The Beachcomber Cafe closed last week, leaving two vacant restaurants on one of Malibu’s main tourist locations. Malibu City Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, concessionaire for the pier, said the Malibu landmark is in a “transition period.”
By Homaira Shifa / Special to The Malibu Times
The Beachcomber Cafe and bar closed its location on the Malibu Pier Wednesday last week, leaving Malibu Beach Supply Co. as the only business operating at one of Malibu’s main tourist attractions. Tad Belshe, the restaurant’s vice president of operations, said a slow summer and an overall lack of foot traffic led the restaurant to close.
“We tried to stay open,” Belshe said. “Unfortunately, visitorship wasn’t enough on the pier or in Malibu in general.”
The Beachcomber’s departure leaves two open restaurant spaces on the pier, which is owned by California State Parks. Ruby’s Shake Shack closed before the summer. In addition, the large swell that hit Malibu over Labor Day weekend damaged the pier’s landing, causing whale watching expeditions to be delayed indefinitely during one of the most fruitful seasons for gray whale watching in years. A fire started by a tossed cigarette also damaged the pier in May.
It all adds up to a difficult period for one of Malibu’s tourism focal points.
“It’s just a transition period right now,” said Malibu City Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, who leases the concession rights to the pier with partner Alexander Leff. “There is going to be a troubled three to four months ahead while we figure out which direction we’ll go with the restaurants.”
Wagner said he had approached Franco Simplicio, co-owner of The Sunset and Moonshadows restaurants, about possibly leasing the restaurant space.
“I spoke with Franco on New Year’s Eve and he has shown interest in exploring the idea,” Wagner said.
The restaurant still has an active liquor license and full Alcoholic Beverage Licenses, Wagner said.
Wagner said he and Leff as concessionaires must return a minimum rent to State Parks. That minimum rent was set in 2002, “well before the crash of the market,” Wagner said.
“What we have to give to [the state] makes it very difficult for us to lease the restaurants,” Wagner said, before adding, “I haven’t taken any income from the pier in 10 years. I’m working it for free.”
The State of California bought the pier in 1980. After incurring severe damage from the El Nino storms of 1993 and from another storm in 1995, the state declared the pier unsafe and shut it down to the public. With a $6.2 million budget, the state began reconstructing the Malibu Pier in 1999 with a plan to restore it to its 1950’s condition as a tourist attraction.
It reopened in 2008 amid much optimism, which the difficult economy appears to have tempered.
“The pier needs a significant advertising punch so that people can recognize it as a destination,” Wagner said. “It needs to be tied to the Adamson House and create a synergy between the two. People who visit the pier should go there and people who visit the House should visit the pier.”