"During our early conversations, they shared that their nightlife model had run its course at The Victorian, and that families were what Main Street needed next." City Manager Oliver Chi said that about Garner Gerson and Adir Tal, who ran The Victorian for 20 years, in the City of Santa Monica's October 9 announcement.
The Victorian held its last Halloween party on October 31, and the house at 2640 Main St. went quiet. The city owns the building, so the deal that replaced the nightclub is a public lease. That lease spells out Main Street's next phase as a daytime, family-oriented street. The new businesses between Pico and Marine are moving the same way. The street's late-night life hasn't gone away. It's collecting in a few rooms farther down the block.
What the city wrote into 2640 Main
The building will reopen as The Santa Monican, a family membership club run by the same two operators. Plans include a pool, a spa and fitness center, a family and youth facility, a coffee bistro, a restaurant and bar, and gardens and gathering spaces on the grounds. The City Council approved the restructured lease unanimously on March 24.
Because the property is public, the lease comes with public terms. According to the city and the Santa Monica Daily Press, they include:
- Up to 20% of memberships set aside as free scholarships for Santa Monica residents, including families, educators and small business owners
- 25 parking spaces kept open to the public, and the lawn at the Heritage Museum kept public
- Continued support for the Sunday market, including restrooms, storage, power and water
- Seasonal events the operators plan with the city and community groups, including free summer barbecues, Santa Monica Snow Days and holiday celebrations
The timeline is long. The city expects renovation to start in late 2026 and is targeting a mid-2028 opening. Membership details and pricing will come from the operators later. The Los Angeles Times pointed to the city staff report's finding that many of the building's systems are "approaching the end of their useful life." The amended lease also has the current operator repaying $278,094 in back rent that the city had underbilled.
The Sunday market moves into the street
The biggest change for a regular Sunday morning is the farmers market, not the club. The city's market page still lists Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 2640 Main St., year-round. That lot is the property's parking lot, which the market has used for years. Under the new lease, the city says the Sunday market "will transition to a weekly, open street event on Main Street." The Ocean Park News Main Street update for November says the market's new location is still being discussed.
So the property's new design moves the street's busiest weekly gathering out of a parking lot and onto Main Street. A Sunday market on the street puts shoppers in front of the storefronts that now line it, and most of those storefronts open in the morning.
A walk south, Pico to Marine
The Ocean Park News walks Main Street every few months. Its November edition, along with the city's announcement and local food coverage, shows the new businesses leaning toward breakfast, juice, pastry and coffee.
| Address | What's there | Status or backstory |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 Main | Santa Monica Market | New owners added a full deli counter this summer |
| 2218 Main | Punch Bowl Juice & Smoothie | Recently opened, joining its Redondo Beach and Los Feliz shops |
| 2400 Main | Shoop's Delicatessen | Tom Cave took over from Matt and Llonna; a neighborhood favorite since 2000 |
| 2400 Main | Puppy Sphere | Puppy yoga in space the bike shop gave up |
| 2441 Main | La Diperie | Montreal-born dipped-dessert shop, its first West Coast location, in the former Holey Grail Donuts space |
| 2651 Main | Met Her at a Bar | All-day café, opened in August |
| 2665b Main | Codos | German coffee shop, in buildout in early November |
| 2701 Main | Jadis | 50 years on the corner of Hill and Main |
| 2820 Main | Marseie | Marseille-inspired restaurant announced for the long-closed Areal space |
| 2917 Main | Bar Fortuna | Opened October 21 in the former Vamos Vamos space |
| 2923 Main | Principessa | Moved over after 25 years on Abbot Kinney |
| 2929 Main | Chez Luna | Pet adoption café announced for the former Knix space |
Several of these buildings have long histories. Met Her at a Bar, the first Santa Monica location from Mindy and Vinny Kinne, opened with roughly 100 jobs. It's in a heavily renovated former workshop, and the grid of yellowish sheet metal on the facade nods to Hughes Sheet Metal Works, which used the building from 1921 to about 1960. Bar Fortuna's space was Joe's Diner from 1987 to 2014. The La Diperie space has sold sweets since Ben & Jerry's moved into the Edgemar building in 1989.
Bar Fortuna fits the pattern best. Chef Brian Bornemann grew up in Ocean Park and runs Crudo e Nudo about three minutes' walk away. He told Eater LA that he built the roughly 40-seat room to make eating out in his own neighborhood affordable: "I don't want to replicate a Roman street food dish and charge $34 for it." The menu has eight handmade pastas, with many starters sourced from the Santa Monica Farmers Market. Eater reported weekend service starting at noon, Friday through Sunday.
A few long runs ended this year. Via Veneto closed after 25 years in the Elks Building at 3009 Main. The Place To Be, a family-owned French bakery at 2510b Main since 2018, closed too. So did the JuneShine tasting room at 2914 Main and the Main Street Starbucks at 2901. "Main Street has seen a few businesses close this year, as every commercial corridor does. It has also seen a steady run of new openings," the city's October 9 announcement says. The city also ties the openings to steps the City Council took in March, including dropping the $1,000-per-seat fee for new restaurants and creating a $3 million economic development fund.
Where the late nights are going
Main Street still has late nights. The Victorian's operators also own Nameless at 2810 Main, which closed during the pandemic, and they plan to reopen it. The Ocean Park News notes that the two venues were competing for the same crowd. Closing one and reopening the other moves that crowd a block and a half south, into a much smaller room.
Circle Bar at 2926 Main has been on Main Street since 1949. It reopened in May under new local ownership after almost three years dark. It kept its dim oval bar and its dance floor, and it still doesn't serve food. Next door at 2914, the former JuneShine space has brown paper on the windows and an ABC notice from Los Angeles Ale Works for a small-brewery license, plus a city application for a new taproom.
Put together, those addresses keep the street's nightlife between Ashland and Kinney, a few doors from each other. The large city-owned house at 2640 is turning to families, morning coffee and a public lawn.
Holiday season on and around Main Street
The Heritage Museum lawn, which the new lease keeps public, already has its holiday marker. Anthony Schmitt's seasonal shopping-cart tree is going up there again. The rest of the season's dates:
- Thursday, November 19, 4:30 to 7 p.m. The Regent Santa Monica Beach at 1700 Ocean Ave. lights a 45-foot tree, with Santa and live music.
- Through January 3. The first Swiss Winter Village runs on the Pier Event Deck, with more than 60 artisan chalets, food and an ice rink. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, with different hours on holidays.
- Through January 18. Frost on Fifth, at 1324 Fifth St., is open weekdays from 3 to 10 p.m. and weekends and holidays from noon to 10 p.m. Admission starts at $22.
- Thanksgiving, November 26, 8 a.m. The Santa Monica Turkey Day Trot starts at Crescent Bay Park, 2000 Ocean Ave., with a 5K and a family 1-miler. Check-in opens at 6:30 a.m.
- November 27 to December 20, Thursday through Sunday, 1 to 7 p.m. The Swiss Winter Village offers Santa portraits.
- December 6. The Main St. Tree Lighting & Holiday Party is the street's own celebration of the season.
At LA Realty Concierge, Mikka Johnson follows Ocean Park block by block, from storefront changes on Main Street to the lease decisions behind them. If you own near Main Street and want to know how the street's new direction could affect your home's story when you sell, Schedule Your Concierge Consultation.
