Mort’s Deli for Sale?

While there has been speculation in the Palisades village for weeks that a change in ownership of Mort’s Deli is “imminent,” owner Bobbie Farberow told the Palisadian-Post on Monday that she had “no comment.” Although she is not prepared to sign the lease recently offered to her by the landlord, Palisades Partners, she is said to be still trying to negotiate in good faith. (See Editorial, page 2). However, the Post has learned that at least two parties have been working for several months to acquire the popular eatery on the 1000 block of Swarthmore. Apparently former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, who owns The Pantry downtown and has an interest in Gladstone’s restaurant, is interested in acquiring the deli, as is a group of investors headed by longtime Palisadian Robert Klein, a vice president at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica. While Klein, who is on vacation in Hawaii, did acknowledge that discussions have been under way “for some time,” he said that no agreement has yet been reached with either deli owner Farberow or Palisades Partners. Klein did say that a number of local investors are involved and that the plan is “to keep the name and enhance the menu.” However Klein noted that at this point “there are still a lot of unanswered questions,” including “when and if Farberow will retire.” He also said there is the larger question regarding the future of Palisades Partners, which represents several family trusts. It has been rumored that in the last year there has been growing acrimony among the three managing partners on the direction their business should take, fueling speculation that they are considering perhaps selling off all or part of their commercial interests in the village, which includes 18 of the 22 storefronts on Swarthmore, as well as half of the buildings in the 15200 block north of Sunset’including Pearl Dragon and the U.S. Bank. Klein noted in a phone conversation on Monday with the Palisadian-Post that whoever is going to invest in the restaurant “is going to be expecting a return. Residents like me who have lived here a long time want to keep Mort’s and the village like it is’with a small-town feel. One thing we know for sure is that we want Mort’s to always be here, as it has been for us and our children.” Palisadian Steve Soboroff, who said that his five children “grew up at Mort’s,” agrees. “What kind of a business model are the landlords thinking about here?” asked the developer who spoke with the Post on Tuesday. “No operator is going to accept a three-to-five year lease. At Cross Creek in Malibu we gave Marmalade restaurant a 15-year lease so they could recoup their cost of improvements and make some money. Without the right kind of lease the business will not work out for either the restaurant owner or the landlord. I hope Palisades Partners use their brains and not just think of their wallets when putting this opportunity together. Mort’s isn’t just any deli. It’s a Palisades institution. If they mess with that they could have a problem.”