Promenade: Progress or Distraction?

The Bigger Issue at Hand

This Tuesday evening showed a packed house at City Hall about “The Promenade’s” future. The City Council and Planning Commission hosted the event as a way to get the public’s input on the latest design concept for the half block of Forest Avenue in the downtown corridor that we’ve called the Promenade.

This is a big deal, dear residents, because we’re looking at this as a longterm, permanent plan to, as the SWA Group representative noted, “Create a commercial, economic and social center of the community.” And, while there were easily 200 people in the room, this wasn’t even a 1% representation of the total number of residents in the city of Laguna Beach. Given that this might be taken to a community vote (or not), I thought I’d write about this.

Here’s a little background and what I observed Tuesday night. And, yes, then you’re going to get my opinion on this.

The current rendition of our “Promenade” on the first half block of Forest Avenue in downtown Laguna Beach

Backstory on The Promenade

Back when we were all emerging from COVID but not feeling entirely comfortable about said emergence, the City Council - led primarily by Sue Kempf, who’s quite adept at solving problems - came up with the idea of making a pedestrian-only outdoor area. This basically gave a place for people to go, even congregate in an open-air, uncrowded zone. The street was closed to auto traffic and parklets were put up (some people called them “corrals”) so that the public could stroll, sit, enjoy eating outside, listen to live music and even peruse sidewalk sales, courtesy of the retailers on the street.

The Promenade’s many outdoor seating areas that are primarily served by the 4 restaurants on the north side of Forest.

While it was – and still is – a lovely idea, it has suffered in the years since from a lot of public opinion on anything and everything about its existence. Residents have discussed loss of parking, the loss of auto thoroughfares, the safety of pedestrians from auto traffic, the maintenance expense, the marketing focus and dollars spent by Chamber and Visitor’s Bureau, the unfair benefit the City’s focus provides for those lucky restaurants and retailers, etc. etc. I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t hear someone’s opinion about The Promenade.

Last night, a contractor for the project, Laguna-based SWA Group, presented another draft of a Promenade concept and then stepped back for the onslaught of opinion. Forty members of the public stepped up to the microphone.

Promenade Positivity

Overall, the majority of the speakers supported the project and spoke positively about the progress being made to maintain the pedestrian-only swatch of Laguna Beach.

From my notes, I’d say 19 of the 40 were fully “IN.” And, to be fair, while most of this came from heads of state in the Chamber, Visitor’s Bureau board and restaurants and some retailers already situated on The Promenade, there were plenty who saw this as “the beginning of something larger for our city.”

What the “Cautiously Optimistic” had to say

Another 11 or so were primarily positive on the project but offered minor and not-so minor points to ponder. As an example, multiple business and “The Ranch” owner Mark Christy noted that he thought the concept was a great start but earned a “3 or 4 out of 10.” He then offered some great ideas on how to better cater to locals, provide year-round programming of music, film and artist demonstrations … and mentioned an idea he’s brought up before - a “walk of fame” of our greatest founders, movers and shakers that made Laguna Beach what it is today. I think that’s a great idea.

Other “cautiously optimistic” speakers noted that more thought needs to go into research on old flood zones, fire thoroughfare safety issues, “open carry” liquor obstacles, weatherization in the winter, what could be lurking under the street that we might not be aware of yet, needed environmental reviews, and plenty of opinions on the concept itself, from the tree plan to the seating plan and pea gravel placements.

Larger concerns that remained open-ended questions

Each of these 6 items were mentioned more than once:

1. How much is this development going to cost? (No budget was given at this concept phase.)

2. What are the estimated monthly and annual costs for ongoing maintenance, increased security, etc.?

3. What will be done to replace the lost parking spaces on the street? (Like a parking garage?) One of the speakers estimated this to be about $200,000 loss to the City.

4. What kind of financial support will be given to the businesses and their employees when or if construction temporarily shutters the businesses?

5. Who’s paying for this? And, if the residents are paying for this, shouldn’t we get to vote on this?

6. What if we do all this and it still doesn’t revive our town or even create the “community” of residents “coming down the hill” to participate in the city?

Why I have a humble opinion about this …

For those of you who don’t really know me, I’ve operated a global marketing agency with my longtime team for 30 years. Twenty of those years were primarily devoted to restaurant and resort strategies, from Bali to Belgium and the Biltmore. I’ve also been a restaurant consultant across the United States for at least 20 years, helping restaurant owners from site selection through permitting, construction/renovation and leveraged, staged marketing around each phase.

