The commercial building located at 1515 Palisades Drive is now under new ownership. Casa Nostra Restaurant’s final day is December 31, 2024.
A resident wrote on December 5, “Please write an article about Highlands’ Casa Nostra Trattoria, which will close its doors on December 31, 2024. This wonderful hidden restaurant in the hills has been a cherished place for countless memories for us all. Birthdays, school fundraisers, anniversary celebrations and too many mentions. Giovanni and his incredible staff are not leaving the Palisades. Their Sunset location will continue to serve up their many signature dishes and always warm and friendly hospitality.”
A business owner who had recently moved from the Highlands Plaza, now called the Highlands Circle at 1515 Palisades, told Circling the News on November 27 that Casa Nostra was not renewing its lease because of difficulties with the new owners.
Wally Miller, who died in September 2020, owned the 12,559 sq.ft. commercial property, Highlands Village, that was built in 1978 on 1.09 acres.
The building sold in November 2023, for $7,750,000, and many of the 30 or so small businesses, offices and consultants working in it have seen rent increases. CTN was given a list of the businesses and the lease expirations.
“Every month-to-month tenant got a letter last summer raising their rent to $8/sf/month, plus $.80/month for expenses, with no increases until January 2025,” a resident said.
The building, adjacent to the Palisades Highlands Senior Center, has offices and spaces ranging from 110 sq.ft. to Casa Nostra’s 3,300 sq.ft. space.
The reader wrote, “Virtually every tenant at the time of the sale has relocated or will be forced to. That’s the real story here.”
CTN reached out to Loren Miles, the managing director of 1515 Palisades, and asked about plans for the building and about Casa Nostra.
Regarding the list of leases and tenant names that had been sent to CTN, Miles responded: “Leases and lease terms between ownership and tenants are confidential documents of which have no relevance for public disclosure and would appreciate that you respect as such.”
Miles, asked if Casa Nostra will be replaced by another restaurant, responded, “We will inform you when that may occur.”
He also included the following letter in his email:
Dear Treasured Patrons and Neighbors of Highlands Circle…
On behalf of Highlands Circle, we wish to share that Casa Nostra Ristorante is moving on from their Palisades Highlands location.
Casa Nostra served the Highlands community for over 10 years with love and care for every person who walked through their door.
We honor Casa Nostra for their service and look forward to continuing dining with them at their downtown Pacific Palisades and Westlake locations.
The decision for this change was mutual, respectful and to everyone’s satisfaction. We value how deeply the Palisades Highlands community appreciated the local feel, high quality of dining and family style service that Casa Nostra provided.
Although Casa Nostra will be missed in the Palisades Highlands, we at Highlands Circle wish them the best for the next chapter of their journey.
As we move through this transition, Highlands Circle will endeavor to meet the expectations of our community without losing the local connection, family spirit and quality of dining that is expected in the Highlands of Pacific Palisades.
Downtown Pacific Palisades? Mr. Miles clearly does not live here. Giovanni and his team have treated us like family for more than ten years. We will continue to support them in the Village.
Sure seems that something important has not been disclosed.
We already have quality dining in the Highlands. We’ve never been there for dinner where the room wasn’t more than 50% full…many, many times, 75% plus.
Of course we know that our favorite restaurant is leaving our favorite locale due to rent increase. Bet is, the increase is more than reasonable.
Why do we keep losing favorite services in the Palisades…from restaurants to all sorts of shopping opportunities? All my friends and neighbors would love to shop here if we had a few average prices shops…we know, rents force the shop to charge over the top.
Are the property owners going to end up with empty shops, restaurants? Their loss and ours,
Another loss of a reasonably priced , well run restaurant where guests can chat in a serene ambiance. First, Modo Milo and now Casa Nostra. Are the landlords of these restaurants trying to match the leases of the Caruso eateries? For both of these restaurants, parking was either free (CN) or validated (MM) and close by, most appreciated by elderly customers,
We were there for several years, but moved out in response to a rent increase going far above current market. Nearly every alternative space we looked at (Brentwood, Santa Monica, Malibu, etc.) was less than half (!) of the new landlord’s asking rent. Property owners can do anything they want I suppose, but the departure of Casa Nostra, together with the loss of so many local businesses, is a real shame for a pretty isolated neighborhood in need of those services.
Casa Nostra is a huge loss for the Highlands. I wonder if the rent increases have anything to do with the adjacent Ciela eldercare facility that opened a few months ago.