The 62-year-old Mermaid restaurant at the corner of The Strand and Pier Plaza is set to sell to a company that plans to build a hotel, sources tell the Easy Reader. One Pier Avenue LLC, the prospective buyer of the Strand front property, is expected to seek city approval for an L-shaped hotel that would stretch from 13th Street to Pier Avenue, along the Strand, and extend east on Pier Ave. for approximately one-quarter of a block.
One Pier Avenue was at one time affiliated with the Legado Companies, which operate more than 20,000 residences and 400,000-square-feet of retail and entertainment amenities in Southern California, according to its website. Legado is pursuing several waterfront projects in the area that include retail space, residences and hotel rooms.
The purchase includes not only the Mermaid, but also the adjacent Poop Deck bar and Good Stuff restaurant on the Strand and the Cantina Real restaurant, Pier Surf Shop and Tiki Mon Creamery & Café on Pier Plaza.
On Thursday, Mermaid manager Diana Albergate said the prospective owners plan to keep the Mermaid “as is.” However, she added that “once it’s purchased they can do whatever they want.”
“They haven’t said they would keep all the tenants,” Albergate said. “It’s my impression that their intention is to maintain things fairly much the same in the community. How that manifests remains to be seen since there is no contractural obligation.”
The property was owned by the late Quentin L. “Boots” Thelen, and has been for sale since his death in 2007. Albergate is Thelen’s step-daughter.
Killer Shrimp restaurants, based in Marina del Rey, will manage the Mermaid, Albergate said. Obtaining the necessary permits and approvals for construction of the proposed hotel is expected to take several years.
A representative of Killer Shrimp said the company plans to open a Killer Shrimp in one of the property storefronts by November. [On Oct. 8, a Killer Shrimp representative said that the restaurant plans to open at an undisclosed location in Hermosa Beach within the next three to four months.]
Albergate said she has been told the new owners plan to close the Mermaid temporarily for light renovation before reopening. “When the new owners reopen is unknown,” Albergate added.
What is known is the last day of the family-run business.
“The Thelen Mermaid is closing down. Our last day is Sunday,” Albergate said.
Albergate wouldn’t disclose the purchase price, but she was asking about $24.5 million for the property, which includes $17.5 million for the property on the Strand and $7 million for the storefronts on Pier Plaza. Albergate said estate taxes since Thelen’s death have amounted to a large IRS debt that only the sale can wipe out.
Rumors have been swirling about the next owner since the place went up for sale in 2007. Just the other day, Albergate said, she saw two women take loose bricks as mementos from a corner of the restaurant. The women told Albergate they had been told her restaurant was to be torn down next week.
This article was updated Thursday with comments from Mermaid manager Diana Albergate and Friday afternoon with the Killer Shrimp representative comment.
