Expensive members-only club Soho House has got one huge club scheduled to open this year in Downtown LA's Arts District, in addition to its penthouse spot on the Sunset Strip, but it's already planning its next Los Angeles location across town, in Malibu. Our friends over at Eater LA spotted an ABC license for the old Nikita restaurant space that outs Soho House LLC as its new overseer. The 6,900-square-foot, wood-clad building was occupied by the Italian restaurant, backed by billionaire Larry Ellison (who owns over a dozen properties in Malibu), until its sudden shuttering in 2014.
"Almost immediately following the shutter," says Eater, rumors started to fly that Soho House was checking out the spot. At the time, Soho House reps emphasized that they were looking at the former Nikita space among many other buildings and that nothing was final, but now with a liquor license application things seem pretty firm. There's no timeline for the opening of this location, but in the Arts District, the posh private club is definitely doing some heavy construction work, adding 16 hotel rooms, a screening room, a rooftop pool, and a music venue to its old commercial building. (Ironically, the structure was most recently used as rental practice spaces for musicians.) This Malibu location would be Soho House's third in Los Angeles, following their club Sunset Strip, which opened in 2010, and the coming spot in the AD.
· Looks Like Soho House Is Indeed Taking Over the Former Nikita in Malibu [Eater LA]
· Now SoHo House Might Be Looking For a Spot in Malibu [Curbed LA]