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A local developer is turning a former restaurant site into a luxury residential community in the coastal San Diego community of La Jolla.
WJK Development acquired earlier this month the half-acre property at 6738 La Jolla Blvd., formerly home to Su Casa Mexican and Seafood Restaurant, which operated for 52 years before closing in 2019. The developer paid $8.5 million for the site and plans to build nine detached luxury homes in its place, the company’s CEO Grant Keene told the Business Journal.
Keene added the property’s sale price was less than market rate.
WJK Development is partnering with Newport Beach-based GeometricRe to build the houses, located less than two miles from the historic district, Village of La Jolla—a walkable enclave known for its high-end boutiques, restaurants, cafes and galleries—all steps away from the Pacific Ocean.
The land was previously entitled for mixed-use but is now green-lit for residential development.
Keene estimates the all-in cost to build one detached house is between $2.5 million and $2.7 million. That pencils out to $22.5 million to $24.3 million to build all nine houses.
He anticipates selling each house, which would range in size from 2,700 to 3,600 square feet, between $4 million and $4.4 million, or $36 million to $39.6 million in sales.
Details of each house’s specifications have not yet been determined.
Keene confirmed AVRP Studios, a San Diego-based architectural firm headed by Douglas Austin, is one of the project partners.
WJK Development: An Infill Housing Specialist
WJK Development, a luxury home developer, was founded in 2015 and specializes in infill housing projects. The homebuilder closed on two land purchases last year—a $10 million deal for an oceanfront landsite in Huntington Beach and a $6 million acquisition of 4.2 acres in Laguna Niguel.
The Huntington Beach property is being developed into 10 detached luxury houses at 1810 Coast Highway. The houses are under construction and are on pace to be available for sale in 2026.
WJK Development is also building 22 houses near the intersection of Crown Valley Parkway and Playa Blanca in Laguna Niguel.
The Irvine-based developer is also building a 36-unit mixed-use project in Newport Beach, 17 residences in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Eagle Rock and a 25-unit multifamily development in Hollywood.
La Jolla Luxury Market
The Greater San Diego Association of Realtors reported the median sale price for a detached house in La Jolla was $3.5 million for the first four months of the year, a 14% increase compared to the same 120-day period last year.
Property listings for the La Jolla Village area on Homes.com typically range between $3.4 million and $7.8 million, as of May 15.