On the heels of numerous controversies and tons of Beverly Hills gossip, Villa Blanca has gone on the market according to Effie Magazine! According to Effie Staff, “Villa Blanca had begun to show signs of wear and tear; the peeling paint, damaged furniture and less than efficient staff left some B. H. socialites scowling and wondering…” It’s a quiet pocket listing (um, oopsy) with no advertised price but it is definitely on the market at least to be leased!
The announcement of the sale/leasing opportunity comes less than a month after a judge ruled that not just Villa Blanca, but Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd as individuals were liable for punitive damages to former waitress Karina Bustillos in the amount of $100,000 and her attorney’s fees that could be in the high six figures given the length of the legal battle. 
Villa Blanca has had many issues with their health inspections, staff complaints, social media reports of cardboard in salads… basically, when SUR began, Villa Blanca took a back seat and now with PUMP taking up so much time, it probably is time to sell Villa Blanca even if it was running more smoothly. I recall a commenter here sharing a report that she was at Villa Blanca a few months back to celebrate her birthday on a Friday night and that business was slow. Business can’t be slow for a restaurant in the middle of Beverly Hills on a Friday night and survive. It’s probably time for new owners and a new makeover.
As of today, Ken and Lisa have NOT filled an appeal on the ruling. They have another 30 days to file. I really don’t know if they will bother to continue the legal battle. If they do and they lose, they only have to pay more in attorney’s fees. While the damages are considerable, I would cut my losses if in their position. That said, the CPA for Villa Blanca testified that Villa Blanca had $1.4 million in assets in 2012. It seems like putting the place on the market after all the assets and liabilities have been stated under oath would hamper the profit margin. I keep thinking that Lisa and Todd have really bad legal counsel. Like, really bad.
It’s likely that they can’t afford the lease after paying out to Bustillos. They should consider it a lesson learned and focus on SUR and P.U.M.P. Regardless of what the property sells/leases for, the saving in rent will not offset their punitive damages, the rest will have to come out of their pockets!
You can see my exclusively sourced reporting on the Bustillos case here.
Thoughts?
Why does the advertisement say “lease”? Pardon my ignorance!
I would think that the space in the building the restaurant occupies is leased. They don’t own the building.
thanks for the information Deb and puravidacostarica2 🙂
we are not worthy! great tea
weird typo in ad: well position?
and what do they mean by “lease”? owners keep property and new management pays rental on business?
Couldn’t happen to a nicer couple… (Oh, and most businesses sell with only leases. It’s rare in many large urban areas for the business to actually own the ground upon which it sits.) The lease is probably assignable and a large portion of the “sellable assets” of the business. No lease, no restaurant.
I don’t know why I’m surprised. But, I am! Point taken on focusing on P.U.M.P and Sur. Maybe Villa Blanca is just not “in” anymore? Lisa always stated “Villa Blanca was where you took your wife.” We see how Beverly Hills and HW’s work!?
I agree that I think they let villa blanca take a back seat. it seems like they were much more focused on SUR and now Pump. I think at this point for them three restaurants might be a bit much( ken is becoming much more of a grumpy old man )and the lawsuit was probably an eye opener. I say good move on their part, just put all their energy in making sur and pump more successful. I wonder how soon it will sell
Seems like classic “dump & run”..
Perhaps a calculated PR move to demonstrate how hard the lawsuit hits them.. sad really..
Maybe the new owner(s) can rename Beellah Blandcah D.U.M.P
D.U.M.P lol
This made me choke on my chips. xD
Not like any pocket listing Ive seen.
Most pocket listings are kept quiet until the deal is done and the sale is a public record.
I believe these photos/ads whatever only went to a select few brokers…not publically listed…
On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 1:40 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Hmmm…is this what happened to their restaurants and bars in the UK, too? They mention those now and then. Or do they still own those?
According to a commenter here recently they still own them. They just aren’t active owners, have others doing all the managing.
Are Lisa and Ken saying “If we can’t rule like a medieval fiefdom, we won’t rule at all and are withdrawing our largesse from the serfs”. I can’t believe the overprotected Michael Govia’s will lose a long-term job. It’s also a sure way to create bad feeling toward Bustillo – “see what a poisoned chalice your win is”…
I can totally see Lisa saying that. lol. 5 TTTs!
