City leaders are welcoming the planned conversion of the longtime Main Street restaurant and nightclub into a family-centered membership club, saying the deal keeps a historic city-owned building active while writing public benefits into its lease.
The Victorian will close after its annual Halloween Party this month and reopen as The Santa Monican, a membership club with dining, recreation, wellness and children's programming at 2640 Main St.
Gabe Kaplan
"The Victorian holds 20 years of birthdays, dates and nights out with friends, and I understand why people are sad to see it go," Mayor Caroline Torosis said.
The change began with Garner Gerson and Adir Tal, the operators behind The Victorian, who approached the city in late 2025. City Manager Oliver Chi said they came to the city with a clear assessment of their own business, saying the nightclub business had run its course and something new was needed.
"Our job in that moment was not to get in the way, but to help them get there," Chi said. "In a realigned Santa Monica, that is what working with our business community looks like – listening when an operator tells us the market has changed and moving quickly so that a historic property stays active, cared for and open to the community."
On March 24, City Council approved the new lease unanimously, meeting minutes show. That vote came at the same meeting at which the council adopted an update to its Realignment Plan, which prioritizes economic revitalization along commercial corridors including Main Street.
Plans for The Santa Monican 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. According to a city staff report, the operators will pay for the renovation without public subsidy or rent credits.
Membership details and pricing will be announced in the coming months.
"This building belongs to the city, so we wrote public benefits into its lease," Mayor Caroline Torosis said. Under the lease, up to 20% of memberships will be reserved as free scholarship memberships for qualifying Santa Monica residents, including families, educators and small business owners. The Heritage Museum lawn and the site's 25 public parking spaces will remain open to the public. The Sunday Farmers Market will continue, and the operators have committed to providing restrooms, storage, power and water to support it.
The lease also requires the operators to retain existing Victorian employees, set local hiring benchmarks, create a "first job" program for local youth, host free community events and an annual charity gala, and report yearly on community benefits.
The lease is being assigned to Santamonican Club LLC from Ocean Park Restaurant Corporation, which has held it since 1978. Garner Gerson and Adir Tal are listed as managers.
"The outpouring of memories about The Victorian over the past few days has been extraordinary," Tal said in the October 9th release. "We're proud of what The Victorian has meant to Santa Monica, and just as proud that this property has a future."
"We want kids growing up in Santa Monica today to have the same connection to Main Street so many of us had growing up," Gerson said.
Questions had been raised over connections to Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, as Gerson’s family owns the property and Tal was employed there. Speculation grew due to a section of the Calamigos website titled "The House Bar Santa Monica," describing a lounge "conveniently located on Main Street, just a block from the beach [...] exclusive to members during the day and a full-service bar at night."
The page was taken down after the Victorian announced its closure and Calamigos Ranch said in an Oct. 7 statement that neither the Malibu property nor its owner has any ownership interest, management role, business relationship or other affiliation with The Victorian, its operators or the planned club.
The Victorian, originally known as the Kyte House, first stood at 1003 Ocean Ave. A private developer who had planned to demolish it instead donated the house, along with the neighboring Roy Jones House, and paid to move both to Main Street in the 1970s. The Roy Jones House is now home to the California Heritage Museum, across from The Victorian.
Renovation is expected to begin in late 2026, with an opening targeted for mid-2028.