Bishop’s School buys Jack in the Box property in La Jolla; plans for its use to be determined

The Bishop’s School in La Jolla has purchased the nearby property that formerly housed the Jack in the Box fast-food restaurant at 564 Pearl St. The site will be leased in the short term to a yet-to-be-decided tenant, according to the school. In the long term, it will be converted for student use.

“We’re a great school and want to continue to be a great school, so this was about imagination and looking at our vision for how we can learn and grow better,” Bishop’s Head of School Ron Kim said of the purchase. “Whenever we think about the future, we have the desire to expand what we can do. We want to make sure that space constraints aren’t going to prevent us from doing something. We want to imagine greatly.”

The $5.5 million purchase was completed Sept. 30, around the time Jack in the Box quietly closed, said Bishop’s Chief Operating Officer Pam Duffy.

Jack in the Box representatives did not respond to requests for comment at the time about the reason for the closure.

“We are looking into leasing that space to various potential occupants,” Duffy said. Though no decision has been made, there are “a number of interested parties,” many of them restaurants, she said. The hope is for the tenant to open by next summer.

“It depends on who the interested parties are and terms we can come to,” Duffy said. “We would want to have someone in there as soon as possible, hopefully in the next three to six months.”

Kim said “we’re very mindful of the visibility and location of that property. We want to be a good neighbor, and know this matters to people.”

The tables at the former Jack in the Box restaurant on Pearl Street have been closed off with caution tape.

(Elisabeth Frausto)

Down the line, the space will be converted to a school facility; the specifics have not been decided.

“It could be lots of things,” Kim said. “We have hopes and dreams right now. We want to make sure we are preparing the school for the future, and we want to make sure if there are spaces that can make that happen, we can continue to evolve in terms of what that space might mean for us.”

Given that it abuts the campus, location was a factor in deciding to buy the property, he said, adding that “it’s a good-size lot and we know that proximity and size gives us options.”

When the school is ready to convert the property for its use, the plans will go before community groups for review, Duffy said.

On Nov. 4, the La Jolla Community Planning Association approved the proposed vacation from city ownership of part of Cuvier Street on the other side of the Bishop’s campus, with half the vacated land — 8,061 square feet — going to the school. Plans for that property have not been confirmed, but school representatives have said a dance studio is a possibility. ◆