The Downtown Palisades Businesses That Lost Their Spaces Are Regrouping in Highlands Plaza

The addresses on this stretch of Palisades Drive run from 514 to 548. Over this year, that short row of storefronts has become home to a martial arts studio that spent 43 years in the Palisades, a restaurant that opened on the Business Block in 2002, and a shop owner who used to run a jewelry boutique on Via de la Paz. None of them started out in Highlands Plaza, and all of them are there now.

The Highlands center used to be where you ran an errand close to home. This fall it has become the place where downtown Palisades businesses are rebuilding, in a shopping center that kept working while the blocks below it were destroyed.

The Storefronts That Kept the Lights On

The plaza's recovery started with the tenants that never left. According to the Palisadian-Post, Spruzzo at 538 Palisades Drive opened at the start of 2022, and its space came through the January 2025 fire undamaged. It reopened on May 1, 2025, once water and power were restored. Moku Sushi at 524 was also among the first restaurants reported back open. The Starbucks at 514 reopened on July 28, 2025, after its own fire-related closure.

Those three gave the center something most of the Palisades didn't have in 2025: open doors, regular hours and a reason to stop. Those working storefronts are a big part of why the business owners who came next looked up Palisades Drive and not somewhere else.

Who Moved Up the Hill, and How the Leases Got Signed

Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center, 542 Palisades Drive. Blanck taught in the Palisades for 43 years. The fire destroyed his studio at 16624 Marquez Avenue, and it also destroyed his longtime earlier location at 881 Alma Real Drive. The Palisadian-Post reported that for about a year he kept his students together by teaching three days a week at MuDo Integrated Martial Art on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica. He then signed a three-year lease for about 1,200 square feet in Highlands Plaza. The studio held its official grand opening on June 1.

The funding for that move came from inside the community. Build Back Pali is a teen-led nonprofit started by three Palisades kids, and it has raised more than $500,000 for local business recovery. It gave Blanck $50,000 on the condition that he sign a Palisades lease. The money went straight to his new landlord, and Blanck said it would cover the deposit and his first few months of rent. That arrangement goes straight at the hardest part of reopening, which is committing to a space before foot traffic comes back.

Palisades General Store, 542½ Palisades Drive. Amy Russo co-owned Obsessed, the Via de la Paz jewelry boutique that burned in the fire. Her new shop soft-opened in mid-August, and the Palisadian-Post covered its grand opening on Saturday, September 19. It stocks Loonen Water, specialty tea blends, home décor, jewelry, kitchenware, clothing and candles handmade in West Hollywood. A frozen yogurt machine handed out samples at the opening, and frozen yogurt is set to become a permanent offering. The store is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

One detail from that opening day shows how connected the plaza has become. Russo served food catered by Spruzzo, a few doors away, and by Café Vida, which was still waiting to move into the north end of the plaza. The plaza's longtime tenants and its newcomers were already working together before all of them had opened.

Cafe Vida, 548 Palisades Drive. Cafe Vida opened in 2002 and ran out of the Business Block building until the fire destroyed it. Its new home is at the northern end of Highlands Plaza, in the space K Bakery used to occupy. In late October, the Palisadian-Post reported that co-owners Luis Castaneda, Marcelo Marolla and Francisco Cornejo were aiming for the first week of November. Castaneda told the paper why they signed:

"We got a long-term lease. We're confident that the Palisades will be back. We do know that it's been challenging and still a lot of development needs to happen. So it'll be a slow build but we are confident in that long term."

A three-year lease for the dojo and a long-term lease for the restaurant both point the same way. These owners are planning to stay in the Highlands for years.

The Services Downtown Used to Provide

The moves are just part of the picture. The plaza is also picking up businesses the rest of the town lost.

Racquel and Jeffrey Jacobs opened Sanctuary Spa in the Palisades Highlands complex in December 2024. The fire forced it to close a month later. According to the Palisadian-Post, the owners set the reopening at 530 Palisades Drive for Thursday, October 29, after a seven-month buildout. Local architect Michael Kovac designed the new interior, which has wood floors, high ceilings and arched hallways. The spa offers facials, massages and body scrubs, with posted daily hours of 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The expansion next door matters more for the town. Nails by Sanctuary Spa was planned to debut in the adjacent suite about a week after the spa's reopening. It connects through the lobby and an internal hallway, with manicure tables, pedicure chairs and two private treatment rooms. Jeffrey Jacobs explained the reason to the Post:

"There was a nail salon here previously, and they decided not to come back, on top of the fact that most of the other nail salons in town in the Palisades had burned down. So we felt the community needed it and that the community would love it."

The same thing applies a few doors down. Murre Cleaners at 534 was the only dry cleaner operating anywhere in 90272 as of September. A shopping center built to serve one hillside neighborhood now has the only dry cleaner in the whole ZIP code, a nail spa planned because the downtown salons are gone, and a general store that carries pantry goods.

Highlands Plaza, Address by Address

Here's the row this fall, including the storefronts with November plans:

• 514 Palisades Drive: Starbucks
• 524: Moku Sushi
• 528: Mailbox Store
• 530: Sanctuary Spa
• 532: Nails by Sanctuary Spa
• 534: Murre Cleaners, 310-459-6923
• 538: Spruzzo
• 542: Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center
• 542½: Palisades General Store
• 544: Palisades Wine & Spirits, 310-230-7770
• 548: Cafe Vida

By September, the center was close to full again, and Cafe Vida was the main storefront still to come. Hair by Heather Joy is often lumped in with the plaza, but it's up the road at 1515 Palisades Drive, Suite O3, in the Highlands Circle building.

The Patio at 548

Cafe Vida's new space has fewer tables inside than its Business Block location did, but more seating overall. Most of it is on a year-round patio with a pergola and heaters, according to the Palisadian-Post. Castaneda said the restaurant hopes to have "the best patio atmosphere in the whole Palisades." The plan is breakfast and lunch to start, with the restaurant's familiar menu plus new beer and wine. Dinner and longer hours will be considered once the location is established. The owners also run Cafe Vida locations in Culver City and El Segundo, but they made the Palisades reopening their top priority.

Students are coming back too. Nine students from St. Matthew's Parish School go to Blanck's classes every Thursday, and the school planned to reopen its campus this fall.

If you have questions about the rebuild near your street in the Highlands, the team at The Malibu Life is glad to talk it through. Work With Us.