Just weeks after reporting the closing of several downtown Culver City restaurants two more restaurants have closed.
East Borough, a Vietnamese restaurant closed several weeks ago and Sāmbār, has also closed. Chef Akasha Richmond, who owns the successful Akasha Restaurant, will be replacing the Indian food eatery with a restaurant that will feature Italian faire.
This follows the closing of Bottlerock, Native Foods, Chopped Daddy, Which Wich, Lyfe Kitchen and Picnic L.A. Picnic L.A. only lasted several months.
Sources blame the closing on numerous factors including rapidly rising rents due to the popularity of downtown, niche restaurants that our not as popular for movie goers who flood downtown each night,
Downtown may also be suffering from the opening of the new Platform project next to the Expo Rail line and new restaurants on Sepulveda Blvd. and in West Culver City.
The remaining restaurants overall appear to be doing a brisk business and several of the empty restaurants have already been leased.
One drawback is the misstep of the former Culver City Redevelopment Agency who believed the “Downtown Renaissance” would bring more retail shops. This clearly has not happened. Also in developing Parcel “B” in front of the Culver Studios, Washington Blvd. which changes from one turn with one stoplight to two turns with two stoplights and a short street. This has created a traffic nightmare during rush hours. This and a shortage of parking has also been blamed for limiting the restaurant traffic for the dinner hour.
In a previous story in the Culver City Observer Culver Hotel General Manager Seth Horowitz expressed concern that some of the concepts of the new restaurants were not viable and that there were too many restaurants. He also commented on the lack of retail, “The element that is missing is retail.” He expressed hope that once Parcel B is developed more retail would move in and downtown would have the “total package.”
He went on to say, “What we have seen downtown is a natural attrition.”
He reported the Culver Hotel was doing extremely well.
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