The documents specifically place The Bungalow within RaDD's Alley building, a 133,000-square-foot structure on the northwest side of the district across from Progress Park. IQHQ describes Alley as a mix of lab, office and retail space built around a ground-floor pedestrian passage connecting the development's central paseo with San Diego Bay
No opening date, square footage or detailed plans for the San Diego location are included in the materials, and The Bungalow has not yet added San Diego to the locations listed on its public website. The leasing documents nevertheless mark the strongest indication in years that founder Brent Bolthouse's coastal bar and nightlife brand is finally preparing to enter the San Diego market.
The development is particularly notable because The Bungalow has been down this road before. SanDiegoVille first reported in 2018 that The Bungalow was planning a substantial San Diego outpost at Westfield UTC. That project called for a freestanding, approximately 10,000-square-foot venue with more than 5,000 square feet of outdoor space, multiple bars, fire pits, gardens, decks and an onsite food program developed in partnership with celebrity chef Michael Mina. At the time, The Bungalow was expected to break ground in summer 2019 and open by spring 2020. It never happened.
By 2023, the project had effectively disappeared. When SanDiegoVille contacted The Bungalow at the time asking what had happened to its planned San Diego expansion, a representative offered an intriguingly open-ended response: "You never know what the future holds." Three years later, the future appears to include San Diego after all.
The newly surfaced RaDD plans also appear to represent a different incarnation of The Bungalow than what was originally envisioned for San Diego. The 2018 UTC project was announced as a partnership between Bolthouse and celebrated chef Michael Mina, who was expected to develop a full dining menu for the sprawling venue. That relationship has since ended.
Mina departed The Bungalow's Long Beach operation in early 2023, after which Bolthouse shifted that location toward a more bar-and-lounge-focused format with music and a smaller food program. More recently, Mina Group also ended its management of The Bungalow Kitchen in Tiburon in June 2026, with that restaurant transferring to Clive Collective and becoming unaffiliated with Bolthouse's other Bungalow locations. There is currently no indication that Mina is involved with the proposed RaDD location.
The Bungalow was founded by Los Angeles nightlife entrepreneur and event producer Brent Bolthouse, who opened the original location at Santa Monica's Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in 2012. The concept was designed less like a conventional nightclub and more like an upscale beach house party, combining cocktails, DJs, outdoor patios, fire pits, game areas and residential-style furnishings.
The company subsequently expanded to Huntington Beach and Long Beach. Its current website lists all three Southern California locations and describes the concept around handcrafted cocktails, music, events and a relaxed coastal atmosphere.
The original Santa Monica location remains inside the Fairmont Miramar overlooking the Pacific Ocean and includes a patio, game room and several distinct lounge spaces furnished to resemble a lived-in coastal home rather than a traditional bar. That formula could translate naturally to RaDD, which IQHQ increasingly markets not simply as a research campus but as a waterfront lifestyle and entertainment district.
RaDD encompasses approximately 1.7 million square feet across five buildings and six downtown blocks, with more than five acres of green space, retail and restaurant uses, public art and event facilities along San Diego Bay. IQHQ says the project is now delivered and describes it as a mix of laboratory, office and retail space connected by a central pedestrian paseo. The development was conceived primarily as a major downtown life-science campus, but its retail and hospitality components have emerged more quickly than much of the laboratory leasing originally envisioned.
The company subsequently expanded to Huntington Beach and Long Beach. Its current website lists all three Southern California locations and describes the concept around handcrafted cocktails, music, events and a relaxed coastal atmosphere.
The original Santa Monica location remains inside the Fairmont Miramar overlooking the Pacific Ocean and includes a patio, game room and several distinct lounge spaces furnished to resemble a lived-in coastal home rather than a traditional bar. That formula could translate naturally to RaDD, which IQHQ increasingly markets not simply as a research campus but as a waterfront lifestyle and entertainment district.
RaDD encompasses approximately 1.7 million square feet across five buildings and six downtown blocks, with more than five acres of green space, retail and restaurant uses, public art and event facilities along San Diego Bay. IQHQ says the project is now delivered and describes it as a mix of laboratory, office and retail space connected by a central pedestrian paseo. The development was conceived primarily as a major downtown life-science campus, but its retail and hospitality components have emerged more quickly than much of the laboratory leasing originally envisioned.
Luxury fitness company Equinox has already opened its approximately 41,000-square-foot downtown club there, while electric vehicle company Rivian and home furnishings retailer The Shade Store have also activated portions of the property. Local sandwich chain Board & Brew is among the food businesses currently open at the property, while upscale Mexican restaurant Javier's Finest Food of Mexico is also planned for the district.
RaDD also houses Eve, a top-floor event venue operated through a partnership with the San Diego Padres' special-events team. Eve was recently the host venue for the Michelin Guide California Award Ceremony.
The property's original life-science ambitions encountered considerable headwinds as the biotech real-estate market weakened nationally following an extraordinary pandemic-era building boom. IQHQ eventually secured the J. Craig Venter Institute as RaDD's first major life-science tenant, with the genomics organization planning to relocate its West Coast operation into approximately 50,000 square feet in the Core building.
The addition of The Bungalow would push RaDD further toward becoming a destination independent of the workers occupying its offices and laboratories. Unlike Equinox, Rivian or daytime-oriented food businesses, The Bungalow is fundamentally built around nightlife and social activity, potentially giving the waterfront district another reason to draw visitors during evenings and weekends.
Its placement in the Alley building may be particularly suited to that format. The building sits near RaDD's public paseo and open spaces, with direct pedestrian connectivity toward San Diego Bay.
Exactly what version of The Bungalow will come to San Diego remains unclear. The abandoned UTC proposal envisioned an unusually large indoor-outdoor venue and was announced in partnership with Michael Mina. There is currently no indication in the newly obtained materials that Mina is involved in the RaDD project, and the brand's food operations have evolved considerably since the San Diego location was first proposed nearly eight years ago.
The Bungalow's current locations focus heavily on cocktails, DJs, themed parties, social events and private gatherings, with food generally positioned as shareable bites accompanying the nightlife experience. The company also regularly hosts special events ranging from DJ nights and holiday celebrations to wellness pop-ups and community fundraisers.
The new San Diego location would also place The Bungalow in a very different environment from its originally planned UTC home. Rather than opening within a major shopping center, the venue would sit directly along downtown's waterfront near the USS Midway Museum, Broadway Pier, cruise ship terminals, InterContinental San Diego and Santa Fe Depot, while remaining within walking distance of the downtown hotel and residential population. The project also brings The Bungalow considerably closer to the type of waterfront setting that has defined its identity in Santa Monica, Huntington Beach and Long Beach.
For now, RaDD's leasing materials provide no construction schedule or anticipated debut date for The Bungalow, and neither IQHQ nor Bungalow Hospitality Group has publicly announced the project. SanDiegoVille has contacted representatives seeking additional information regarding the size, design, food and beverage program and anticipated opening timeline for the downtown San Diego location.
What is clear is that a San Diego expansion once presumed dead has resurfaced in one of the city's largest and most visible new developments. Eight years after The Bungalow first announced plans to come to San Diego - and three years after telling SanDiegoVille "you never know what the future holds" - its name is once again appearing on a local development plan. This time, the party house appears headed downtown.
What is clear is that a San Diego expansion once presumed dead has resurfaced in one of the city's largest and most visible new developments. Eight years after The Bungalow first announced plans to come to San Diego - and three years after telling SanDiegoVille "you never know what the future holds" - its name is once again appearing on a local development plan. This time, the party house appears headed downtown.