Red Fox Room is building a new home right across from the Lafayette.

Legendary El Cajon Boulevard has had a checkered past since its early days, when it was once the major East-West highway (CA 80) into San Diego. It consisted of car dealerships, motels, shops, and eateries for weary travelers.

Lafayette Hotel, built in 1946, attracted Ava Gardner, Bob Hope, Conrad Hilton, Johnny Weissmuller, Florence Chadwick.

The hotel that stood above the crowd is the historic Lafayette Hotel, at 2223 El Cajon. Built in 1946 by car dealer Larry Imig, it became a place for big bands and celebs including Ava Gardner and Bob “Ski Nose” Hope. CH Projects, aka Consortium Holdings, has now embarked on its first hotel holding with its purchase of the Lafayette for $ 25.8 million.

Mississippi Apartments construction across the street from the Lafayette.

The seller of the hotel was JCG Development, who took ownership in 2004 for $11 million. It later underwent a major renovation, with $4+ million in San Diego Redevelopment Agency funds. According to JCG, in the ‘40’s and ‘50s, the hotel sat on nearly 2.5 acres and boasted 24 shops, four restaurants, a nightclub, and 250 guest rooms, suites, and apartments. Later in the ‘50s, hotelier and San Diego Charger owner Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel, and demolished the apartments. Shops are no longer part of the hotel’s features.

CH co-founder Arsalun Tafazoli declined to say how much his group plans to spend on the update.

Meanwhile, the legendary Red Fox Room is still alive but not yet kicking. It’s building a new home right across from the Lafayette, at 2200 El Cajon Boulevard. According to its website, it plans to open this summer.

Owned by the Demos family since 1966, the restaurant manager is Jim Demos, son of the founder.

The high-rise loft Aidn apartments at 2411 El Cajon Blvd.

In 2020, the housing authority of the city of San Diego issued up to $12,150,000 of San Diego tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue bonds and $4,000,000 of taxable bonds for the construction of a new affordable housing development at 2139 El Cajon Boulevard. The project was named Mississippi ECB Apartments. Formerly on this site was a health clinic, and an auto repair shop.

The Mississippi ECB Apartments will consist of 61 units (including a manager’s unit) affordable to families earning between 50% and 80% of the area median income. The units will remain affordable for 55 years per law. The development by Trestle Development, includes 24 studios, 24 one-bedrooms and 12 two-bedroom units. Construction is expected to complete by June 2022. Construction costs are estimated at $13 million, but the final cost is thought to total $23 million.

Craft beer place Twisted Taps went belly-up a while back, at the northeast corner of Louisiana Street and El Cajon Boulevard. That location has had many commercial lessees over the last 10 years, and nothing seems to last. But next door, Gillys bar just keeps on bringing in its regular clientele.

Just east of longtime Dave’s Flower Shop was a parking lot, used by Négociant Winery. The narrow lot didn’t look like much, but it’s now the site of the Aidn Apartments, a high-rise loft project.