MONTECITO, CA – The major renovation of Coast Village Plaza at 1187 Coast Village Rd in Montecito, which has been underway during the past year, is scheduled for completion in early October. Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro and Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar are the two newest commercial tenants, and when their tenant improvements are completed early next year they will join Juice Ranch, Here’s the Scoop, The Tennis Shop, UPS, Norvell Bass Cleaners, Riviera Smiles, Sequel Salon, Giovanni’s Pizza, and Richie’s Barber Shop. Renaud’s will occupy the space and patio adjacent to the new driveway on the south end of the property and Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar will occupy the space and patio downstairs formerly used by Scoops.

There will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completed renovation on October 27 at 1:30 pm. Mayor Helene Schneider is scheduled to attend.

In less than 10 years, Renaud’s Patisserie & Bistro has become a thriving, award-winning fixture in Santa Barbara, offering “a taste of Paris” with a bakery in Gelson’s Market and two other bistro locations in Santa Barbara serving breakfast and lunch. The Coast Village Plaza location will offer an expanded menu with special dinner items.

Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar is the bustling Asian fusion restaurant in Santa Barbara’s Public Market, founded by Jerry Lee, an eight-year veteran of San Ysidro Ranch’s Stonehouse restaurant. The Coast Village Plaza location will be called Khao Kaeng by Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar. “Khao Kaeng means ‘curry on rice’ in Thai,” Lee said. “We will offer some of our popular menu items from Empty Bowl Gourmet Noodle Bar plus additional comfort specialty Thai food our Chef Nui grew up with in Thailand.”

Since purchasing Coast Village Plaza in late 2014, Hank Hurst and Rich Rosin of H&R Investments have pursued their vision to revitalize the 20,000 square-foot building with a fresh and inviting exterior, expanded patio areas, and a mix of businesses that Montecito residents (like themselves) would love. After a two-year design and permitting phase, construction began in August 2016 with improvements including installation of a new elevator, doors, parking lot, decking, dining patios, lighting, signage, driveway, parking lot and landscaping. A complete renovation of bathrooms and office areas on the lower level has also been completed.

While the contractors have been renovating the site, commercial brokers Francois DeJohn and Steve Hayes of Hayes Commercial Group have also been hard at work marketing vacant spaces and searching for high-quality tenants.

“Renaud’s and Empty Bowl are great additions to this ‘lifestyle center’ and to Coast Village Road,” DeJohn said. “These are local businesses that operate at a very high level and are sure to be welcomed and enjoyed by the Montecito community.”

With a variety of enhancements and a fine collection of tenants, Coast Village Plaza is poised to be one of the Montecito’s premier locations. An additional restaurant with patio as well as renovated executive offices on the parking level remain available for lease, all marketed by Hayes Commercial Group.

“The work is just about done, and the owners’ vision is approaching reality,” Hayes said. “In a relatively short period of time, this center has been transformed into one of the area’s finest commercial properties.”