Advertisement
Advertisement

Meet the bayfront dining spot that almost wasn’t

Share

Nine years after it was first conceived, San Diego’s biggest bayfront dining venue, complete with a floating party barge, will finally make its public debut. But it almost didn’t happen.

Along the way, a historic recession intruded, the principal architect was murdered, an offshore vessel that was to be used for an event center sank, and an 11th hour review by the Coastal Commission meant building a more than half-million-dollar public promenade.

“Honestly, I think a lot of people would have given up, between all the costs and the time it took,” said San Diego restaurateur David Cohn, who, after already opening more than two dozen restaurants, knew there was no way he could abandon his most ambitious project yet. “These opportunities come along once in a lifetime, and this is just one of those amazing locations that we wouldn’t want to pass up.”

Scheduled for a mid-August opening, Coasterra, as it is called, is a 28,000-square-foot restaurant, outdoor lounge and event space perched on the east end of Harbor Island. The Cohn Restaurant Group and development partner Sunroad Enterprises are banking on a rich reward for their $15 million investment – as is their landlord, the Port of San Diego, which oversees tidelands development. Based on seating capacity alone, it will be the single largest stand-alone dining complex on the tidelands.

Spectacular bay and downtown skyline vistas, a captivating midcentury design, hundreds of outdoor seats and a floating barge suitable for destination weddings and corporate outings will likely deliver revenues that will easily rival those at Cohn sister restaurants, Island Prime and C Level, just steps away.

It was in fact repeated requests from diners for space to hold special bayside events that persuaded Cohn and Sunroad executives that an indoor-outdoor venue that showcased dramatic water views would be a sure financial bet. With more than 60 percent of the new restaurant’s seating outside (shaded by a solar glass roof), a 500-seat bay-view ballroom and an offshore party space with room for a 500-person reception, Coasterra more than compensates for C Level’s tiny bar and too few in-demand outdoor tables at Island Prime.

Coasterra by the numbers

$15 million: Total cost of the Coasterra project

28,000: Total square footage of the project, including floating event center

120: Indoor restaurant and bar seating

280: Outdoor restaurant and bar seating

500: Capacity of floating event center (for stand-up receptions)

200: Number of employees

35%: Anticipated percentage of building’s total energy costs that would be offset by solar panels

306: Parking spaces (all valet for 400 vehicles)

“Those restaurants have been a great success within the Cohn restaurant chain, and miraculously, their sales have grown year over year for the last 10 years,” said Rick Vann, executive vice president at Sunroad, a majority investor in Coasterra that also operates a nearby 600-slip marina and has a 40-year lease with the port for the three restaurants. Together, Island Prime and C Level are currently the highest-grossing restaurants per square foot on the tidelands, according to port officials.

“We all understand how unique and special that panoramic view is, and the concept was that whatever we do build next door we wanted to make sure we had that meeting facility.”

A powerful tourist draw

While the new restaurant was designed, in part, with Mexican influences in mind and a menu that is a modern twist on regional, Mexican fare, Cohn said he wanted an unconventional venue that would still feel familiar and inviting to locals and tourists. That meant, out with the ant larvae tacos (a Mexican delicacy) and in with the chips and salsa and hand-shaken Margaritas tableside.

“The design, the location, everything is a differentiator from going to Old Town, which everyone loves to do, but we didn’t want to be too adventurous,” Cohn said of the menu choices.

No doubt, Coasterra is positioned to be a powerful economic stimulus for Harbor Island and a handy marketing tool for luring group meetings and conventions to San Diego, believes Carl Winston, head of the San Diego State School of Hospitality.

“I think it will be the sexy new thing San Diego can sell to groups because the views really are spectacular there,” he said. “But will it have an economic impact? Not necessarily, because it will take business away from other nearby venues, whether it’s a downtown hotel ballroom or a restaurant in Liberty Station.”

While a 2008 report predicted future lease revenues of $600,000 a year to the San Diego Unified Port District from both Island Prime and a new, larger restaurant complex next door, port officials believe that number understates what are likely to be much more robust returns.

When Coasterra was first conceived nearly a decade ago, Sunroad and the Cohn Restaurant Group initially wrestled with the idea of transforming the aging Reuben E. Lee into a dazzling new offshore restaurant and gathering spot. They later abandoned that idea in favor of removing the old paddle wheeler’s superstructure and retaining the hull for a deck-top event space – until it sank three years ago.

When Sunroad took over the leasehold that included the former Reuben’s (now Island Prime/C Level) and Reuben E. Lee in the early 2000s, it wasn’t long before the development team agreed that an overhaul would be a wasted effort. The 120-foot-long vessel that opened in 1968 with a birthday bash that drew Hollywood elite was a “mess” Vann recalled, its threadbare carpeting stained and the furniture in need of repair.

Ultimately, the development team changed course and decided to create its own 6,000-square-foot floating venue. Constructed at a Chula Vista shipyard where it was outfitted with a bar, bride’s changing room, restrooms and huge deck area, it will connect to land via two gangways. It’s due to arrive at Harbor Island about a month after the restaurant opens, Cohn said.

Late architect's vision endures

The late architect Graham Downes, who spent years working and reworking his contemporary vision for what would become one of his highest profile projects, died in 2013 when the architectural work was about 80 percent complete. He was killed following a late-night fight with an angry employee, who was convicted last year of second-degree murder.

What endured was a design that always sought to frame, but not overpower, Coasterra’s best asset, the bay views, while also incorporating subtle design touches and textures that recall parts of Mexico, said former colleague Anthony Garcia.

“There were several generations of design but they always captured the iconic views of downtown and the bay,” Garcia said. “The design is very clean and simple and powerful and didn’t use the traditional go-forms that are Mexican. Graham really thought of this as a landmark project for him on a high-profile, beautiful site.”

Downes’ unexpected death was not the only thing to take the Coasterra development team by surprise. Shortly before construction was to begin, Cohn said he learned that the California Coastal Commission wanted to review the project, years after the San Diego Unified Port District had decided such a review was unnecessary.

Not so, concluded the commission staff and commissioners.

“The main issues were public access and the views because before this restaurant was built, anyone could park and look at the skyline and go to the water’s edge,” said coastal planner Diana Lilly. “When originally proposed, the building went right up along the shoreline and if you wanted to walk or jog around the peninsula you would have had to go around the restaurant and that was a huge issue for the staff and the commission.”

Problem solved. The developer would end up building an easily accessed promenade along the eastern end of Harbor Island that doesn’t intrude upon views from the outdoor dining area above.

“I think the walkway is a great idea but it was a very expensive one,” Cohn said.

Although Coasterra’s restaurant has yet to open, the outdoor patio space and ballroom already have been used for a few corporate events and weddings. Longtime event planner Kelly Aull had her choice of any venue in the county for her wedding on Sunday but after a friend who is also a planner urged her to check out the new space, she did and was immediately smitten.

“As a wedding planner, you’re always looking for something new, something fresh, but what most people are looking for is a water view of some sort,” said Aull, who confessed she already had a North County resort booked for her special day before switching to Coasterra. “This perspective of looking at downtown San Diego over the water doesn’t occur anywhere else. This is going to be a huge competitor in the market.”