New shops are coming to the southwest corner of White Lane and Buena Vista Road as part of the Belcourt Village shopping center Bolthouse Properties continues to expand on the southern portion of southwest Bakersfield's Seven Oaks master-planned community.
Four tenants — three of them food-related — were announced Tuesday morning during a groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the start of construction on the second phase of a 9-acre retail project at least eight years in planning stages.
When it opens in the second or third quarter of next year, a family-owned, American-style restaurant called 19th Hole Bar and Grill will be joined by Gelato Smitten, owned by the same local couple running a coffeehouse and restaurant in town; Bakersfield's first Chipotle drive-thru; and drybar Bakersfield, a locally owned hair-styling salon.
Two tenants have already been announced for the second phase of Belcourt Village: the restaurant Blue Elephant and Toastique, a gourmet toast shop. Additional space at Belcourt remains to be leased out. The shopping center's first phase just south of the new site boasts a Starbucks coffeehouse and two exercise-related tenants expected to open by year's end, Electric Cycle Studio and Pilates Barre.
Representatives of developer Bolthouse Properties touted the project's connectivity and brick-laden physical design, described by Vice President Jeff Eittreim as "timeless California prairie architecture."
Like much of the rest of the company's master-planning, Belcourt will link to walkable paseos weaving through surrounding neighborhoods. It will also connect with bicycle and walking trails that lead to other paths without crossing a major arterial.
It will also come with water features, fire pits, shaded patio covers and space for concerts and tree-lighting ceremonies, Eittreim said. He emphasized the indoor-outdoor experience Belcourt will provide.
Ward 5 City Councilman Bruce Freeman, an invited speaker with a special relationship to the project as the former head of Seven Oaks' original developer, Castle & Cooke Bakersfield, praised Bolthouse's work on the project as offering "extremely high-quality retail."
Surrounding residents are sure to welcome what Belcourt will have to offer, Freeman added, saying, "I think we need the services with the build-out they're continuing, all the Belcourt area, all the Highgate (residential) area."
Bolthouse Properties President Anthony Leggio called Belcourt "more than just a neighborhood center" in that it is designed to serve as a gathering place with ample open space and a unique feel that invites people to live, walk and play in the neighborhood.
"We picked the name Belcourt Village because it will be a village," Leggio said.
Senior Vice President Bruce Davis recounted the story of how the project has come together over the years and the company's success landing Starbucks, which he noted was "not a bad way to start your business."
"We're very, very selective … about the tenants that we get," he said. "We have to be very careful to create an environment."
Davis referred obliquely to a project in the works further west along White Lane, giving a shout-out to developer Andy Fuller, who was in the audience Tuesday and happily provided The Californian with details following the Belcourt presentation.
Fuller said his company, Fuller Apartment Homes, expects to break ground in fall 2023 on Park Center at Seven Oaks, a 520-unit rental project along the lines of its two other high-end communities in the city's southwest, Park West at Stockdale River Ranch and Park Square at Seven Oaks.
"We're very excited about it," Fuller said. "We're elbow-deep in design right now."
