The historic building that houses the iconic British pub, Ye Olde King’s Head, has been put up for sale, but contrary to rumor, that doesn’t mean that the business is also up for sale.
The advert for the real estate was seen on Loop.net not long ago and understandably, people panicked. This reporter included. It is one of the most popular venues in the area to watch an all-important England rugby match, or football game and the queue to watch the England v Spain final of the Euro 2024 competition almost encircled the whole of the 1400 block of 2nd Street back in July.
While some areas of Los Angeles have unmistakable pockets of foreign culture, like Chinatown, Koreatown or Little Tokyo, Santa Monica remains the unofficial Little Britain. As such, it’s not uncommon to see a few folk sporting lobster-red suntans and premiership playing shirts making the obligatory pilgrimage to one of the few remaining English-themed pubs in Santa Monica at the weekend, enjoying a pint of Speckled Sporran and watching the footy on the telly.
The entire building spans 6,900 square feet, with a lot size of about 0.17 acres (around 8,000 square feet) and incorporates Ye Olde King’s Head Shoppe, a vital source of many hard-to-find grocery items for English expats living in and around Santa Monica. And given its prime location, just one block from Palisades Park, it’s no surprise that the asking price is $20 million.
The advert says, “For the first time in over 30 years [this is incorrect, it’s actually over 50 years] the prime corner property at 116 Santa Monica Blvd, at the intersection of 2nd Street and Santa Monica just one block east of Ocean Avenue. Exclusively listed by MEI Real Estate Services, this redevelopment opportunity comes with full building plans and offers a developer over $52K/month in existing income while finalizing entitlements and permitting. Ye Olde Kings Head [sic] is the single tenant at this 6,900 SF property and they have occupied the building for almost 25 years. The corner lot is a 7,500 SF rectangle. OM will be available in September.”
Needless to say, a lot of regular punters were very concerned. Lisa Powers, Operations Manager of the Ye Olde Kings Head, put out a statement-of-sorts on social media, that said, “We are not planning on going anywhere. The building is the only thing up for sale (not the business) so we will likely just get a new landlord. Unless big developers come in and we will need to relocate. (Even so could take many years imo.) We plan on being around for the community for many years to come.”
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Press, Powers said that she has no idea on the time scale of this, saying that it could easily be five or 10 years before any kind of change.
Established in 1974, the pub has entertained hundreds of music, movie and television stars and the walls are covered with framed photographs of them. Big bands used to play here in decades past and Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who was apparently kicked out of the bar at some point during the mid-70s for trashing the place.
The “snug” bar at the western-most end of the establishment was absolutely packed during last year’s Rugby World Cup and this year’s Autumn International series also promises to bring a big crowd and in fact, it kicks off with England playing the New Zealand All Blacks on Saturday, November 2 at Twickenham. And it doesn’t stop there, England will also play the South African Springboks and the Australian Wallabies in a month filled to bursting point of world class international rugby.
scott.snowden@smdp.com
