Business Corner: MariSol Malibu

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MariSol Malibu is located in western Malibu and offers homes overlooking Malibu’s incomparable coastline.

They’ve shown property to the purported grandson of the King of Prussia, a fictitious godson of a billionaire and purported billionaires with fake financial statements and bank accounts. 

The dream of living at MariSol — and in Malibu — is so grand that people have gone to great lengths to manufacture qualifications. 

MariSol Malibu’s General Manager Richard G. Morris understands the allure. 

“The coastline here, especially the western end, is world-class, the fishing [and] surfing [are] better, and the weather – the best,” Morris said. 

Located in western Malibu near the Ventura County Line (just off of PCH and Yerba Buena Drive), MariSol Malibu began as a chance encounter when Morris drove by the site in 2003 on his way to the county line beach. But he took a detour when he recognized an opportunity to develop an environmentally sensitive, low-density community of luxury estates that didn’t exist elsewhere in Malibu. 

After gaining permit approvals and buying some adjacent properties, Morris, his partner Ronald Coleman and the rest of the MariSol Malibu team committed to make the 80-acre site all that it could be, constructing 17 beach houses. They began selling property in 2011. 

“The response has been excellent with the majority of our buyers selling their Malibu houses on the sand and moving up to MariSol to get the best of both worlds: a world class beach house, with all the advantages of blufftop living such as 180-degree elevated views, spaciousness, a private atmosphere, and protection from any wave erosion,” Scott Morris, director of sales and marketing, said.

To date, half of the MariSol properties have been sold. While the majority of buyers come from coastal communities like Broad Beach, Las Flores Beach and Manhattan Beach, MariSol’s website has also drawn international buyers from Canada, England, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, France and China. 

“We find that while these buyers desire to stay on the beach, they prefer bluff-top views in close range of the breaking waves below and also larger, more spacious, and private homes that are not available on the sand,” Scott said. “We also have national buyers that own private jets and can land 15 minutes away from MariSol at the Camarillo Airport.” 

MariSol’s entitlement allows homebuilding without coastal development permits and City of Malibu building restrictions. 

“As a result, with relatively no size or blufftop setback restrictions, you can build to your dreams here in 18 months or less and our experienced development team will assist you every step of the way,” Richard said. 

MariSol offers five years of complimentary maintenance on finished homes, including housekeeping and gardening. 

Richard and the MariSol team have been proactive in their environmental enhancements, including the underground wiring of utilities, widening and extending Ellice Street to improve traffic flow, adding a California native botanic garden and Monarch Butterfly Waystation, and installing a storm drainage and filtration system. 

Richard has come a long way from his first job of cutting apricots on a fruit farm when he was 10 years old. He served two tours in Vietnam before he was 25, received his bachelor’s degree in economics from UCLA and JD from Loyola University. He met his wife, Linda, at UCLA and they have three children and two grandchildren together. 

To learn more about MariSol Malibu, visit www.marisolmalibu.com.