Advertisement New restaurants highlight downtown Roseville redevelopment Ninja Sushi to fill space vacated by Sammy Hagar's Island Bar and Grill Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Downtown Roseville has had its ups and downs, but city planners feel they are finally gaining the momentum needed to make the area a popular, year-round destination for diners, shoppers and theater-goers.The space vacated by the failed Sammy Hagar's Island Bar and Grill on Vernon Street will soon be home to Ninja Sushi and Teriyaki's second restaurant.Leaders of the Roseville Community Development Corporation partnered with Steve Kwon, owner of Ninja Sushi, to open the restaurant.The corporation paid for tenant improvements at the location, along with providing an attractive rental agreement to entice the new restaurant."At the end of the day, we need him to be successful in there. His success will be our success," said Chris Roble, Roseville Community Development Corporation CEO.Along with new restaurants moving into the area, the city is also in the middle of planning and contruction of several new buildings in the downtown area.At 316 Vernon St., workers have already started construction on a four-story building that will house city offices, a satellite campus for Sierra College and ground-level retail space.Crews will soon break ground on a seven-story, 468-space parking structure on a parking lot behind the Roseville Theatre.City planners hope the new additions will make downtown Roseville a destination for people looking for a place to have a night out."We don’t have that sense yet of let’s just go down there and figure out what there is to do," said city spokeswoman Megan MacPherson. "We’re hoping that with bringing access and bike trails and all these new businesses, coffee restaurants, colleges, people are going to have a reason to come down here. They may not know exactly what they want to do, but they are going to know something is happening downtown."Restaurant owner Steve Kwon said there is plenty of risk in the new location, but he is excited about the future and opportunity Downtown Roseville will bring."We are trying to revitalize the whole downtown side by helping, putting the sushi restaurant here because there is no sushi restaurant down here in Roseville," said Kwon. "I’m pretty sure it can be an attraction."Fig Tree Coffee started construction on their new location at 222 Vernon St.Cheese Louise Diner and Grille recently opened at 400 Vernon St.The Strum Shop plans to move its ukulele store into the space 209 Vernon St.MacPherson hopes the new additions are a sign of momentum, giving the area a positive identity."A sense of place where people can gather -- live, work and play," MacPherson said. "Stay here morning, noon and night and have a reason to be here -- that’s really materialized with our town square. We had 100,000 people come the first year."