Siena Construction recently completed a restaurant build-out for Aceituna Grill in Boston’s rapidly expanding Seaport District. The restaurant features health-conscious Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine in a casual dining environment with counter-service. Owners Gina, Andrew, AJ and Kurban and Samer Malak are building on the success of Aceituna’s first location, which has been a fixture in Kendall Square for over a decade.

Aceituna’s new Seaport locale occupies a street level storefront in the 17-story PwC Building at 101 Seaport Boulevard. Siena implemented designs by McMahon Architects which called for the complete transformation of a previously empty space into the restaurant’s dining room, counter space, kitchen, office, and restrooms.

The restaurant’s dining area and counter space feature custom millwork, accent painting, pendant lighting fixtures, custom built partitions with glass, glazing, and finish carpentry, LVT flooring, café tables, chairs and banquettes, stone counter-tops, and custom branding.

Creating the restaurant’s kitchen involved installation of high-end restaurant kitchen accessories and cooking equipment including seven shawarma rotisseries, front and back of house hoods, large walk in cooler and freezer, as well as security and A/V systems. The overall back of house and kitchen footprint more than doubles the space of the restaurant’s existing location. The build-out also included plumbing from the active parking garage below, distribution of Fire Protection systems, installation of new Ansul systems, HVAC and Kitchen exhaust with specialty pollution control unit, and Electrical trades.

Siena’s project team – including Project Manager Nick Durkee and APM Becca Patnode -worked closely with Neli Ialamov from McMahon Architects, Aceituna’s ownership, building landlords WS Development, and building managers CBRE to address project challenges. Material deliveries and installation were carefully scheduled so as not to disrupt the occupied building’s tenants or adjacent active construction projects. Additionally, careful planning was needed to ensure the project plans, materials, and signage adhered to exact building specifications, as well as the Boston Inspection Services Department, and the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s regulations.

Siena’s Nick Durkee believes the team’s positive collaboration led to the ultimate success of the project.

“It was a pleasure to work with the creative design team at McMahon Architects to realize the space for the ownership team,” Nick said. “The complementary design and finishes create a comfortable and inviting dining atmosphere. I’m sure Aceituna will quickly become a new neighborhood favorite as a go-to place for great cuisine. I hope Aceituna Grill enjoys their new space.”

Aceituna Grill’s new Seaport location is slated to open for lunch and dinner at the end of December 2016.