And, I began this “Best of Laguna Beach” 17 years ago to support all the individuals and organizations behind the real magic of Laguna Beach - the artists, our one-of-a-kind events, and - especially, my true love - the 159 food & beverage concepts in this town. The publication now enjoys a readership of about 160,000 and I began a radio show and podcast in October, too. I don’t get paid by anyone to write anything on one side or the other. To date, this has been a non-subsidized publication.

So, here’s my biggest concern …

I like the idea of a promenade in the central core of our business district. But as a few people noted last night, this proposal covers one half of one city block. That’s a lot of focus – and money – on concepting, development and marketing.

“This is one half of one block of one street. It’s great to decide to remodel the whole house, but we can’t spend all of our money on one room.”
—Ruben Flores at the Promenade meeting

This Promenade plan is all well and good IF we simultaneously put an economic revival plan in place for the rest of Laguna Beach, from North Laguna’s last commerce point at Chiquita Street all the way to our farthest reaching SoLag commerce point at 4th Street.

Because … as yet … the existing Promenade has NOT created “a commercial, economic and social center of the community.”

Now, I’m not one to bemoan all the businesses that have closed in Laguna Beach. In the vast majority of cases, those spaces are filled again in a matter of weeks with new businesses. In most cases, it’s not a catastrophic close. In many cases, our longtime owner-operators in Laguna Beach just wanted to retire and get on with hanging out with their grandchildren.

I do, however, think that long-empty commercial spaces are a problem in Laguna Beach.

In fact, in my stem-to-stern drive through town a couple weeks ago, there were EIGHT empty commercial spaces between Broadway (also known as Laguna Canyon Road) and The Promenade at Forest Avenue, alone. That’s just two blocks.

And that’s not counting the looming darkness of the Hotel Laguna just catty-corner from The Promenade. I mean, let’s face it: This place looks spooky. And sad. When I look at her, I think of the Barry Manilow Song, “Copacabana” … “Her name is Lola, she was a showgirl. But that was thirty years ago when they used to have a show. Now it’s a disco, but not for Lola. Still in the dress she used to wear, faded feathers in her hair.”

God, it makes me want to cry.

The once iconic entry piece to Laguna Beach, Hotel Laguna. Although a restaurant and member’s beach club are operational, the 68 guest rooms have been shuttered for 7 years.

Hotel Laguna’s 68 guest rooms are still shuttered from the Dec. 31st, 2017 departure of the then-operators, the Andersen family. That’s SEVEN years of nothing. At that time, the Andersens had to release 141 employees.

The beautifully restored Heisler Building stands empty now after the January departure of Skyloft and Bodega Laguna.

Then there’s the Hotel Laguna’s opposite compadre, The Heisler Building, which recently housed Skyloft and Bodega restaurants. When Ivan Spiers closed both operations in early January, he released 180 workers, including security and sound professionals for the live music venue. Now, more than 17,000 square feet of commercial space stands empty.

Of the eight vacant spaces I’ve noted, I’m not counting the two empty edifices on Ocean Avenue (right next door to Forest Avenue and the Promenade) that are purportedly soon to be filled - the old Laguna Sushi and the former Suenos restaurant on the opposite side, which will soon be Piatti. But, in addition to the eight I’ve called out, we still have the former Rum Social restaurant standing empty (closed 17 months) on what I call “Restaurant Row” on Peppertree Alley, less than a block up from The Promenade. And the former hotdog shop now stands empty farther up on Forest Avenue, the same street of The Promenade.

These spaces are all part of the “downtown corridor,” which should be part of that solution to the “commercial, economic and social center of the community,” to say the least. I mean, even if we regenerated the Hotel Laguna and the Heisler Building, we’d have thousands of more visitors participating and at least 300 workers employed, to boot.

Now, I know I’m primarily a restaurant fan, but stay with me here …

I’m not disparaging the retail effort in Laguna Beach in the least, but my focus has been, admittedly, on the restaurants here. So, retailers and art galleries – please understand I have you in the same thought mode and forgive me when I say this: I’d suggest we look at the downtown corridor restaurants that have been left out of the “Promenade.” On Forest Avenue, Tango is close enough to catch the attention of wanderers milling to the stanchions at the end of the Promenade. And, not surprisingly, Tango representation was there on Tuesday with a definite “yes” vote. But what about Cary Redfearn’s fabulous, local-loving Lumberyard and Slice Pizza + Beer? What aboutChef Pirozzi’s Salerno’s on Beach Avenue?

