Redevelopment of a new restaurant/retail space in the former Piano Building in the heart of Bird Rock is well underway with completion expected later this summer.

The wrap-around property at 5680 La Jolla Blvd. on the corner of Bird Rock Avenue was previously inhabited by a piano store and by A Better Deal Tuxedos & Shirts. The building was acquired by residents Eric and Zoe Kleinbub, who enlisted La Jolla architect AJ Remen to redesign the building to accommodate a restaurant with significant outdoor seating. Remen presented to Bird Rock Community Council, which approved the project’s redevelopment plans earlier this year.

The new restaurant, to be named Paradisaea, will feature contemporary California cuisine including locally sourced seafood and handmade pasta. Its menu will have a signature hamburger along with selected ice creams.

“We’ve fine-tuned the design and are looking to remove a lot of the concrete sidewalk running the full length of Bird Rock Avenue, that currently does not meet municipal code access requirements, and turn that into a planter strip,” architect Remen told Bird Rock Community Council. “We want to soften the curbs a little and also provide a wider pathway. We want to provide outdoor dining along La Jolla Boulevard like other restaurants, such as Beaumonts, have taken advantage of.”

“The proposal is to take out a lot of the plantings and replace it with hardscape, which would accommodate outside dining?” asked Bird Rock Community Council president John Newsam.

“We’re trying to add as much green space as we can along Bird Rock Avenue,” replied Remen.

“The discussion here is about encroachment into the maintenance assessment district,” noted Newsam adding, “But there are a lot of other issues with a restaurant like this such as trash, traffic, noise, and hours. Our task is to decide whether we’re happy with that encroachment, and the use of some of the MAD area to substantially increase outside dining opportunities.”

Bird Rock’s MAD was established by the City in 2005. The purpose of the district is to fund specifically identified improvements, including maintaining landscaping along La Jolla Boulevard that are within the boundaries of the special district. The Bird Rock MAD is bounded on the west by the ocean, on the north by La Cañada Street, on the east by Folsom Drive, Bellevue Avenue, Linda Rosa Avenue, and La Jolla Mesa Drive, and on the south by Bellevue Place, Bird Rock Elementary School/Bird Rock Joint Use Park, the Park La Jolla property, and Wrelton Drive.

The MAD and Bird Rock Community Council board have enlisted an independent contractor to manage day-to-day MAD operations and to perform bi-weekly inspections and other management tasks for regular landscape and irrigation system maintenance and repair, selected public right-of-way clean-up, trash disposal, and additional services

Most Bird Rock Community Council members and residents expressed favorable views of the restaurant-retail project while it was being vetted, concluding it would be a welcome addition providing another culinary alternative and attraction in the community.