John Selman, majority owner of Malibu Village Wines, says he could not open a wine business in Malibu Colony Plaza when Jerry Perenchio owned the mall because there was no interest.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
After months of speculation, Malibu Village Wines has been announced as one of the businesses that will move to the space in Malibu Colony Plaza formerly occupied by Blockbuster Video. The Planning Commission on Monday night granted a conditional-use permit for Village Wines, which is currently located in Malibu Country Mart, to have a wine store and tasting bar at its new home. The 1,700-square-foot facility will not take up the entire Blockbuster space. It is not known who will move into the remaining portion.
John Selman, owner of Village Wines, said the new facility would include an area for people to sit down and talk while drinking wine, a place for people to do wine tasting and an area where bottles of wine will be for sale. He said there would also be a feature where people can blend wines to create their own hybrids.
“This is an interesting concept that I am hoping to turn into a franchise,” said Selman after the meeting.
He added that he has 12 minority partners in the business. He declined to give their names, but said several are high-profile people who live in Malibu.
Selman said it was not possible to move his business to the Colony Plaza until recently because when Jerry Perenchio owned the mall, his people showed no interest in a wine business. But that changed after developer and multisports team owner E. Stanley Kroenke bought the property last year.
“This project is driven by Kroenke and his desire to have a wine business on the property,” said Selman, adding that Kroenke owned wine businesses of his own but was not one of the minority partners in his company.
Selman said the move to Malibu Colony would begin after the person who is taking over the rest of the old Blockbuster space finalizes his plan. Selman said he knows who that person is, but declined to give his name. Officials from the city’s Environmental and Community Development Department said nobody has attempted to get permits for that property.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the commission approved coastal development permits for the construction of a 5,346-square-foot, 24-foot-high, two-story home at the 7100 block of Birdview Avenue; a 5,959-square-foot, split-level two-story home at the 31400 block of Broad Beach Road, a 5,668-square-foot, split-level two-story home at the 31400 block of Broad Beach Road and 4,981-square-foot, one-story home at the 27900 block of Pacific Coast Highway.