By Pat Sherman
SDUN Assistant Editor

The empty shell of North Park’s old JCPenney building at 3029 University Ave. will soon be alive with the sights and sounds of renovation.

On April 1, Palm Springs restaurateurs Tom Eads and Joel Herzer signed a 15-year lease with CLK Investments for the four-story, 40,000-square-foot building — most recently occupied by a Big Lots store.

With Wang’s North Park, the pair hope to replicate the success of their contemporary Pan Asian restaurant, Wang’s in the Desert, located in Palm Springs. The restaurant will serve a mix of Sichuan, Mandarin, Thai, Cantonese and noodle dishes.

Eads said he and his partner see “a lot of love” and business potential in North Park.

“The efforts of the redevelopment committee and the city … to kind of develop the area in a positive way for both business owners and residents really appealed to us,” Eads said. “It seemed like they’re really making an effort to make it benefit everyone for the long term, and we’re in it for the long term.”

Initial plans are to use only the ground floor for the restaurant, and parts of the basement for kitchen preparation, a walk-in refrigerator and dry goods storage.

Plans may eventually include expanding the dining area to the 4,000 square-foot mezzanine, which could be used for private parties or as a lounge.

“It’s a really charming environment,” said North Park Main Street’s executive director, Liz Studebaker, who met with the owners April 28. “It’d be beautiful to sit up there and look down on University Avenue and the dining room.”

Eads said they hope to open the restaurant in the fourth quarter of this year, and would likely sublet the second floor to a art gallery, yoga studio or similar tenant.

The building, which opened as a JCPenney in 1942, was one of only two JCPenney’s in the nation during World War II. The multi-level department store was an anchor of North Park, then promoted as a growing regional shopping district.