Flash back to Costa Mesa’s West 19th Street in the late 1970s.
Punk rockers and cowboys mashed it up at the legendary Cuckoo’s Nest and neighboring country bar Zubies.
The clashes were made famous in The Vandals punk rock anthem “Urban Struggle.”
Both bars went away long ago. Then came Club Mesa, a notorious punk club that wasn’t much better at keeping the peace.
In 2001, the guys behind Memphis Restaurants, operator of Memphis Cafe in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, bought Club Mesa.
The new owners tore up the urine-stained rugs and found lovely tile underneath,the place once had been an upscale steakhouse.
They fixed up the club in a few short months and opened five years ago as Detroit Bar, which hosts alternative rock and other concerts.
Rather than being just another sore spot for Costa Mesa, Detroit Bar is the flagship for change on the city’s West 19th Street.
Detroit Bar is a tamer, yet hip place known for its eclectic entertainment,from national comedians to Brazilian music and karaoke.
Some notable rock bands have played Detroit Bar, including Stereolab, the Breeders, Calexico, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Modest Mouse.
Local bands, including The 88, play there too.
Chris Fahey, a tour manager and Newport Harbor high school grad, books bands for the club.
Other trendy businesses call 19th Street home. They include Avalon Bar, Mesa Art and Framing and, most recently, eVocal, a clothes boutique with space for art and music events.
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Mesa Art: owner started out running Hispanic variety store |
Coming soon: lofts and townhomes.
“We’re at the beginning of change in this area,” said Brett Walker, owner of eVocal.
Walker envisions 19th Street as the new center of Costa Mesa.
Early Stages
For now, the street has a long way to go to challenge South Coast Plaza, or even the trendy shopping hub along 17th Street or the area on Bristol Street that’s home to funky mall The Lab.
Starting at Newport Boulevard near Triangle Square, 19th Street eventually runs into Newport Beach. It’s a predominantly Hispanic section with Mexican restaurants, an El Metate Market and other businesses.
It’s one of the few areas where live music is allowed into the night. That’s made Detroit Bar and other places a fit.
“We like the diversity,” said Dan Bradley, founder and president of Memphis Restaurants. “That’s what makes the area special.”
Compared to Newport Beach or 17th Street, some consider 19th Street a “ghetto,” Bradley said.
But it attracts the “creative, open-minded type person that has no issue with a diverse, vibrant area,” he said.
Bradley grew up in Costa Mesa. He said he saw many of his peers leave for bigger cities.
“There were people who I knew who were hungry for places to go,” he said. “We wanted to keep our creative friends in town.”
In the mid-1990s, Bradley and his partners opened Memphis Cafe, a roadhouse soul food place, on Bristol Street.
Later, they opened a Memphis Cafe with a more modern design in downtown Santa Ana.
Another key person on 19th Street: Mike Conley, owner of Avalon Bar, across the street from Detroit Bar. Conley, who used to sing for punk band M.I.A., has bought other space nearby, Bradley said.
Plans are to add a cafe with outdoor seating, sort of like Santa Ana’s Gypsy Den, according to Bradley.
Bradley, Conley and a few other investors teamed up a year ago to buy gay bar Tin Lizzie Saloon, about four miles away.
They haven’t done much to market the tiny 1,100-square-foot cocktail lounge. It doesn’t need it, Bradley said.
“It’s been a gay bar since before the 1990s,” he said.
The city has taken an interest in 19th Street, sprucing it up with flowery medians, palm trees and lampposts. It buried all the overhead electric wires.
Costa Mesa, which fashions itself as “the city of the arts,” has given the street a nickname, “19 West,” which is yet to catch on. “19 West” signs are coming this fall.
“The city has been doing a great job with getting the area cleaned up,” Bradley said.
A couple of City Council members live on the westside. That’s helped with rezoning, Bradley said.
“Business has been good,” he said. “It’s all about what we’ve created. People see it as a viable area.”
Homes are the only missing piece, according to Bradley. Some recently were approved.
The city and a couple of cultural art committees concluded an “overlay” allowing for different uses on a project-by-project basis would be best for 19th Street.
The overlay has cleared the way for the possibility of adding live-work homes to the mostly industrial and retail area.
“It lets market forces change the westside,” said Frank Gutierrez, owner of Mesa Art, and a committee member.
Changing Character
The overlay zoning already has doubled the price of land there, he said.
“This is a prime area. You can get the breeze from the ocean,” he said.
The area could see a gentrification, not unlike that in downtown Santa Ana.
The area’s Mexican businesses may have to “swim or sink,” Gutierrez said.
They need to develop their businesses to appeal to urban hipsters as well, he said.
Gutierrez is an example of that.
He’s been in business on the street for 20 years. His first business was a “small Wal-Mart” that catered to Hispanics.
Then he wanted to do something more interesting and more profitable. So about nine years ago he opened his custom framing business. It caters to the coastal crowd, he said.
One other change in the air on 19th Street: developer interest.
“You get letters from different developers now,” he said.
One developer in the game is Irvine-based Rutter Development Corp.
The company is putting up 145 one-story flats and two-story townhomes at 1901 Newport Blvd., which intersects 19th.
The homes, The Plaza Residences, are set to be 1,300 to 1,800 square feet, said Michael Eadie, vice president of Rutter.
The city is pushing more home ownership, Eadie said. More homeowners mean more property taxes for the city, he said.
Residents also support shops, restaurants and bars in the area.
Phase one of The Plaza Residents is projected to be finished in about a year. It will include 32 homes. The project calls for some “affordable” units, which in Orange County is about $250,000. The other homes could go for about $500,000. Prices haven’t been set, he said.
Within walking distance is Triangle Square, which may see condos added to the top of the struggling shopping center.
“That’s going to be a good idea,” Eadie said. “There will be a need for more business in the area once more people move in,” he said.
