The owner of the property that the Apple Tree Market sits on was kind enough to return my call yesterday. I had left a couple of messages at the office of Elliot Megdal and Associates, up in Los Angeles. And Elliot Megdal called me back himself.
We had several minutes of a polite conversation, with me asking questions about whether he could confirm or not that a Foodland grocery store was going in, as had been rumored recently, whether or not another market was going in at all, and what his general plans for the property were.
Elliot’s responses were all civil and uniform: “no comment”. Megdal would not confirm or deny whether a Foodland was going in, whether any food market was planned for the space, or what his general agenda was for the entire property, which includes a giant parking lot.
Mr. Megdal did say, matter-of-factly that the “For Lease” sign was still up.
Finally, at the end of our conversation, I did get one more question in, and I asked Elliot if he could confirm a rumor that demolition companies were getting ready to offer bids on the building’s demolition. And he replied that he did not have any plans for demolishing the building.
That could be a good sign. It it is allowed to stand, the building would have to be renovated – but that would allow, at least, the possibility of another food market coming in. It would be tough, also, to build condos inside the large hollow shell that would remain if cleared out.
Megdal did also comment that his office was getting “a lot of nasty calls” from folks in OB. We ended our call politely.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats to Frank Gormlie for getting the scoop on this from the head honcho. I suspect that no one in the know can “officially” comment on exactly what the plans are for this property because there is still legal haggling and lease terms to be ironed out. Frank Gormlie shows his supreme statesmanship and awesome journalistic abilities here once again… to the benefit of all in OB.
My hope is to see a modern 2 or 3 floor office building. My business is in need of about 2000sf of office space. I looked and looked in OB for months before giving up and locating on Morena Blvd.
There is such a shortage of office space here that the architect on bacon st had to buy and renovate an auto repair shop, which looks great but is beyond my talents.
When I worked from home in OB, I found every amenity I needed: post office, library, fed ex, a notary, banks, and many places to eat. Sometimes I would go a week without getting in a car or leaving the zip code. I would like everyone at my company now that it is too big to run from a residence to have the opportunity to live here and walk to work.
Whatever they do to appletree, they need to preserve that giant art morderne style clock on the wall. It takes you right back to the 50s just looking at it.
Has anyone attempted to contact Foodland? I wonder if they would divulge any info. I overheard in Appletree today that their new location is expected to open in March 2013. Seems like a fast turnaround!
No ” plans” are need for demolition just a permit…..
Jim – Unless you want to say that Elliot Magdel lied to me when he told me that he had no plans to demolish the building, I’d said you’re beating a dead horse, to use an old school, out-dated, weird expression.
I assume Frank & the property owner mean “no intention to demolish” by the phrase “no plans to demolish”.
Frank I am not beating a horse. I have idea who Elliot is and don’t care. And I could give a rats -ass ( to use another old school expression) whether they build a 3 story building that houses the drug plagued homeless or a professional building or another market. Has no impact on my life whatsoever .
I am curious as to why some random guy at Newport Pizza would make those comments while having his face buried in a laptop refining a demo bid…no big deal to me at all. I just thought it was interesting. Could be that the property might be a ………” pocket property” just in case you are not familiar with the term, that is when a property on the market to a select group of people and way under the radar as far as public listings go. Maybe a potential buyer was having a bid worked up for possible demolition after purchase. Like i said no big deal to me I don’t shop at that market cept for ice n beer on occasion. Guess you cant rely on crap you hear from random people that could be rumor. Now that’s going to limit news isn’t it …
Rumors are rumors. I happened to ask the horse’s mouth – to use another one.
How about a Grocery Outlet?
Dear M.D. See this.
Right next to CVS and Yahoo’s Fsh Tacos. Set to tentatively open in late Jan. 2013.
I still think a Trader Joe’s would be awesome right there!
I LOVE the Apple Tree market. If they go, and foodland (or whoever might supply groceries) comes in, at least we will still be able to shop locally. And even though it may be a little more expensive than like Von’s and Ralph’s, I can still walk through my neighborhood and pick up a few items that I can’t get at the local liquor store and walk back home. This, to me, is one of the things I love about OB. If no other grocer moves into the location, then, I guess I’ll have to drive to some other location, gas being as cheap as it is, and stand in line with people I don’t know at a store that could care less about me, and buy more stuff than I wanted to because I don’t want to have to come back tomorrow. OB is slowly losing the Shop Local OB attitude.
Heck, we already have a Starbucks, why not some big corporation and more CONDO’s too