Santa Monica, Calif.--R.D. Olson Construction, an Irvine-based firm specializing in building restaurants, hotels, retail outlets, has been contracted to construct the tenant improvements for a Benihana in Santa Monica. The restaurant is centrally located at 1447 Fourth Street, near the city’s main shopping center, Third Street Promenade.

The construction will entail 7,000 square feet of tenant improvements of the first and second floors of the art deco structure, which was built in 1927. The design includes a main dining room with eight Teppan exhibition cooking tables and an upstairs sushi bar and lounge. A decorative glass and brass entrance, large wood stair lantern and blacklit onyx stone walls will give a dramatic flare to the entry, while Japanese custom-designed wood detailing will create an exotic atmosphere throughout the dining room and sushi bar. The project cost will total $1.7 million.

The new Santa Monica Japanese-style restaurant was designed by Ware & Malcomb Architects. It is owned by Benihana International Corporation.

R.D. Olson Construction was founded in 1979 by Robert Olson. The company has since built such well-known establishments as the Northpark Plaza, Irvine; Oak Creek Village Center, Irvine; and Morton’s of Chicago, Vancouver, British Columbia. R.D. Olson Construction is the twelfth largest company of its kind in Orange County with offices in Honolulu, Hawaii and Las Vegas, Nev. The company’s corporate headquarters is in Irvine, Calif.