Updates on Development Projects and Other Business News from Ocean Beach

New Owners of OB Business Center

Joella and Chris Peregoy have bought the OB Business Center on Santa Monica Avenue and things appear to be running swimmingly. One change they’ve initiated is to be open on Saturdays, from 9am to 2pm. Plus they’ve made access to the personal mail boxes 7 days a week. But they provide the same basic services: copys, faxes, scans and printing of course.

Chris told me they’d been vacationing here from Phoenix these last 4 to 5 years and they finally decided to move here and buy the business. He used to work for American Express and she for Michaels. We wish them the best of luck.

Projects Around OB

Occasionally, we peruse current development projects in and around Ocean Beach and take a “look-see” and share. Here’s what we found on Thursday, November 16th.

Upper Voltaire Project Has Underground Parking

Some progress has been made on the much-delayed Upper Voltaire project and it now looks like a real underground parking space is developed.

14  months ago, it was a giant hole in the ground. It’s the 28-unit project called the Upper Voltaire Mixed Use – situated on that one-acre triangular-shaped lot along Voltaire Street (where Dominos once stood) just west of Wabaska, overlooking Nimitz Boulevard below.

The transformation into a site for 28 two and three storied townhouses, and half a dozen retail units continues.

Here is how we reported on the Upper Voltaire Project in late April 2015 :

Designed to bring in “quality townhome residences”, the units will include 2 or 3 bedrooms with an average of 1,450 square feet. 17 of them will be 3-stories and eleven are 2-stories that will rest over retail storefronts. All the planned units will have a deck, and some will have two, plus garage spaces.

The project will include 6 buildings, with 3 of them having street-level retail spaces along Voltaire Street. Parking for commercial customers is a separate, at-grade parking lot behind the stores. The mixed use project has been delayed for numerous reasons, and was originally scheduled for grading, shoring and off-site improvement work during the summer of 2012.

We reported back then, that “The vertical construction was planned to be finished by mid-2013” and a year and half ago surmised that there must have been a delay of two years. Now, it appears to have been a  delay of of over 3 years.

Coffee House at Catalina and Voltaire Empty

No one seems to be moving into the former Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at Catalina and Voltaire. This is a tough part of town. The coffee place was the very first business in the new project – and is now closed.

New Royale Restaurant Coming to Former Public Sessions

A burger pop-up restaurant called Royale will replace Sessions Public on Voltaire Street. Founders Mariah and Jordan Brownwood first launched Royale as a food cart when living in Austin, Texas. In San Diego, they were recruited to run the food service at Park & Rec when the University Heights bar opened in 2015. During their year in residence, the eatery was popular for its menu of burgers, sandwiches, tater tots and salads.

All those items and more will be available soon at Royale. The Brownwoods, along with partner Andy Zlotnik (Park & Rec, Waypoint Public) shuttered Sessions Public after running it since October. Planning to reopen in early December, the new space will be lighter and brighter, with a retro beachy design that will be the setting for Royale’s relaxed menu.

Weekend brunch will feature egg-topped breakfast sandwiches. Jordan, a bartender who worked at East Village’s Rare Form for three years, will be directing a seasonal cocktail menu based on citrus and produce from his own family farm in Valley Center where they also grow fresh hops for local breweries. There will also be eight to ten beer taps, wine on draft, kombucha and house sangria. Eater San Diego

Foundation Laid for Ocean Beach Plaza

A development project smack tab in the heart of downtown OB, the Ocean Beach Plaza, took a major step recently with the pouring of the foundations for the buildings to be on the site.

People’s Garden Restaurant Really Close to Opening

People’s market vegetarian restaurant appears to be very close to opening. Staff is training now. Come back in a couple of weeks, a sign on the door says.

Last Sand Dune in OB Going to a Golf Course in Mission Valley

I paid a visit to the project on Saratoga Avenue that is taking off the last sand dune of Ocean Beach. The sand will be delivered to a Mission Valley golf course.  What’s coming is the construction of a mixed-use project. The project at 5040 Santa Monica Avenue includes a 2-story commercial unit in front and 4 residential units behind and above it.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board approved it by a vote of 7 to 2 over two years ago, on July 1, 2015.  I was told by one of the head workers on site that the sand will be going to a golf course in Mission Valley.

5040 Santa Monica Ave – artist rendering.

Here’s our description of the project and our report from June 17:

Commercial and Residential for Santa Monica – the “Last Sand Dune in OB”

The project proposed for 5040 Santa Monica was a scaled-down version of a development that had been approved back in 2006 but never constructed. The developer was going for a ‘substantial compliance review’ with the city, as the site has been dormant for around 10 years. The lot supposedly contains “the last sand dune in OB”.

The new design includes one 2-story commercial unit in front and 4 residential units behind and above it. As that block of Santa Monica is zoned as a mix of commercial and residential, it was incumbent on the developer to install some commercial. The commercial parking – as is all the parking – is in the back and off the alley. Twelve parking spaces are planned. The residential units will be eventually turned into condos, the owner said.