Panel OKs Plan to Renew Gladstones Restaurant Lease

The Los Angeles County Beach Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to extend Gladstones’ restaurant lease in Pacific Palisades for another 20 years.

The matter will be referred to the Board of Supervisors for a final vote by next month, officials said.

The commission voted 16-0 to grant the concessionaire’s license to Gladstones, which since 1981 has operated a seafood restaurant on property at Will Rogers State Park at Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.

Last fall, county caretakers solicited bids from three other major restaurant chains, all of which sought the multiyear lease to run a restaurant at a location officials call one of the most desirable in the nation.

“Things are moving along just fine,” said Commissioner Stan Wisniewski, who co-authored a report recommending Gladstones as the best of four bids for the lease. “I feel very strongly about the recommendation and anticipate that it will get strong support from the Board of Supervisors.”

Alan Redhead, chief executive of California Beach Restaurants, Gladstones’ parent company, told the commission that the restaurant would try to increase gross revenues next year. The restaurant agreed to pay $1.75 million in rent, with additional maintenance fees. Gladstones’ rent offer was $300,000 more than any other proposal, officials said.