Toubia family is once again leaving Comotara Center, this time for new space it owns

The Toubia family is once again leaving Comotara Center at 29th and Rock Road, but this departure is nothing like the last one.

“COVID really made this like a dialogue with us and the property owner,” Joseph Toubia said.

He and his aunts, Joumana and Randa Toubia, have been leasing 5,000 square feet for their Two Olives restaurant and another 8,000 square feet for banquet space.

“We’re the one who prompted this dialogue,” Joumana Toubia said. “It’s not a shock to the landlord. It’s not a shock to us.”

The family purchased a 5,500-square-foot building at 1540 S. Webb Road, which is just north of Harry and Webb Road. Morrie Sheets of J.P. Weigand & Sons handled the deal for the space, which is where Doo-Dah Diner once was.

Joumana Toubia said she and her family looked at all their options.

“Moving was one of them.”

The family first moved to Comotara when Joumana and Randa Toubia’s brother, Latour Management founder Antoine Toubia, was alive.

“It was built in ’87, and that’s when we moved in,” Joseph Toubia said.

Over the years, they had space there for banquets and their Olive Tree and Chelsea’s restaurants. In 2009, those businesses left following a dispute with the center’s previous owners.

They returned with Olive Tree Catering and Two Olives in 2016.

Since the pandemic started, there’s been a question of what to do with the banquet space.

“This is a point for both parties . . . to transition,” Joseph Toubia said.

“We’re going to a lovely space,” Joumana Toubia said, calling it “perfect for the projects that we’re embarking on.”

“We’re making an investment,” Joseph Toubia said. “We’re taking the space, and we’re going to expand the production capacity and continue our catering services and transition our Two Olives brand.”

In the short term, the restaurant will have curbside and delivery only from the new space.

Joseph Toubia said the company has built a solid online structure since the pandemic began.

He said plans are to remodel the new space and expand production capacity “to grow our existing services and reimagine new services.”

Joumana Toubia said they will take the changes in steps.

“The world . . . has changed, and we have to evolve with it,” she said. “There’s some lovely things on the horizon.”

Wednesday is the final day for Two Olives to operate in the Comotara space.

Randa Toubia said Olive Tree Catering will not be interrupted with the move.

“Stay tuned for more developments on the way,” she said.

The Denver-based Comotara ownership group didn’t have a comment on the restaurant departure, but it does have a deal for a new tenant. Look for news about it soon.

This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 2:08 PM.