The darkened corner that once housed the Walnut Creek Yacht Club may soon be splashing back to life, this time with a fresh, seafood-forward twist. The Ghaben family has filed plans to enlarge and remodel the longtime spot at 1555 Bonanza Street, adding more indoor seats, a new outdoor dining area and a compact second-floor office. City renderings show a polished midcentury-style refresh that leans on the building’s existing restaurant bones rather than starting from scratch.
Plans at a glance
The proposal on file would bump the building up to roughly 6,300 square feet, expand the main dining room and completely overhaul the kitchen and restrooms. On the outside, the plans call for new paint, updated awnings, mosaic tile flourishes and a decorative metal screen feature along the facade. As reported by The Mercury News, the project also includes a reworked entry and a larger interior dining area to better engage the street corner.
How big and what’s new
Project documents circulating with the application indicate the restaurant would gain about 1,360 square feet of additional ground-floor space, plus a 1,179-square-foot second-floor office set aside for corporate operations. The filing also shows plans for an outdoor dining terrace along Bonanza and an enlarged entry that opens more directly to the block. Local coverage describes the concept as a seafood-focused fish bar that, pending city approvals, could require a year or more of construction before opening to the public, according to What Now.
Who’s behind it
County records show an affiliate of Ghaben Inc. picked up the property in July 2025 for about $3.8 million, and the buyers are already well known in East Bay restaurant circles. Brokerage materials and listings identify the Ghaben siblings as the purchasers, and Mike Ghaben told reporters the new concept is going to be the next hottest thing in Walnut Creek. Records and interviews about the sale and the owners’ plans were reviewed by Restaurant Realty and The Mercury News.
Local ties
The family is hardly a newcomer to the neighborhood. The Ghabens already run Broderick Roadhouse just up the street and Lita on Bonanza, giving them a strong foothold in downtown Walnut Creek’s dining scene. Broderick’s website lists the three siblings as owners, and a 2022 press release announcing Lita ties the restaurant to Ghaben Partners. Broderick and a Ghaben press release outline the group’s existing local footprint.
Next steps
The city’s planning division has already taken an initial look at the proposal, and local coverage indicates the project is expected to land on the planning commission agenda this spring. Officials emphasize that design and planning review are separate from building permits, so even with approvals in hand, shovels would not hit the ground immediately. If the commission signs off, construction could start the following year, with the opening pushed further out. Yahoo has summarized the projected timeline from local reports, while What Now notes the concept might not debut until 2027.
The Yacht Club itself shut down in May 2025 after nearly 30 years on Bonanza, leaving behind a familiar facade and one of downtown’s more prominent empty restaurant spaces. There is still no firm schedule for when construction will wrap or what the final menu will look like, but neighbors say they are eager to see the corner humming again with diners instead of dust. Patch reported on the Yacht Club’s May closing and the wave of memories that followed the announcement.
