Little Italy News, Delicias to Close in Rancho Santa Fe

Hit the Streets

Art for a good cause

The public is invited to attend a reception kicking off an art show that’s raising funds for Little Italy’s Piazza Famiglia, a town square under construction on West Date Street.

The exhibit, Minor Magic, features works by Randy Crawford, an illustrator and graphic designer who cleverly uses Photoshop to turn photos he’s taken throughout San Diego and his travels abroad into pieces of art.

Funds from the exhibit will go toward maintaining the piazza once it is completed in spring 2017, installing public art displays, and establishing cultural events. The reception will be held at the Little Italy Association office at 710 West Ivy Street, from 6 to 10 p.m. on November 21. Email [email protected] to attend.

Wedged between West Date, Columbia, and India streets, Piazza Famiglia will have 10,000 square feet of open public space, more than 16,000 square feet of retail space, underground parking, and 125 new apartments—including affordable housing units.

Word on the Street

More options to move to Little Italy

It’s no surprise that people want to live in Little Italy, considering the buzz around the neighborhood’s restaurants, bars, and nightlife, along with its walkability and close proximity to downtown. Developers have noticed, and Marco LiMandri, chief executive administrator of the Little Italy Association, estimates there are 300 new apartment and condo units under construction in the neighborhood.

Coming into the mix of new housing in the neighborhood is CityMark Development’s Kettner Lofts, a mixed-use housing project on Kettner Boulevard between Hawthorn and Ivy streets, that will break ground early next year.

The project recently got an additional $48 million in funding, which added more units and an extra level of underground parking to the original design plan. Fident Capital, a San Diego-based firm that led the effort to find the investors, said the six-story complex gained an additional 30 apartments (now totaling 129).

Tracking Turnover

Delicias, a longtime Rancho Santa Fe restaurant, will serve its last meal tomorrow.

“After a 25-year run, which is a long time in the restaurant industry, the owners of Delicias decided to close and focus on other business ventures,” Bill Shrader, a senior vice president at Colliers International, said in an email.

Shrader is seeking a new tenant for the 5,800-square-foot space. “I am in conversations with various potential replacements, but nothing is finalized.”

News Bites

Community do-gooders thwarted by red tape

A group of volunteers wanted to fix up the corner of Euclid and Imperial avenues in Encanto in an attempt to create a safe community space in an area long plagued by gang violence, so they installed some benches and planter boxes.

The city said the group, Better Block San Diego, didn’t have the right permits for the makeover and was told to remove everything by November 20 or face thousands of dollars in fines. The group agreed to dismantle the structures right away, but then discovered it needs an additional permit to do so.

 

Opportunity for new seaside restaurant in IB

The Port is looking for a new restaurant concept to replace the Tin Fish on the Imperial Beach Pier, whose lease will be expiring next April.

 

Brigantine closer to replacing Anthony’s on Harbor Drive

Restaurateurs have been vying to take over the space on the waterfront that Anthony’s Fish Grotto has occupied for nearly 70 years, and it looks like The Brigantine will win the bid at the Port of San Diego’s upcoming meeting on Tuesday.