This Saturday, The Victorian at 2640 Main St. holds its last party as a restaurant and nightclub, and that ends 20 years of nights on Main Street. The same operators will reopen the building as The Santa Monican, a family membership club. The city owns the house, and when it rewrote the lease it protected the daytime uses: the lawn, the public parking and the Sunday farmers market. It also set up that market to become a weekly open-street event on Main Street itself. The market sets up in the property's parking lot.
So the part of this property that Ocean Park sees on Sunday mornings is the part with written commitments behind it. The nightlife is the part that's ending.
The sendoff on October 31
The final event is listed on Eventbrite as "The Victorian's Final Halloween." It runs Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. The operators have billed it as a funeral-themed farewell:
- A haunted house and DJs
- Costumes encouraged
- 21 and over only
- Limited tickets, all nonrefundable
It's a fitting send-off for a venue the Los Angeles Times described as a daytime spot for weekend brunch, dinner and happy hour, with DJs on weekends across the basement, main floor and upstairs, plus weekly salsa and bachata lessons. The basement bar was the Basement Tavern, according to a photo caption in the Times. Santa Monica Daily Press noted the long-running Salsa Thursday nights in its closure report. In the city's announcement, co-operator Adir Tal said the outpouring of memories had been "extraordinary," adding, "People met their husbands and wives here and celebrated some of the best nights of their lives."
Why the city got to set terms
The Victorian isn't a private building changing hands. According to the City of Santa Monica's October 9 announcement, operators Garner Gerson and Adir Tal went to the city in late 2025 with a proposal to move away from the late-night model. City staff restructured the lease to keep the historic property occupied instead of seeing the tenant leave, and the City Council approved the new lease unanimously on March 24. A city staff report cited by the Times also found that many of the building's systems and earlier improvements were "approaching the end of their useful life," which helps explain why a full renovation is part of the plan.
Because the city is the landlord, the public benefits are written into the lease. Mayor Caroline Torosis put it this way in the city's release:
"This building belongs to the city, so we wrote public benefits into its lease. Up to 20% of memberships will be free for qualifying Santa Monica residents, the lawn and public parking will stay open to everyone, and the Sunday Farmers Market will remain."
The release describes the free memberships as scholarships for Santa Monica residents, including families, educators and small business owners. The planned club includes a pool, a spa and fitness center, a family and youth facility, a coffee bistro, and a restaurant and bar, with gardens and gathering spaces on the grounds. The operators also say they will work with the city and community groups on seasonal events at the property, including free summer barbecues, Santa Monica Snow Days and holiday celebrations. Membership details and pricing haven't been released yet. The operators say they will announce them in the coming months.
The house's own history has two versions. The city says it was built in 1892 and moved to Heritage Square in 1973, across from the California Heritage Museum. The Times says it was built in 1903 at 1003 Ocean Ave. and moved to 2640 Main St. in 1977, together with the museum's Roy Jones House. Either way, the two houses have stood near each other on Main Street for close to half a century.
The Sunday market has already rehearsed its next form
The Main Street Farmers Market started in 1995. The city lists it as a collaboration among the Main Street Business Improvement Association, the Ocean Park resident group, The Victorian and the Heritage Museum. It brings in about 40 certified California farms and runs every Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., year-round, rain or shine. The Times reported that the market sets up in the property's parking lot, and that the new lease requires the incoming operator to keep supporting it.
Under the new lease, the city says the Sunday market "will transition to a weekly, open street event on Main Street." No blocks, start date or construction-period plan has been published. Neighbors have already had two previews, though.
| Date | What happened or is scheduled at 2640 Main St. and on Main Street |
|---|---|
| Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026 | The market moved into the street with the Ocean Park Association and the MSBIA: a kids play zone, chalk art and live music, then evening programming in the Main Street Entertainment Zone |
| Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026 | A car-free Main Street event promoted by the MSBIA, with the Farmers Market included |
| Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026 | The Victorian's final Halloween party, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. |
| Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026 | The regular Sunday market, which the city lists as open year-round |
| Late 2026 | Renovation expected to begin |
| Mid-2028 | Target opening for The Santa Monican |
The August day showed how the format works. The farm stalls kept their usual morning hours, and then the Ocean Park Association and Main Street Business Improvement Association kept the street going into the evening with seating, DJs and drinks served in the entertainment zone. A weekly version of that would move one of Ocean Park's steadiest routines out of a parking lot and onto the boulevard, in front of the shops. Gerson framed the goal the same way in the city's release: "We want families walking the neighborhood, visiting local shops, having dinner and making memories here."
Where Main Street's evenings go from here
The late-night crowd will need another stop on Main Street once the house closes, and the blocks around it have been filling in. This year's openings, from the city's release and Eater LA:
- Bar Fortuna, 2917 Main St. An all-day wine bar from the team behind Crudo e Nudo. Eater LA reported it opened Wednesday, Oct. 21. The full menu runs Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from noon to 10 p.m., with late-night bites and cocktails until midnight.
- Met Her at a Bar, 2651 Main St. An all-day café from restaurateurs Mindy and Vinny Kinne that opened in August. It's the couple's first Santa Monica location.
- Circle Bar, 2926 Main St. A Main Street fixture since 1949 that reopened in May under new local ownership after nearly three years dark.
- Nameless, 2810 Main St. The Victorian's operators plan to reopen this spot, which closed during the pandemic. No opening date has been announced.
Smaller daytime additions fill out the street. Santa Monica Market at 2015 Main St. added a full deli counter this summer under new owners, and Punch Bowl Juice & Smoothie opened at 2218 Main St. The Nameless plan matters most here. Gerson and Tal aren't leaving Main Street after Saturday. They're taking their nightlife experience down the street to 2810 Main St. while their historic house spends the next year and a half becoming a club built around the pool, the lawn and Sunday mornings.
The Santa Monican is planned as a membership club, but the lease that governs it keeps the lawn and public parking open to everyone, sets aside up to 20% of memberships as free scholarships for residents, and commits the operator to supporting the market. The city lists the market as open every Sunday at 8:30 a.m., so on Nov. 1 the farm stalls are due back about six and a half hours after the last song ends.
If you live near Heritage Square and want to know how a change like this could affect your own block, from a renovation timeline to a busier Sunday street, Dana Benyehuda can talk it through with you. Dana follows changes along Main Street closely and is glad to give you a clear, unhurried read on what they mean for your home. Work With Dana Benyehuda.
