Hillcrest businesses suffer amid Promenade construction but hope for long-term gains

Overview: Hillcrest construction

“I think it’s going to be beneficial for everybody in the long run, because they have this whole community center that’s going over there and then all these other apartments, condos going up around us,” said Hillcrest Brewing Company managing partner Joey Arruda. “That’s all future business.” 

Construction continues on the long-awaited Pride Plaza and Normal Street Promenade with the goal of finishing by this summer’s San Diego Pride event.

Years of advocacy and planning will culminate in the new space, hailed as the first public recreation space in Hillcrest, which has no parks.

But no one wants the project finished up more than the small businesses next to the construction site. 

“I think it’s going to be beneficial for everybody in the long run, because they have this whole community center that’s going over there and then all these other apartments, condos going up around us,” said Hillcrest Brewing Company managing partner Joey Arruda. “That’s all future business.” 

But it’s not just hope for more business that is causing impatience among the business community.

Cellar Hand, Hillcrest Brewing Company, and the other shops in the corner plaza off University Avenue and Normal Street have struggled since construction began last April. 

“There’s sort of a ‘hold your breath, it’s going to get better’ kind of approach,” said Benjamin Nicholls, leader of the Hillcrest Business Association. 

Hillcrest Brewing Company saw business drop 20% last year, and Cellar Hand estimates construction caused a 25 to 30% percent reduction in revenue. With narrow margins in the restaurant industry, that’s tough to maintain while construction stretches through the spring. 

“We’re committed to seeing this through. However, the reduction in sales that we’ve seen during this time is alarming, and I could understand how a restaurant, this would tip them over,” said Nick Perr, managing partner at Cellar Hand. “It’s significant.” 

He described the restaurant as “treading water” until construction is over. 

“It’s just hard to sustain, to have a sustainable business, just given the difficulty of the business model. So I think the obvious challenges with the construction are that it’s created disruption to the traffic flow,” Perr said. 

With the sidewalk on Normal blocked, pedestrians have to go around the business square and circle back to arrive. The parking lot has gone from two vehicle entrances to one. Plus, construction site fences and signs have reduced visibility of the businesses. 

Construction inconvenience leads to fewer people in the area

“People kind of avoid the area because of the inconvenience of the construction,” Perr said. 

The plaza shopping center experienced multiple water and electricity outages amid construction. Sometimes the businesses have warnings ahead of outages, but other times workers hit pipes unexpectedly, leading to chaos next door. Hillcrest Brewing Company had to close on a recent weekday because it couldn’t get the water back on. 

 “Sanitation-wise, you can’t really operate without (water),” Arruda said. 

Those are just some of the issues those small businesses have faced since construction began last year. 

“A year in, it’s completely understandable that people are frustrated,” Nicholls said. “There is a reality here that this is what it feels like when you upgrade a neighborhood.”

Business advocates are looking for creative ways to bring customers back. For example, Hillcrest Brewing Company started a two-for-one spaghetti special on Wednesdays. 

New opportunities await businesses and consumers

The Hillcrest Business Association plans to launch a raffle where people who support affected businesses, those near the promenade and near a stormwater fix on Fifth Avenue, are entered to win prizes. 

“It’s never going to be convenient to dig up blocks and blocks of the neighborhood,” said Nicholls. “I think most Hillcrest people, including business people, see the horizon, and they’re excited for what’s coming.”

While the construction process has been painful, business owners await new opportunities with the plaza. Arruda got city approval to extend his patio 15 feet further, a way to bring in more customers. 

And not all businesses have suffered. Nicholls said attendance has grown, sales are up and even more vendors joined the farmers market since it moved from Normal Street to a more prominent location on University Avenue. 

The plan has always been for construction to finish before Pride this year, which is still months away. For now, these businesses are hanging on in the hopes that having a new community space next door will boost business in the long run. 

“I hope that it… becomes a neighborhood hub,” Perr said. “And I think that if that happens, our business and other businesses around us are going to be more visible and more frequented.”

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