “a signature restaurant for the top floor of what was Panera, a prime location with a large, wrap-around patio dining and ocean views.”
\nMcAfee said a high-end spa is also being sought to fill out the third-floor of the former Jack\u2019s building, as well as another tenant, possibly a cigar lounge.
\nThe goal of La Plaza\u2019s tenant mix is to make the boutique center a destination.
\n“We want people to enjoy our center and spend their time there, not just breeze through,” she said, adding the tenant mix will begin to be announced in the year\u2019s final quarter.
\n“We anticipate 12 to 15 tenants, including the restaurant and spa inhabiting mostly smaller-size suites,” McAfee said. “We\u2019re just really excited about helping the image of La Jolla internationally.”
\nMeanwhile, on a separate but related track, preliminary designs for hardscape and landscaping for La Plaza were reviewed recently by the La Jolla Planned District Ordinance (PDO) Committee, which makes recommendations to La Jolla Community Planning Association, the advisory group on land-use matters for the city.
\nLa Jolla PDO is charged with reviewing projects to ensure they comply with standards set for community development, including use of materials, color schemes and proper signage.
\nLa Jolla architect Jim Alcorn of Alcorn & Associates gave a presentation to La Jolla PDO on landscaping and other design elements of La Plaza.
\n“There will be more landscaping there in the public right-of-way then there is at present,” Alcorn told PDO committee members. “The sidewalk is going to be completely redone and some new tile and paving and landscaping between and around the existing trees is going to happen.”
\nAlcorn said parking, includin that available in a parking structure in the Brooks Brothers Building nearby, will be “more than what\u2019s required” to meet the new shopping center\u2019s needs.
\nAlcorn will return the PDO at a future date to present the group with details on La Plaza\u2019s signage and street furniture for the project\u2019s outdoor caf\u00e9.
\nThe retail space at 7863 Girard Ave. has had a long and troubled history. Bill Berkley, who previously owned Jack\u2019s, went out of business July 31, 2009. It was later disclosed that one of Berkley\u2019s employees had allegedly embezzled funds from him, a case that is still pending in court.
\nFollowing Berkley, Mike Viscuso, a nightclub mogul who owns properties in downtown San Diego and Hollywood, purchased the property and began remodeling it with grand plans to redevelop it as a nightclub with seven bars and three restaurants. He later abandoned those plans when the economy went south.
\nRedeveloping the site “has been a challenge for whomever owned it,” said Berkley, adding the multi-level, stepped-back design of the building makes it, “very difficult to get something to go in the back. [Redevelopment] probably would work for a restaurant like George\u2019s (on Prospect), but it doesn\u2019t work for a boutique dress shop, or something like that. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s somebody that will do something and overcome the negative impact of the physical layout. I wish them luck and hope they\u2019ll be successful.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Redevelopment of La Plaza where Jack\u2019s nightclub once stood is advancing with demolition nearing completion, redesign under way and more than a dozen tenants being “recruited” by developers for the new high-end boutique shopping center at the corner of Girard Avenue and Wall Street. “Demolition started in June and we\u2019re getting very far along with […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":283388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Former Jack\u2019s site nearing completion, tenants sought","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}