get a restaurant
The hotel, owned by SKG DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen, will shut down after the summer for construction of the restaurant. Hotel officials said the facility will reopen in the spring.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The Malibu Beach Inn will close its doors after the summer season concludes. But the business stoppage for the three-story hotel located on Pacific Coast Highway near the Malibu Pier will only be temporary, as it will reopen in the spring with a newly built restaurant.
The Planning Commission approved a permit for the hotel’s billionaire owner, David Geffen, to allow for the construction of a 196-square-foot kitchen and dining area with approximately 42 seats. The restaurant will also include outdoor seating on the existing patio at the beach-facing side of the building.
But locals will not get to enjoy the new restaurant unless they receive an invitation from a hotel guest. According to the conditions of the permit, the restaurant will only be available for hotel guests and those they invite for a meal. In order for the restaurant to be open for the general public, more parking spaces would be required at the facility, but there is no room to build them.
The restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, according to the permit. When the dining area is closed, a limited menu of prepared items will be available for hotel guests. No live music will be allowed at the restaurant, but recorded music will be played.
A porte-cochere, not to exceed 26 feet in width and 21 feet, six inches in height will also be constructed at the hotel’s main entrance.
Malibu Beach Inn officials declined to give many details about the proposed restaurant after the meeting, except that it was a “many millions of dollars” project. They also refused comment when asked about the hotel’s famous owner’s involvement with the project.
Geffen, a 63-year-old Carbon Beach resident, purchased the 47-room Malibu Beach Inn last year for an estimated $29 million. The previous owners were Marty and Vicky Cooper. Sources close to the deal told The Malibu Times last year that Geffen intended to transform the 16-year-old building into a high-end hotel.
The 140th richest man in the world with a total worth of $4.4 billion , according to Forbes magazine, Geffen became the second billionaire in less than two years to purchase a major property on Pacific Coast Highway near the pier.
In 2003, 61-year-old Larry Ellison, ranked 15th on Forbes’ list with a worth of $16 billion, purchased five beachfront homes on Carbon Beach for a reported $65 million. Later that year, the Oracle CEO bought PierView Café for an undisclosed sum. Then, in 2004, he acquired the neighboring Windsail restaurant property from local developer Richard Weintraub for an unknown amount. Additionally, he bought a home in Serra Retreat.
Although Ellison has proposed projects for both restaurant properties, no major permits have been acquired.
The billionaire property buying continued in July 2005 when E. Stanley Kroenke, an owner of several sports teams and husband to a Wal-Mart heir, bought the Malibu Colony Plaza for an undisclosed sum.