Former restaurant site in Glendale may become Rite Aid drugstore

A dormant restaurant site that once was a Marie Callender’s for many years until it was shuttered may be torn down to make way for a new Rite Aid store.

A design review application was filed earlier this month by StarPoint Properties to demolish the building at 707 N. Pacific Ave. and construct a 14,560-square-foot drive-through drugstore on a 51,400-square-foot lot.

Plans also call for a parking lot with 61 spaces.

Vilia Zemaitaitis, a city planner, said the applicant is also seeking a permit for off-site alcohol sales.

The proposed project meets all the zoning requirements for the area, so the only reviewing agency to consider it will be the Design Review Board on a yet-to-be determined date, she said.

Rite Aid for some time has had a store up and running inside a shopping center in 531 N. Glendale Ave.

“Rite Aid apparently wanted another store in Glendale,” said Philip Lanzafame, the city’s economic development director, in an email. “My guess is their market analysis is that the two stores will attract different customers, increasing their overall share. I have not met extensively with Rite Aid or discussed their market strategy with them.”

Steve Shaul, director of commercial acquisitions for StarPoint Properties, declined to comment on the project.

The proposed project site currently houses a restaurant structure that was once a Marie Callender’s until it closed in 2012 after the restaurant chain filed bankruptcy and closed down dozens of locations.

The former franchise owner at that location opened his own restaurant called Serious Bar & Grill, but that went out of business as well.

The site is situated at Pacific Avenue and Burchett Street and near the Ventura (134) Freeway onramp.

In April, Pacific Avenue Properties, LLC purchased the lot for $6 million, according to public records.