Nearly two dozen tenants have signed leases at River Street Marketplace, a retail and dining center coming this fall to a former nursery in San Juan Capistrano.
Shoppers can expect a farmhouse-style space with gourmet eats and locally-owned boutiques. Renderings offer a sneak peek of the 60,000-square-foot concept with walkways lined with native plants and water features while the buildings carry peaked, flat or arched rooflines.
Property owner Almquist, formerly Frontier Real Estate Investments, is developing the center, which should be completed by October-November.
We asked Dan Almquist, the managing partner/developer, a few questions about the center.
Q: Is this akin to a food and retail hall?
A: River Street Marketplace is going to be a sprawling outdoor retail and dining center with a mini food hall component called Rodeo River Street. There will be several retail storefronts, standalone restaurant pads and a large, barn-like structure that will house Rodeo River Street food hall with 10 fast-casual food tenants.
Q: What was there before the development of River Street started?
A: The site was previously home to Ito Nursery, which closed at the end of 2021.
Q: How many or how much of the property will be ready by fall? Is the structure built yet? How much is expected to open in 2024?
A: We anticipate that 70 percent of the tenants will be ready to open by fall. All the buildings are framed out with sidings. All buildings are technically built, just site work needs to be done now. Projected openings will begin in October this year going into Q1, with all tenants fully open by or before spring 2024. They have about 5 spaces left available to lease that can be either restaurant or retail.
Retail merchants that have signed leases include:
Common Thread, a locally-owned womenswear boutique.
Fermentation Farm, a probiotic concept that sells sauerkraut, pickles, long-fermented sourdough bread, bone broths and kombucha
Free People, a women’s brand that sells…
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