Giant New Mixed-Use Food Hall Starts Up in Former Orange County LA Times Plant

Big swings

A massive new mixed-use development down in Orange County will take over the former LA Times plant in Costa Mesa, opening up the sprawling building to well over 420,000 square feet of creative, office, retail, and restaurant space. The Steelwave-built project is called the Press, reports the Daily Pilot, and comes with a $200 million pricetag and a one-year build-out timeline. When all is said and done, the food hall portion should have room for dozens of different vendors; not that Orange County is really hurting for food halls these days.

In the club

LA Magazine is all over Jon & Vinny’s so-called Fusilli Club. The idea is that, for a flat fee, a customer can get a standing reservation slot on a particular night of the week, ongoing into perpetuity as long as said customer keeps showing up. Seems smart enough, but in social-conscious (and rather wealthy) Brentwood, the Club has everyone “going nuts” apparently.

Growth mode

Hermosa Beach option HiFi Espresso is in expansion mode, jumping down to Redondo Beach with a new storefront to come soon. Signage is already up, and an opening is anticipated for spring at Riviera Village, right on Catalina Avenue.

Relive the glory

Upstart publication The LAnd has a great new story out on the last of the Pioneer Chicken locations. The homegrown franchise once had hundreds of locations and courted celebrity endorsements, but now it’s just a former faded shell that remains for native Angelenos to mostly remember fondly.

Mounting pressure

The Long Beach Post has a new story out on some of the restaurant shutters starting to hit the area. Some are short-term tenants, others are standard-bearers (like the funky Anandamide) that simply couldn’t hold on along Retro Row.

More space

The shuttered Samosa House in El Segundo is heading for a quick flip, reports Toddrickallen. Next up for the address: Soom Soom, the fast casual Mediterranean name with locations across greater LA.

Beer Party

Roving beer bus LA Beer Hop is putting on a couple of new Women in Beer brewery tours next month, with rides through both the South Bay and Downtown LA. Each one will offer conversation with female brewery owners, plus lots of drinks of course.