The Lab Owner Sadeghi Buys Vacant Casino, Plans To Open Eateries
Vacant since 2006, Casino San Clemente,pictured above, will be restored andturned into a restaurant building.
San Clemente, Calif., is a surf town offering some fine restaurants and a weekly farmers market. If the plans of developer Shaheen Sadeghi go forward, San Clemente also will be a place to grab a gourmet, organic dinner and listen to some jazz. In the past 14 years, Sadeghi made a splash in retail by debuting specialty shopping centers The Lab and The Camp in Costa Mesa, Calif.
The week of July 20, Sadeghi closed escrow on the 72-year-old Casino San Clemente building, located at 140 W. Avenida Pico. The theater has been vacant for at least three years. Sadeghi intends to restore the Spanish colonial-style 11,000-square-foot building, where big bands once played swing dances. The casino could house up to three restaurants, including one space where musicians would perform. Sadeghi would not divulge how much he paid for the building.
The Casino San Clemente building is intended to be a part of Sadeghi’s upcoming Playa Del Norte culinary center in San Clemente. The casino is located across the street from the site of the 60,000-square-foot Playa project. Up to 12 restaurants will be tenants of the Playa project. Possible restaurants include a health-food café, a chocolate shop and a cheese boutique. Since it is located on prime San Clemente beachfront property, the petition to start building the Playa project is scheduled to be heard by the California Coastal Commission in the fourth quarter of 2009. Construction could begin in 2011.