And how about Ocean Avenue’s restaurants starting with one of the highest rated restaurants in Laguna Beach, Mario Melendez’s fantastic Rasta Taco … or the bedrock of our community since 1988 – Zinc Café … or the most fabulous breakfast in the land, Anastasia’s?

All of these are on the easternmost point of Ocean Avenue. So, what are we doing to support the restaurants on the front end of Ocean Avenue, closest to beach foot traffic?

Let’s look at Glenneyre, the perpendicular street to where The Promenade ends. How is the City supporting Broadway by Amar Santana, the most celebrated celebrity chef in Laguna Beach … or our new OTO Sushi (who’s been waiting months and months for signage from the City) there on Glenneyre even before you reach Laguna Avenue where our indomitable and wonderful Thai Bros. continues to subsist?

And if the “downtown corridor” includes Broadway (which makes sense), we have longtime restaurant residents of our town there, too, including Chef Lindsay’s always fabulous Nirvana Grille, our chef-driven, always-changing recipes in Dolce Gelato, our 34-year Romeo Cucina family, the multi-generation family owned Carmelita’s and the two little restaurants (Peony and Acai) in our rather empty “food village” … as you can see, I could go on and on.

They’re ALL part of the downtown corridor, aren’t they?

Outside the downtown arena, we’re also dealing with pockmarks of vacant spaces up and down Coast Highway. You residents all know those spaces, but I’d say one of the most tragic is the renovated – and giant at nearly 11,000 square feet – Red Dragon edifice, truly the most beautiful restaurant space in Laguna Beach. I reported that it closed on Memorial Weekend last year (2024).

I believe our highest priority is bringing new, vibrant businesses into our vacant spaces.

I’m all for a Promenade in the downtown corridor. But as of now, what we do have there is not spilling over into vastly improved business and foot traffic on any side of this half block, which has been ballyhooed in the City’s spotlight for more than three years.

Bottom line: The Promenade hasn’t helped fill all those vacant spaces.

If the City is looking at spending more millions … is the redevelopment of this half block THE smartest solution that provides the most LEVERAGE to the economic revival of Laguna Beach?

Because … as long as those vacant spaces are allowed to remain, Laguna’s fabled mystique will continue to drain away.

On the left, the current rendition of The Promenade on Forest Avenue. On the right, a stark contrast of the same half-block segment of the neighboring street, Ocean Avenue.

I’m for restoring Laguna Beach’s mystique in a much more expansive way

In January, KXFM Chairman Billy Fried interviewed me on his Tuesday show, “Laguna Talks.” We talked about the changing dynamic in Laguna, and the fact that cities around us appear to be thriving in comparison.

I offered solutions from my years of introducing thriving restaurant concepts into communities as well as my 17 years of being “Laguna’s Restaurant Guru” - the trend tracker and, more importantly, the one who’s been listening to what all of my beloved restaurant operators are dealing with. That interview is here if you’re interested.

A week later on my KXFM 104.7 “Best of Laguna Beach” radio show, my guest Bruce Russo and I talked about my interview with Billy.

Bruce – now my business partner – owns the most prolific and successful restaurant design & construction company in the country. He’s worked in more than 45 cities, creating nearly 600 unique restaurant and retail concepts. He built one of the largest restaurants here in Laguna Beach, and has been a resident of this area for decades. Aside from knowing restaurant and retail operations inside and out, Bruce has created streamlining solutions for the cities that house these restaurants.

Now, we both work together with and for long-range thinkers – developers and independent operators – who are ready to develop or rejuvenate into enticing, thriving solutions.

At about the 28:30 mark in this audio replay, Bruce and I start talking about solutions for Laguna Beach, and he offers some additional (and right on the money) salient points of his own:

This is the kind of long-range thinking - and action - that can turn a city around.

If we, as resident taxpayers, are going to be asked to invest in our own community, why wouldn’t we want to invest in ALL of it?

In my opinion, this amazing vortex of Laguna Beach deserves ALL of the love.