Downtown Manhattan Beach: New Restaurants and Shops, Fall 2026

Downtown Manhattan Beach has had a year of empty windows and new signs, and the clearest place to see what is driving it is Manhattan Beach Boulevard at Morningside Drive. On one side of the boulevard, Great White is taking reservations in the space Pitfire held for more than a decade. On the other side sits the former U.S. Bank at 400 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, which the City bought for $13 million and which the City Council spent a September evening trying to plan.

Most of downtown's changes this year came from private leases. That corner is different. Who moves into the bank site, and how large their space is, will be a public decision made over the next several council meetings.

One Corner, Two Kinds of Landlord

Pitfire Pizza closed on December 24, 2024. Its farewell letter told customers that the restaurant "has thrived year after year, through highs and lows," and that the landlord "made the choice to lease this space to a different restaurant, a decision over which we had no control." That restaurant was Great White, an all-day cafe that already had other Los Angeles locations. MB News still listed it as opening soon in July 2026. As of Resy's October 2 update, Great White Manhattan Beach is bookable, with a menu of salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, cocktails and a low-intervention wine list from an Aussie-owned group.

That swap followed the usual pattern downtown. A property owner picked a new tenant, and the neighborhood found out when the old one posted its goodbye.

The bank building across the street works another way. The City owns it, so its tenant mix will come out of council direction, public comment and a development partner the City has not yet chosen.

The Walk, Block by Block

Kelly Stroman, executive director of the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business and Professional Association, told MB News in July that "the turnover in downtown Manhattan Beach is unprecedented right now and we are all talking about it." Here is the change, street by street, as of that July report and what has been confirmed since:

• Metlox Plaza. Bacio di Latte is open and serving gelato. Sogna Toscana got Planning Commission approval to build out the former Lemonade space, including a small patio facing Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Drift Beach Club closed in June, and no tenant had been named for the former Beehive and Forma pop-up space.
• Manhattan Beach Boulevard. Blank Street Coffee signed a lease for the former Peet's. Pressed Juicery closed, and its space had drawn interest but no announced tenant. Beyond Yoga's store locator lists the shop at 324 Manhattan Beach Blvd., in the former Gum Tree space. Velvet by Graham & Spencer lists daily hours at 308 Manhattan Beach Blvd., where Gelato & Angels used to be.
• Manhattan Avenue. Ounce of Salt, a jewelry gallery from local designer Jen Baick, is open at 1016 Manhattan Ave. in the former Rolling Hills Flower Mart space. Coucou, a French bistro, took over the former Nando Trattoria at 1131 North Manhattan Ave. Framebridge was expected this fall in the former Kate Lester Home space, and Walstory closed in July.
• Highland Avenue. Gum Tree moved to 1140 Highland Ave. Alfred Coffee signed a lease for the Ocean View Cafe space. Parakeet Cafe's opening in the former Cafe Altamura was delayed with no date set, and Harry's Cleaners closed with no replacement named.

There is no public opening date yet for Blank Street, Alfred, Sogna Toscana, Parakeet or Framebridge. The July lease announcements are the latest confirmed status.

What the Council Decided About the Bank Building

On September 15, the council took its first look at Project Pulse. That was the City's name for redeveloping two public properties together: 400 Manhattan Beach Boulevard and the former Lot 3 parking structure at 1155 Morningside Drive. Easy Reader called the pair "the most significant makeover in the downtown area since the Metlox redevelopment two decades ago."

The council took no formal vote. At the end of the meeting, staff read its direction into the record:

1. Split the two sites and move 400 Manhattan Beach Blvd. first.
2. Drop the proposed tunnel to Metlox, which an engineering study estimated at roughly $15 million for the tunnel alone.
3. Keep talking with Vons about its neighboring parcel and report back December 1.
4. Keep ground-floor retail and restaurants, with smaller tenant spaces possible, and rethink the second-floor office.
5. Keep studying a pedestrian plaza on Morningside Drive.
6. Open the bank lot as paid parking with kiosks.
7. Find a private development partner instead of building the project as a City job.

The bank building will stay up for now. The council decided against spending $216,000 to demolish it for a 41-space lot. Instead it will put payment kiosks on the 26 existing spaces, which staff estimate will bring in $243,000 to $275,000 a year. Merchant permit holders who use the lot today will be displaced. Lot 3, which is earning parking revenue and carries no debt, goes to the council seated after the November election.

The Size of the Storefront Is the Real Argument

Gensler's preliminary design shows a two-story building with three ground-floor retail or restaurant spaces totaling about 6,500 rentable square feet and a 5,100-square-foot creative office upstairs. The largest ground-floor space, at 4,100 square feet, drew the sharpest response of the night.

Councilmember Amy Howorth said a space that size points toward "a national brand," and added that "when people talk about small town feel, they're talking about small local businesses." Stroman put it more bluntly:

"There's nothing small town feel, nothing community about that… You're inviting big business. You're really taking away the character of downtown with that."

City Manager Talyn Mirzakhanian said the floor plan was illustrative and that tenants set their own footprints. She noted that the City already requires a conditional use permit for downtown retail with more than 1,600 square feet of sales floor. The other side of the debate is revenue. Wil Soholt of Kosmont Companies, the City's economic development consultant, estimated ground-floor rents above $100 per square foot a year. He said the upstairs office is what makes the project pencil out, with construction running $800 to $1,000 per square foot. A resident questioned the office demand, pointing out that the former Koffee Kart space downtown, converted to office, has been empty for a year and a half.

Height and views came up too. The design reaches 30 feet to the top of the parapet, four feet more than current coastal zoning allows, and a code amendment to raise that limit is due back at the Planning Commission this fall. Gensler principal Peter Barsuk told the council that people coming down the boulevard would see the building: "We'd be lying to you if we said that the view is not going to look different."

Parking sits behind all of it. Lot 3's structure, demolished in November 2024, held 145 spaces. The City's parking study found downtown about 150 spaces short for current business needs, and another 150 short if existing parcels build out to what the code allows.

Where the Calendar Puts You on the Same Blocks

The next few weeks of downtown events land right around these storefronts, and one of them ties straight back to the council debate.

• October 8, 8:15 to 10 a.m. City Council candidate forum at Culture Brewing, 327 Manhattan Beach Blvd., a short walk from the bank site. The council chosen in November will take up Lot 3.
• October 15, 4:30 to 8 p.m. Metlox Movie Night at Metlox Plaza, 451 Manhattan Beach Blvd., with pumpkin decorating from 4:30 and Coco at 6.
• October 18. The 36th Annual Pumpkin Race at the Pier. The festival starts at noon and the races at 2 p.m., according to the City's event listing.
• October 29, 5 to 7 p.m. Halloween Trunk or Treat in the Civic Center upper parking lot.
• November 14, 4:15 to 5 p.m. Light Gate Sunset at Highland Avenue and 14th Street, where the sun lines up with the artwork every November 14.
• November 18, 6 to 9 p.m. Pier Lighting and Holiday Open House, downtown and at the Pier.

Between those dates, the council is set to hear on December 1 about the Vons talks and the financing for 400 Manhattan Beach Boulevard. The tax-exempt certificates the City used to buy the property mature July 1, 2028. If the site is leased to private tenants, refinancing with taxable bonds would add roughly $128,000 a year in debt service. Council meetings take public comment in person, and the City accepts eComment submissions until noon on the day of a meeting.

At Sabena Sarma, we follow decisions like the one at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Morningside because a block's tenant mix, parking and building heights shape daily life and long-term value at the same time. If you want to talk through how downtown's next chapter could affect your plans, let's work together.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.