Restaurant Development & Design

July-August 2015

restaurant development + design is a user-driven resource for restaurant professionals charged with building new locations and remodeling existing units.

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1 2 r e s t a u r a n t d e v e l o p m e n t + d e s i g n • J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 BUZZ who's doing what Like airports around the country, Portland International (PDX) is adding a sense of place for people traveling through, thanks to popular local food- service establishments. Among several recent additions to the PDX international concourse is The Country Cat, the sec- ond outpost of the city's popular farm-to- table eatery helmed by husband-and-wife team Adam and Jackie Sappington. Inspired by imagery of an old Oregon barn, The Country Cat's airport operation carries on the original restau- rant's signature traits, including whole- animal butchery, house-made jerky and pastries prepared by an on-site baker. "The opportunity for the airport presented itself and we were excited about being part of the effort you see nationally to elevate airport dining," says Jackie. "We were approached by Andale Management Group out of San Francisco, which has expertise operat- ing in airports. They wanted to enter the Portland market with a sit down, farm-to- table concept and they approached us to partner with them. We worked with Skylab Design Studio and R&H; Construction and put together a beautiful design. It's very unique, in that there really are no walls or ceiling, except over the kitchen area." Design highlights include a 30-foot bar lined in repurposed pickle barrel wood, an open-line kitchen with counter seating, reclaimed hickory wood paneling and blackened steel, including a distinc- tive metal wall that goes around the pe- rimeter of the space and a metal-coated silo at the restaurant's entrance. "The wall is braced by structures underneath the slab," explains Dave Fuerstenberg, project manager from R&H; Construction, of one of the more unique challenges in building the restaurant. "Normally, you could attach the top to the ceiling or roof but this had to be completely supported from below. Both the wall and the silo were tough because there was nothing to support them. For the silo, we had a hoist system that lifted the top three pieces of the structure up into the air and we built an elevated track for them to roll on over the top of the bottom section." The 8-foot-by-22-foot silo's interior "skeleton" is made of 2x2 steel and its exterior is lined in 3 / 16 -inch bent hot-roll steel panels. Brass inlets were added at the joints for interest. A window and counter built into in the silo creates a distinctive host station for the restaurant. 3.1% Average expected retail rent increase in 2016 2.6 % Average expected retail rent increase in 2015 Source: National Association of Realtors RETAIL REAL ESTATE: DEMAND UP, VACANCIES DOWN A stronger labor market and increasing household formation should keep commercial real estate demand on a gradual incline, ac- cording to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) quarterly commer- cial real estate forecast, published in late May. In the retail sector, the average vacancy rate is expected to decline from 9.6 percent to 9.2 percent over the next year. Which markets have the low- est retail commercial real estate vacancy rates? San Francisco tops the list, at 3.0 percent, according to the NAR. Other markets where supply is tightest include: • Orange County, Calif., and San Jose, Calif., both at 4.6 percent • Fairfeld County, Conn., at 4.7 percent • Long Island, N.Y., 4.9 percent The Country Cat Expands to PDX

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