A new tropical-themed juice, smoothie and acai bowl shop could soon come to the ground floor of Parking Structure 6 in Downtown Santa Monica amid a push to revitalize the area and activate underutilized spaces.
The Board of Downtown Santa Monica Inc. (DTSM) approved a recommendation that the City of Santa Monica enter into a license agreement with Little Hawaii Juice Bar at a recent meeting to lease the 1,133 square ft. space at 1431 2nd Street.
The site formerly housed KC Chocolatier, however has been vacant since that business closed during the pandemic.
"We think this would be a good activation for the space," City of Santa Monica Economic Development Manager Jennifer Taylor told the DTSM Business and Community Development Committee recently during a presentation on the Little Hawaii proposal.
She said the man behind the business, Gal Noy, is experienced and has an understanding of the Santa Monica market that would help him to be successful.
"He is so passionate about this," she said. "And what we also liked about him is that when he was 14, his family moved here to Santa Monica and he started his business venture with an older brother as a vending cart on the Promenade, so he definitely knows Santa Monica really well and it’s his dream to open up here."
She said Noy has previously opened other acai spots in the LA area, however this Santa Monica location would be the first Little Hawaii Juice Bar. Taylor said he has hopes to soon open one in Venice Beach as well.
She said he sees the 2nd street PS 6 location, right next to an Orangetheory Fitness, as an ideal setting for the first location of this new business concept.
"He likes that 2nd street is a wellness corridor, between the focus on fitness that’s there, there’s a women’s health center that just opened up recently, a number of gyms and proximity to hotels," she said.
The proposed menu would include five to ten different smoothie options, six to ten types of juice, various fresh teas and lemonades and a selection of healthy foods.
"We sampled them, they were really good, just delicious, refreshing, all high quality produce and they’re going to be working with the farmer’s markets, they do smoothies, all made to order, fresh juices and teas," Taylor said. "They’re also going to be doing some food to go as snacks which I think will be good for the location because people are a lot of the time looking for healthy snacks."
It is now up to the City to approve the agreement.
If approved, Taylor said Noy expects the business could be operational and open within approximately six months.
