It's official - we've signed a lease in Pasadena! After months of the CRA pulling on our heartstrings regarding timing of a construction loan, our personal bank accounts decided we had to get a move on things and figure out how to get this restaurant off the ground. Always an avid reader of loopnet.com, I sent a flurry of inquiries for existing restaurant spaces that even remotely fitted our criteria (yes, one space was 8k SF, but it was divisible...)
Just days before we left for Spain, I heard from a broker regarding what must be one of the most charming restaurants in Pasadena. The current tenant was a one Michelin-starred Northern Italian restaurant, and the owners had decided not to renew the lease (which expired at the end of October). We scheduled a walk-through, submitted an LOI, and left for Spain in the span of a few days!
In hindsight it was really healthy to have the time off, but not having easy phone access to the broker during those few weeks was painful for my nerves. Right when we got back, however, we were in lease negotiations and signed shortly after the space was available. There were many other details such as the scramble to get our LLC Agreement ironed out, the fact that we started without reaching our fund-raising goal, etc but those stories are for another day. What is important is that Ración has a home!
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