Video, CD and DVD renters are left with only two places in town to go to; Mexican chain restaurant will open in Malibu.
By Christie Lopez/Special to The Malibu Times
The facade of businesses in Malibu has been changing over the last couple years, from the downsizing of John’s Garden, to the loss of local boutiques Siblings and Bella Fortuna in the Malibu Country Mart.
Furthering this metamorphosis, two longtime Malibu Creek Plaza businesses recently shut their doors, and two new tenants are prepping for business in their place. To the graveyard of Malibu businesses-gone-under, add the tombstones of recent bygones: commercial franchises Pizza Hut and Wherehouse. A Steve Soboroff, owner of Malibu Creek Plaza and former mayoral candidate, said upon expiration of the company’s initial 25-year lease, Pizza Hut, which was sandwiched between Ben and Jerry’s ice cream store and Bay Cities Beauty Supply Company, closed its doors last month and is unlikely to reopen in any other location in Malibu. Mexican chain restaurant Casa Escobar will take over the Pizza Hut space. Wherehouse, which was located next to Ballet Studio by the Sea, also closed last month after the company filed a “chain-wide” bankruptcy. Wells Fargo will take over the larger space that Wherehouse occupied, the bank currently occupies a much smaller space at the other end of the shopping center.
Soboroff said the two closures have been the first in Malibu Creek Plaza (the shops from the New Malibu Theater to Banana Republic, and from Wells Fargo bank to the former Wherehouse location) for quite some time. Soboroff said rent in this area is kept below the average market value of $6 to $7 dollars per square foot, and for that reason Malibu Creek has a low turnover rate.
Dream comes true
For the third-generation restaurant owner and 30-year Malibu resident Kathy Escobar, the anticipated eatery, Casa Escobar, is a dream come true. The new restaurant in Malibu will be the third in a chain of family-owned restaurants, the original opened by her grandfather in 1946 in West Los Angeles. Though the original restaurant has since closed, there is now a Casa Escobar in Santa Monica (owned by Escobar’s uncle) and one in Marina del Ray, which has been in operation for 26 years and is currently owned by Escobar’s father. Growing up in Malibu and living her whole life in the restaurant industry, Escobar said, “Opening a business in my hometown is my dream and my goal.”
The restaurant is scheduled to open at the beginning of May. Escobar said the up-scale Mexican restaurant will offer fish dishes as well as traditional Mexican fare, and, along with a full-service bar, Escobar said the restaurant is sure to offer “something for everybody.”
Bigger and better
At the opposite end of Malibu Creek Plaza a bigger and better Wells Fargo bank will occupy the now-vacant corner space. According to bank service manager Beau Haigh, the new location will be three-times the size of the current bank now located across from Banana Republic. The current bank is considered a “full-service branch,” but in it’s new location the bank will offer not only additional space but also additional services to customers. Haigh says the more spacious location will allow customers more privacy in dealing with their businesses while providing the same personalized service–even though it will be bigger branch.
In anticipation of the move, Wells Fargo staff has been augmented to include a premier banker and an in-store home mortgage consultant; the bank also expects to have a full-time financial consultant at the new location. Other additional services to be offered at the larger bank include safe deposit boxes and night deposits. There is currently no date set for the move. Haigh said, depending on building permits, it could be between four months and one year before the larger bank opens. He also said the move will cause no disruption in service to customers, as the move will most likely occur over a weekend with the current bank closing for the weekend and the new, bigger bank re-opening on a Monday. Pritchett-Rapf & Associates is currently a subtenant of Wells Fargo and will expand from its current location once the bank relocates.