Owner hopes to expand the strip mall’s operating hours with food, beverage and service choices that appeal to tech and biotech workers, as well as residents up the road.

The humdrum food court that feeds some of the region’s most affluent workers is getting a major upgrade that the developer says is more hip to current appetites.

Sorrento Court, the 60,000-square-foot outdoor strip mall at 9420 to 9460 Scranton Road in Sorrento Valley, will later this summer begin its transition to a more inviting food and retail plaza. The change is starting with a switch in anchor tenants, as Staples is shutting its doors on July 26 to make room for Planet Fitness.

Toward the end of the year, property owner The Festival Companies will begin to renovate the central strip of buildings into a food hall with more modern concepts designed to court diners from morning to evening. Food halls borrow from food courts — multiple vendors, communal seating and quick service — but typically feature artisan and local options, and often include alcohol offerings.

“We are doing a revitalization of the property,” said Rosalind Schurgin, who is the CEO of The Festival Companies. “The plan is to transform this from what is now a dated looking property into something more in keeping with the kind of design and style that folks expect now.”

Los Angeles-based The Festival Companies, which acquired the site in 2015, will improve the property with a new look using natural materials to create a more inviting environment, she said. Plans also include incorporating more shaded areas for visitors, beautifying walkways and recruiting a mix of higher caliber tenants. Beyond changing the selection of eateries, Festival expects to attract service businesses such as medical offices, spas or hair salons, Schurgin said.

The developer is eyeing completion in 2020. The hope is that Sorrento Court, part of the highly trafficked corporate hub just east of Interstate 805, will draw customers day and night, and not just during weekday lunch hours — although that traffic is still part of the site’s appeal. The shopping center’s neighbors include Dexcom, Qualcomm and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. A marketing brochure being used sell the food-forward vision to future tenants touts a daytime population of 138,300 people within three miles.

Schurgin declined to share the project cost, but characterized her’s firm investment as substantial. The plan, according to city records, is to expand some of the existing structures and give them face lifts. Festival also would demolish two small, standalone buildings to make room for lush landscaping and seating areas. The developer is also slightly altering the parking lot and adding six spaces, according to planning documents filed with the city last year.

As for current tenants, they will not be immediately affected by the center’s overhaul, Schurgin said. However, many storefronts are already unoccupied. Sorrento Court’s redo does not include the McDonald’s restaurant, the plaza’s gas station or the adjacent office buildings, which sit on parcels that Festival does not own.