Fullerton Is Rewriting the Rent on Its Own Train Depot Block

On August 18, 2026, the Fullerton City Council took three actions in one meeting that all touch the blocks around the train station. It adopted a new lease for The Old Spaghetti Factory at 110 E. Santa Fe Ave. It adopted the 2026-27 budget. And it gave staff direction on downtown housing sites that include two city parking garages and a surface lot. The city's posted voting summary is labeled a preliminary draft, and official minutes come after council approval.

The city is the landlord for most of the depot area, and over the past fourteen months it has priced its new depot deals around one figure. That figure is about $2 per square foot per month, and it now applies to the oldest restaurant on the block and to the newest one still being planned. The station and cafe space next door stays on a 1992 rate of about $0.29. Whatever opens, closes or gets built near the tracks next will come out of those numbers.

A lease that started at $1

The Old Spaghetti Factory's lease dates to June 21, 1983. It was signed with the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fullerton as part of moving and restoring the historic depot. The restaurant paid for construction itself and agreed to preserve the historical and architectural character of the Union Pacific Depot Building. Rent was $1 through October 31, 1984, and $15,000 a year after that. A 2010 addendum made the monthly base rent an advance against 4 percent of gross receipts. It also said a later lease would be negotiated at fair market rental value.

The Fullerton Observer's reporting on the staff report shows how the payments have changed:

Staff projects about $351,707 in the first year, or roughly $2.03 per square foot per month. Under the old arrangement the figure was $1.31. By the fifteenth year, staff projects about $500,278. Staff puts the increase at 54 percent in year one and 119 percent by 2041.

Those are big percentages. The restaurant still accepted them. City officials said the terms were agreed before the council vote. Chris Dussin, president of the lessee entity and son of chain founder Guss Dussin, signed the addendum on July 24. Community and Economic Development Director Sunayana Thomas said the increase reflects a long history of below-market rent and a fair market review required by the 2010 agreement. She said it was not tied to the city's budget.

Why the depot can't be priced like a storefront

At 14,436 square feet, the Old Spaghetti Factory space is more than three times the size of the average restaurant space for lease in Fullerton, which the staff report puts at 4,382 square feet. The largest available listing it found was 6,840 square feet. Staff said the property has no true market comparison. The brokers it consulted, including Cushman & Wakefield, called the terms reasonable given the building's size, its historic preservation limits, the small pool of possible replacement tenants and what the city would spend to re-lease it.

Thomas described about $2.03 per square foot as the lower-middle of the market range and noted that few other tenants could take over the space. The same features that make the building historic also keep the rent at the low end of the market. A large dining room in a protected depot only works for a few operators, and the city already has one of them. The comparable data cited in the report ran from about $2 to $4.50 or more per square foot per month, triple net, for similar Orange County restaurant properties.

Some of the new lease terms affect diners directly. The definition of gross receipts now covers takeout, digital orders, third-party delivery, merchandise, catering and events. The city has also committed to resurfacing the depot's public parking lot within the first two years of the term. The lot has to stay usable during the work, with alternative parking for restaurant customers. The term started June 1, 2026, so that resurfacing window runs to about mid-2028.

The same $2 number, next door

The rest of the depot block is on a different lease. Bushala Brothers, Inc. leases the train station, cafe and nearby properties at 120 to 140 E. Santa Fe Ave. from the city. Figures cited at the July 15, 2025 council meeting put that rent at about $0.29 per square foot per month for 6,248 square feet, roughly $22,000 a year. Thomas said that rate comes from a 1992 agreement with different property conditions and obligations, so it shouldn't be compared with current deals.

At that same July 2025 meeting, the council approved a lease amendment for the Bushala properties by a 3–2 vote, with Councilmembers Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles opposed. The amendment extends the option through 2060 and adds the unused loading dock, called Area 8, at $2 per square foot per month, or about $45,000 a year for that space. Thomas later pointed to that loading-dock deal as a recent negotiation for a new depot restaurant space priced at $2.00 per square foot, close to the Old Spaghetti Factory's new rate.

So the block now runs on two kinds of rent. Older leases carry legacy terms. Every new deal the city has signed for depot restaurant space has landed near $2.

What is already built, and what is still on paper

Riders have already seen the built part. An $800,000 refresh of the Fullerton Transportation Center was paid for by the state's Clean California program. It added murals and signage on Fullerton history by local artist Phoebe Nelson, real-time train screens, bike racks and restriped bike lanes, according to the OC Register. One of the pedestrian-bridge pieces is a drawing of Tommy Lasorda.

The trackside restaurant is the part still on paper. Brothers George Jr. and Tony Bushala told the council they plan to build on the east-end loading dock and sublease it to a restaurant operator. Their mock-ups show a brewery-style restaurant, and they compared the idea to a popular trackside spot in San Juan Capistrano. They said operators were already lined up, and the amendment gives them five years to finish.

Here is where the project stands as of September 30, 2026:

1. July 2025: the council approves the lease amendment that adds the loading dock.
2. January 23, 2026: a local blog reports that Bushala Brothers filed a conditional use permit application with the Planning Department, with Planning Commission review to follow staff review.
3. August 12, 2026: the Planning Commission's only public hearing is the Environmental Justice Element.
4. September 9, 2026: the commission agenda lists no public hearings.
5. September 23, 2026: the Planning Commission and Landmarks Commission meeting is cancelled.

No operator has been named publicly, and the loading dock has not appeared on a hearing agenda. The next sign of progress to watch for is a Planning Commission hearing notice.

The parking question that ties it together

The depot block depends on parking, and the city's parking is now part of the housing discussion. At the same August 18 meeting, the council voted 4–1 to have staff look into selling or leasing three city-owned downtown parking sites for housing under state surplus land rules, as Voice of OC reported.

The SOCO site is the priority. A $300,000 grant administered by the Southern California Association of Governments and the OC Council of Governments paid for the consultant study that identified the three sites. Consultants estimate that building on all three sites could bring in more than $418,000 in building permit fees and nearly $3.2 million in park fees. They also said 10 percent of units set aside for very low-income residents would work with developer financing.

Council members described the vote differently. Councilwoman Shana Charles called it a starting conversation that "might end up being something that also helps our financial situation." Councilman Ahmad Zahra said housing and retail at SOCO could bring more foot traffic to nearby businesses. Councilman Nick Dunlap, the one no vote, said community input should have come first and that the sites may suit retail better.

That vote was direction to staff. It did not approve a project. The Transit Center garage on the list serves the station that just got its refresh, and the depot lot on Santa Fe Avenue is the one the city has promised to resurface by about mid-2028. Both parking pieces of the depot area are now tied to city decisions with dates attached.

If you own property near Santa Fe Avenue or the SOCO District, or you're looking at land and income property downtown, the next few Planning Commission and council agendas will show how these city-owned parcels develop. Jose reads those staff reports closely and can walk you through what a surplus-land process or a new restaurant use near the tracks could mean for a specific address, in English or Spanish. Talk with Jose at Salem Realty Group and request a free consultation.