Surfas on the hunt to find new location

Surfas Culinary District, the renowned source for commercial kitchen design and installation that was established in Los Angeles in 1937 and relocated to Culver City in 1989, closed the doors on its building at 8777 Washington Blvd. in July.

But it is looking to stay in the city, and in fact, the same location.

According to a story on therealdeal.com, Surfas is expected to lease space at the new mixed-use building that is replacing its former headquarters.

Surfas sold the property in 2015 to VCN, a developer, for $16 million, though VCN resold it last year to a partnership headed by Clarion Partner and Lincoln, out of New York, for $25 million.

HBO is now expected to absorb the building, with local developer Guild GC also involved. The new building will be four stories and will include 128,000 square feet of office space and 4,500 square feet of retail. All of that office space will be taken by HBO. The broadcast giant’s current lease in Santa Monica expires in 2019.

Surfas will be launching a food concept called Best of Surfas in the space, though it is not currently known how much of the 4,500 square foot of retail space the company will be taking.

Surfas is still looking for a new location for its kitchen supply store after its other location, in Orange County, also closed in 2017.

Owner Les Surfas told us that, “We are not closed although our California store locations are ‘temporarily’ gone.  Our staff is operating out of our corporate office and warehouse by phone and by emails. We do not have a cash-and-carry location yet, but we are actively working with our customers and filling their needs. This is mostly design, special orders and equipment sales.”

Surfas also said that the company has been overwhelmed with responses and pleas from customers who have suggested locations and areas of Southern California to move the operation.

 “For all of this we are very grateful and we have followed up on all of these thoughtful ideas,” he said. “ Surfas has struggled with finding the right building and we have found a site that we are very excited about.  Our plans are to turn this new space into the perfect Surfas location. We will be announcing when and where soon. Our customers have let us know that Surfas is not defined by where we are but by who we are.”

According to the Surfas website, “Their Culver City warehouse sales/showroom, is a landmark in the Los Angeles culinary world and stocked with thousands of items for serious food enthusiasts and professional chefs. Considered to be the ultimate source for fine imported and domestic food products, ingredients and culinary items, Surfas is ‘Paradise Found’ for serious food enthusiasts and professional chefs.”