In this Monday, Jan 20th’s radio show at KXFM 104.7 (repay above), my guest Bruce Russo (the country’s largest restaurant developer) and I talk about the massive undertaking L.A. retailers and restaurants face in their rebuild. There are SO many layers here that will have to be addressed. All politics aside, this disaster will prove the largest rebuild undertaking in the country. Here’s why …
And THEN, we talk about the potential for greater (and specific) support for Laguna Beach’s restaurants.
- The structural and underground difference between buildings destroyed in hurricane or tornadoes vs. buildings destroyed by fire.
- When communities are put together piece by piece with retrofit, etc., now that chalkboard has been wiped clean. It’s now a huge re-zoning and planning effort along with express and executable building permit processes.
- The liquor license conundrum that has now appeared for all these ruined restaurants and bars, and all the reasons why. (The same issue is happening with the existing restaurants at the Dana Point Harbor that want to continue operation in a new space while the reconstruction is happening.)
“The easy part is getting the restaurant built. It’s the headwinds you have to deal with it to get it to the point where you can actually make the building go vertical.” - Bruce Russo
- Bruce shares what other cities did for businesses in quick rebuild processes after hurricanes and tornadoes. He also mentions better solutions in other large cities to expedite the plan review and approvals process.
It’s what we call the “quantum leap mindset” where you effectively “wrinkle” the time, and pull the ends of the circumstance together to leap to a faster solution. - Diane Armitage
- We discuss the expected glut of demolition material and the expected scarcity of new building materials. Bruce offers a time estimate for a single restaurant rebuild from this moment forward. He also offers an opinion on what he’d do if he were these restaurant owners.
We then switch to Diane’s recent interview with KXFM Radio’s Billy Fried (Jan. 14th on Laguna Talks) about the state of restaurants in Laguna Beach. (His replay has not posted yet, but I’ll keep you in the loop when it does.)
- Billy and I discussed the “poshness” of Laguna Beach, the mystique that it had 20 years ago and we’re missing that now. Why is that? Is Laguna Beach so far behind that it’s too far behind now? What’s 20, 30 and 40 years old isn’t attracting the 30s to 40s aged demographic.
- We talk about the Laguna Beach restaurants that still attract the higher revenue clientele. And, even while the hotels are still gathering the higher revenue demographic, that’s not what’s day tripping into our town anymore. How did we end up with such disparity?
“It’s not like the people don’t exist and that they’re not willing to come to Laguna Beach.” - Diane Armitage“It didn’t happen overnight. The opulence didn’t swim out to sea overnight. It went piece by piece. When the pieces went away, they weren’t replaced with equal to or better.” - Bruce Russo
- The difference between Newport Coast and Laguna Beach.
- The importance of having a city restaurant advocate who can hear why these owners and chefs are thinking of leaving before they leave. We also talk about Javier Sosa of Javier’s leaving Laguna Beach and the “long shot” he took to build out the giant he created in Newport Coast.
- Bruce proffers his opinion of a parking garage in Laguna Beach and retail anchors vs. restaurant anchors.
- We talk about the new Piatti group coming into the restaurant Bruce designed and built here in Laguna Beach at 222 Ocean Blvd (will they change the scenario?)
- Then, we make final comments on Dana Point’s recent development solution, and our hopes to get involved in an expansion of restaurant support, not only for the Downtown Corridor but extending through North and South Laguna’s quadrants.
The expectation is not going to change if nothing is done.” - Bruce Russo
Media: For interviews, contact Diane@BestofLagunaBeach.com or just hit “reply” on this email.
