A North Park building that was a television sales and repair shop in the 1950s will be reborn with a mix of apartments, a ground-floor Mexican restaurant, and combination coffee shop and retail store.
Most recently, what became known as the Waldorf Television Building, because of its origins, was a gym.
President
Purpose Real Estate
Nathan Cadieux, president of Purpose Real Estate, bought the building in July 2022 for $4.8 million. He didn’t have an estimate of what the renovation would cost. The work could be done as soon as this summer, but certainly by the end of the year, Cadieux added.
Cadieux and Ryan Sisson, CEO and founder of the Moniker Group, said that they plan to restore the exterior as much as possible to the way it was when the television shop opened in 1950, removing metalwork that had been added over time.
“We’re going to take that off, put the storefront back, really try to celebrate what the original architecture was,” Cadieux said. “It’s been hidden for a long time.”
Neighborhood lore has it that a neon sign that advertised the television shop is hidden beneath the façade, which Cadieux said he hopes to uncover and reuse.
“If it’s there, we’ll for sure be pumped to find a home for it in the building,” Cadieux said.
Capturing the Soul
“We’re focused on delivering a well-designed, thoughtful property that brings together the local community,” said Cadieux, who lives in North Park.
Founder and CEO
Moniker Group
When it was a gym, Sisson said that the ground floor of the building was dark with low ceilings and “a lot of black paint.”
“We’ll do a full refresh,” Sisson said.
OBR Architecture, based in North Park, is the architect on the renovation.
Sisson’s Moniker Group plans to open what they’ve dubbed Moniker General Outpost in about 2,000 square feet of the ground floor, modeled after the group’s Moniker General shop in Liberty Station.
“We’re excited to be in the North Park neighborhood. It’s always been on the forward edge of what San Diego could be like and look like,” Sisson said. “It’s cool to just be part of the story of what North Park is and what it’s become over the last five to 10 years.”
Moniker General’s name is “a play on an old school general store,” Sisson said. “It’s a smaller version, a reflection of what our flagship Liberty Station looks like.”
The shop will include a coffee shop with a limited selection of apparel, personal care items and home goods.
“North Park has a unique story, and we’re working to capture that soul through Moniker General Outpost to offer a welcoming community space with convenience and seamless connection to the surrounding neighborhood,” Sisson said.
Cadieux said that the rest of the 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail space has been leased for a Mexican restaurant, although he said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose the name.
The building also will include nine apartments above the retail space with an additional two apartments on the ground floor.
Cadieux said that outdoor sidewalk cafes are planned, one on each side of the building.
As part of Moniker Group’s philosophy of giving purpose to each project, Cadieux said that a portion of Waldorf’s operating allowance will include supporting charitable and global initiatives.
Purpose Real Estate Group
Founded: 2017
President: Nathan Cadieux
Headquarters: North Park
Business: Infill development
Employees: 2
Website: www.purposereg.com
Contact: hello@purposepm.com
Notable: Purpose operates under the philosophy that real estate development is about people, for people, by people with projects aimed at creating unique, individual experiences that build affinity, sustainability and value over time.
