REAL ESTATE : Two New Eateries May Help Ease Mission Viejo’s Restaurant Crisis

There’s a restaurant crisis in Mission Viejo.

That is, there’s hardly any place to eat if you’re looking for “good quality, affordable” restaurants, says Mayor Pro Tem Christian W. Keena. There’s a “desperate shortage” of such restaurants in the south county city of 69,000, Keena says.

That’s why Commercial Center Development, a Newport Beach developer, is building an 8,400-square-foot building that will house two restaurants at the corner of Bellogente and Crown Valley Parkway. A Chili’s Bar & Grill--part of a national chain of 180 restaurants--will take 6,000 square feet, and Paul’s Country Kitchen, a regional chain, will take the other 2,400.

“One of our basic rules at (the Newport Beach developer) is to only undertake a venture that is at least 50% pre-leased,” said President Stephen J. Cloobeck. “Because of the lack of restaurants in Mission Viejo, we easily pre-leased all of the space.”

Construction is scheduled to begin in March and finish by late summer.