CARLSBAD — An independent bookstore and local salon in Carlsbad Village closed earlier this summer following the expiration of a longtime property manager’s ground lease, which provided the tenants with a below-market monthly rate.
Farenheit 451 Books, featuring the motto “a candy store for the mind,” had served the community for 17 years from its location in the Carlsbad Village Professional building.
P.J. Phillips, the store’s owner, said the new landowner and building manager, Pacific Coast Investments, did not offer to renew his lease after it expired in mid-July.
Phillips said his rent under Marty Rombotis, who previously managed the building under a 52-year lease, was $2.12 per square foot. Pacific Coast Investments planned to charge a tenant for that space up to four times that amount but was never interested in offering a new lease for Farenheit 451 Books.
“Just another landowner that exterminates bookstores,” Phillips said, who was trying to sell his business leading up to his departure from the Village. “It’s an old, old story. I’ve watched a few thousand go down during the 33 years I’ve been a bookseller. It’s always the same story.”
Laura Duong, owner of Carlsbad Salon District, a local business next to the bookstore that also closed its doors last month, said she could not afford to keep her salon open after Pacific Coast Investments tripled her rent.
Duong, who has run the salon in the Village for the last 15 years, reported having searched for new locations. Commercial spaces in Carlsbad and Oceanside weren’t affordable either. The hairdresser said she doesn’t know what the future holds for her now but does not see herself reopening her salon.
“I had bought that salon back when I was in my early 30s, and now I’m almost 60 and too old to start all over again,” Duong said.
Allyson Presta, owner of Pacific Coast Investments, a Newport-based real estate development company, acquired the Carlsbad Village Professional Building after Rombotis’ lease expired. According to Presta, Rombotis had kept the rent prices low so the bookstore and salon could remain open, but he was “barely breaking even.”
“The unfortunate issue is that now that Marty (Rombotis) is not there, okay, the property taxes have to be paid,” Presta said. “The property taxes are thousands and thousands of dollars per month.”
Presta, an avid reader herself, said she didn’t want to see the bookstore leave the Village but couldn’t afford to keep the previous rates.
“I would love to be able to rent the space at substantially lower rates,” said Presta. “But that is impossible because I can’t pay the bills.”
Presta said she offered Duong an under-market rate, but she declined the offer.
Now, Presta thinks the space could likely become an ice cream shop and envisions a sandwich or taco spot replacing the bookstore.
“We get a lot of visitors who come to enjoy the beautiful beach and the charm of Carlsbad and downtown Carlsbad,” Presta said. ‘It would be nice to have someplace to get a reasonably priced lunch or salad.”
Rombotis, whose father and uncle built and managed the Carlsbad Village Professional Building since it opened in 1984, said he lowered rents to help store owners ride out the pandemic and kept rates low to avoid losing tenants in the final years of his lease.
“(Presta)’s probably smarter than I am about real estate,” Rombotis said. “Where the bookstore and the salon were, that’s prime real estate, and it did deserve more rent than what I was charging. My family and my uncle, his heirs were making a reasonable living off of it, and I’m just an easygoing guy and don’t like to make waves, so I kept it low intentionally.”
Rombotis said he was disappointed with local shops being priced out of the Village, and he worries that parking may worsen with food establishments in the building.
“I feel really bad for Phil,” Rombotis said. “We were good friends. He had so many clients and they wanted to sign petitions to keep the bookstore open. He was just loved by his clientele.”
Christine Davis, executive director of the Carlsbad Village Association, said the association hopes Farenheit 451 Books can find a new location to reopen its doors somewhere in downtown Carlsbad.
“We were all very sad to learn that Farenheit 451 Books could not remain where they were due to the new development, as they were the only bookstore in Carlsbad Village,” Davis said in a message. “And they were a part of its history and fabric.”
CORRECTION: While the rent tripled under the building’s new owner, Pacific Coast Investment, Farenheit 451 Books wasn’t offered an opportunity to renew its lease for the space.
