Follow-up to previous post.

Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria La Cucina di Venti Signs Lease at Paraiso Town Center
First New Tenant for Newbury Park Shopping Center Under New Ownership

La Cucina di Venti, a full-service version of the popular Pizzeria Venti “sliceria,” will open its newest restaurant at the Paraiso Town Center, a 50,000 square-foot lifestyle center in the Dos Vientos master planned community of Thousand Oaks, announced Peter Cohen, president of Paradise Capital Group.

“La Cucina di Venti is the evolution of Pizzeria Venti, a successful, small casual quick-service Trattoria-style restaurant with locations throughout the United States,” said Operations Partner Matthew Seerden.  “La Cucina di Venti builds upon that authentic Italian pizza-by-the-slice tradition ‘known as Pizza al taglio’ in Italy, to include table service dining in a family atmosphere with a menu featuring homemade Italian specialties and American favorites such as burgers and steaks,” said Seerden.

The new 4,299 square-foot restaurant at Paraiso Town Center also will include a full service bar, alfresco dining, corporate catering and delivery service.   The first La Cucina di Venti opened in Mountain View, CA in 2007 and is the highest grossing location in the Venti Network.  Expansion plans include restaurants in Savannah, GA and Houston, TX.   La Cucina di Venti, has received accolades around the country for its pizza dough which is made using imported Italian water and extra virgin olive oil.

The Newbury Park restaurant is owned and operated by the Thousand Oaks-based Seerden Family that boasts more than 30 years of collective restaurant experience.  The Seerdens plan to open the restaurant in November 2011.   This is the first retail lease to be signed at Paraiso Town Center, since being acquired by Cohen in June 2011.

“We are obviously excited to have landed such a quality tenant only weeks after taking possession of this beautiful property,” said Cohen.   “Importantly, La Cucina di Venti is a family style restaurant with experienced local ownership that fits the mold for what the community has been asking us for,” he added.

According to Cohen, the signing of a La Cucina di Venti is the result of aggressively marketing the office and retail space in order to attract the best possible tenant mix.

“We have received tremendous interest in the center from a variety of users since taking title, but filling one of the large restaurant spaces was one of our priorities,” said Cohen.  “We recognize there is still a lot of work to do, but we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Built in 2008, Paraiso Town Center includes 40,000 square feet of ground level retail and restaurant space with outdoor dining, and 10,000 square feet of office space.  The Mediterranean style complex also features a children’s playground and landscaped common areas with fountains.  The centerpiece is an outdoor amphitheater with a performance stage and movie screen.

In addition to La Cucina di Venti, retail tenants include Boney Mountain Coffee, Red Coral Restaurant, Fitness Together, The Art Box and Paraiso Cleaners.  Office tenants include ETF Portfolio Management, Paraiso Family Dental and Orthodontics and Worldwide Supply.

Larry Tanji and Scott Siegel of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord and the tenant in the transaction.