The potential rental would bring in $144,000 annually the first two years for the city from Super Care Drugs. Another portion of the building could still be rented to another tenant.
By Olivia Damavandi / Assistant Editor
The city-owned building at the northeast corner of Webb Way and Pacific Coast Highway that use to house Coldwell Banker has remained vacant for more than a year, but soon may have Super Care Drugs as its new tenant. The Malibu City Council at its upcoming Monday night meeting will vote on whether to approve a 10-year lease agreement with the pharmacy’s owners. The council will also consider a request to allow a portion of a long distance relay run, which spans from Santa Barbara to Dana Point, to pass through the City of Malibu along Pacific Coast Highway in April.
If the proposed lease agreement with Super Care Drugs is approved, the city will still continue its ongoing search for potential tenants, as the pharmacy would only occupy 3,000 square feet (or 62 percent) of the 4,848-square-foot building. Super Care currently has a store located at the Malibu Creek Village (formerly known as Cross Creek Plaza), located at Cross Creek Road and Pacific Coast Highway. It would close the store at that location if the lease agreement with the city were accepted. If approved, the lease would provide the city with an annual rental income of $144,000 for the first two years. The rent would then increase by 3 percent the third lease year and every year thereafter.
Income from leasing the building would be used to support maintenance fees for Legacy Park and to pay off the certificates of participation sold to help meet the purchase price of the parkland. The parkland was purchased by the city in 2006 for $25 million. In addition to the vacant land that is currently being developed into Legacy Park, the purchase included three commercial properties, including the Malibu Lumberyard land, which is now the site of the Malibu Lumber Yard mall, and the Coldwell Banker and Malibu Animal Hospital properties.
Since the Coldwell building became vacant more than a year ago, the city has in numerous closed session meetings negotiated leasing agreements with potential tenants including Weintraub Financial Services, Malibu Urgent Care, Anawalt Lumber Company and Ace Hardware, and most recently Malibu Business & Shipping Center.
But the city has remained tight-lipped about any aspect of the negotiations because they are in the proposal process.
Relay marathon seeks permits
Months after the city council granted permits to allow the first Malibu Marathon, which took place last November and spanned from Camarillo to Zuma Beach, organizers of the Ragnar Relay Series at a December city meeting requested that the council permit a portion of another long distance relay run to take place within city limits on Pacific Coast Highway. The relay is scheduled to take place April 23 and 24.
Some council members at the December meeting were leery about supporting the proposed relay run because it would take place on the eastern end of Malibu, which they consider to be more dangerous than the western end because there is more development and more traffic.
After receiving the request, the council directed staff to bring back updated information regarding the city’s policies regulating triathlons, marathons and relay races.
The staff in a recent report states it has been working with members of the marathon/triathlon community to establish guidelines applicable for inclusion in the city’s permitting process. City staff has initiated a zoning text amendment to consider changes to the Malibu Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program regarding the processing of temporary use permits. The recommended changes will include a section adding TUP standards for marathon and triathlon events. The amendments are scheduled to be presented Feb. 9 to the Zoning Ordinance Revisions and Code Enforcement Subcommittee, which will forward recommendations to the city council.