HUNTINGTON BEACH
Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. is opening a grocery store at the site of a former Circuit City at the Bella Terra mall near the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. The 32,000- square-foot building is being renovated at an undisclosed cost. The store will be the first for Whole Foods in Huntington Beach. It is set to be completed by late 2010. Pasadena-based D.L. English Design Studio is the architect. Chino-based Savant Construction Inc. is the contractor.
TUSTIN
The Orange County Transportation Authority and city of Tustin are planning a parking structure at the Tustin Metrolink Station off of Edinger Avenue and Jamboree Road. Watry Design Inc. in Newport Beach is designing a five-story, 825-space structure to be built on a parking lot. Design plans are expected in early 2010. Construction is scheduled to last 12 months. The $15 million structure is expected be done by summer 2011. A contractor is set to be selected once the design is complete.
LAKE FOREST
A Cafe Rio Mexican restaurant is under construction at the Shops at Lake Forest shopping center near Rockfield Boulevard and El Toro Road. The 3,200-square-foot site previously was home to a PC Club, a computer store that was part of a chain that went out of business in 2008. The restaurant, which cost about $500,000 to build, will be the first in California for the Salt Lake City-based Cafe Rio Inc. Besides Utah, the company also has restaurants in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Nevada. The Lake Forest restaurant is set to open soon. Busch Corp. of Irvine is the developer and contractor. The architect is Simi Valley-based Kamus + Keller + Turpin Inc.
IRVINE
A Lazy Dog Cafe is under construction on the Irvine side of the Market Place shopping center. The 400,000-square-foot site previously was home to French 75 Bistro and Wilhelm’s Chop House. The cost for the project wasn’t disclosed. Westminster-based Lazy Dog Cafe is developing the space under a lease with mall operator Irvine Company. The restaurant is expected to open in April. Lazy Dog Cafe told the Business Journal earlier this year that it was taking advantage of cheap building prices to expand.
A Carl’s Jr. on Culver Drive near Michelson Drive is being remodeled. The restaurant was built more than 35 years ago. It is set to reopen by February. The cost of the project wasn’t disclosed. The Irvine office of Atlanta-based Greenberg Farrow & Associates is the architect. Chino-based JG Construction is the contractor.
