California Apparel News

The Malibu City Council is scheduled to vote on the sale of the exclusive Malibu Lumber Yard retail center at tonight’s council meeting.

The Malibu Lumber Yard was built on city land located across the street from the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 2009, and its high-profile tenants include Kitson, Tory Burch and Intermix. It also is the address of the second location of pioneering boutique Maxfield, as well as the beach flagship store for the James Perse brand.

If the City Council gives its approval, mall developer Malibu Lumber LLC, led by entrepreneur Richard Weintraub, will sell its leasehold interest to Glimcher Properties Limited Partnership, a division of Glimcher Realty Trust, a publicly traded Columbus, Ohio-based real estate investment trust.

According to its company profile, Glimcher runs 28 malls throughout United States. Currently, it owns two malls in California, the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry, and Weberstown Mall in Stockton. Glimcher also runs lifestyle center Scottsdale Quarter in Scottsdale, Ariz. Scottsdale Quarter opened in 2009, and it hosts retailers such as Industrie Denim, a collaboration between Levi Strauss & Co. and Mark Werts, the pioneering Los Angeles–based retailer who built American Rag Cie.

The Malibu Lumber Yard is located at 3939 Cross Creek Road, and it is not only the address to boutiques and restaurants. It also features unique aquariums, a courtyard with a play space for kids, and architecture that blends elements of a beach deck and a lumberyard.

Malibu Lumber LLC spent $25 million to construct the project. It was built on the grounds of a former lumber store. It was the first retail center built in the city since it was incorporated in 1991. The Malibu Lumber Yard’s development was controversial because many Malibu residents lobbied the City Council to reserve the space for neighborhood-style retail, such as a hardware store. Many Malibu residents also demanded any retail development be made as environmentally sustainable as possible.

Malibu Lumber Yard is located adjacent to the Malibu Country Mart retail center—home to exclusive shops such as Ralph Lauren, M. Fredric and John Varvatos—and it is also a neighbor of the Malibu Village retail center. The village’s directory includes boutiques for fashion houses Missoni and Lanvin, as well as a Nike-owned boutique called Salvation.

In the 2009 deal with the city, Malibu Lumber LLC leased the site of Malibu Lumber Yard from the city of Malibu for 39 years. The city’s deal with the developers required that the retail center pay $925,000 annually to the city. The deal also required the city receive 30 percent of the mall’s profits when the profits go north of $2.2 million.—Andrew Asch