On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 4:35 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
While on a road trip earlier this year, my boyfriend was kind enough to humor me and my RH addiction by taking me to Villa Blanca for lunch. He had a Filet Mignon sandwich (which was VERY TASTY) and I had a seafood salad. My salad was not spectacular, but it was satisfying. However, one of our glasses of water came out with a strand of straight, long blond hair. Our waitress was covered in some sort of animal fur, possibly cat hair? The hostess greeted us with disdain and did not hide the elevator stare she gave us upon arrival. We asked to be seated on the patio and our seats were cramped uncomfortably close to the other patrons. All in all, I was NOT impressed.
That’s too bad. The service and staff sucked but the food was good? Seems fixable to me.
I dont think Lisa cares for VB anymore which shows in the poor management that they have. so while it might be fixable i think they just rather let it go now
I live in the area and believe me no one who lives in BH goes to Villa Blanca. No “BH Socialite” would be caught dead at Villa Blanca. It’s a tourist trap just like Sur is now. It’s run it’s course. Plain and simple.
cb7406 – that’s what I was thinking.
Todd’s open a popular place and when the bloom runs out they sell. Restaurants like theirs peak and they know when to sell. It’s all about the new “in” place.
Looks like they are leasing the business out as a whole, they would still be the owners, or “Managing Partners” as it usually is worded. Normally what happens is, the contract states that the business has to be ran as it has been, etc. Basically it just takes that workload off the owner, without giving up total ownership. Of course as with any contract, they can add income stipulations, and any other clauses that would enable them to take the day to day operations back over and negate the lease. A restaurant isn’t like a house, they never put a for sale/lease sign out front, it would send the message that it isn’t thriving, or the food is bad, any number of things that would effect the bottom line. Most owners of a restaurant and or bar will tell you it’s ALWAYS for sale or lease for the right price. A lease is actually a pretty smart move on most owners parts, especially if it’s generating good income, a higher lease amount. They keep ownership of the brand, collect their check every month and don’t have the day to day hassle of running things. Looks like they could just be taking some of the work load off their plate, she wouldn’t want to lease out SUR because of filming “Vanderpump Rules”, she’s probably spending a lot of time working on making PUMP a money maker, so with the Villa Blanca name already solid – it was the logical choice. A $100,000 judgement for a business with assets of over 1 million isn’t going to break it, and a loss is a loss, it will be credited at tax time.
Except for the fact that every you described would violate Lisa and Ken’s investment visa…. all of that might make some sense.
On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 9:01 AM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Well, don’t tell my husband, I have him convinced I know everything lol…but I don’t know much of anything when it comes to immigration/visa laws. Unless you count the time when a nice young Mexican gentleman that worked in the kitchen asked me to marry him years ago so he could stay in the US.
The landlord is rude. The offices above the restaurant cannot keep tenants.
I considered having a lunch there as a lark because it is touristy. Hearing about the long blonde hair in the water glass, tho completely turned me off.
The Bustillos case probably influenced their decision, but this also seems a normal practice for them — they get a place up and running and then sell it after a few years to concentrate on other projects…
Yeah they need to sell it. It looks like an 80’s upscale retirement home.
I can’t help but notice that Hilton & Hyland have the listing, so clearly Mauricio doesn’t. I wonder what Kyle is going to say about that, because I have no doubt that she will try to use it as some sort of “I’m so hurt” storyline.
I don’t think Mauricio does commercial real estate. Plus it is a Hilton company…so Kyle would not be upset.
On Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 3:26 PM, Tamara Tattles wrote:
>
Could be. The only thing I know that Maurice does for sure are….well, nannies. (And possibly transsexuals.)
Whoa! So she sued her lawyer in the Bustillos case and claims she lost $850K? TT: weren’t you all over the Bustillos case? No way Bustillos ran up fees on that to that amount. Might be interesting to see what happened to LVPs suit against her lawyer.
Reminds me how that moron waitress-turned socialite – turned bankrupt divorcee Sonia Morgan sued the lawyers who represented her the the California fraud case — and then she lost that one too and had to pay penalty fees to the lawyers she sued.
sorry! didn’t realize that TT was all over this story.
The Busillos case sounded weak — $100K for wrist grab and $1.4M in fees? Crazy. Ken and Lisa must have come across as liars for that. And I know the law biz pretty well and no way you run up $1.4M in fees in a simple case like this. More like $300-400K max.
Something weird in that story.
If VB is just $.12M in assets at the time, that’s pretty feeble. Always wonderd where Lisa-Ken get their money. I suspect in the end that the film stuff and related puiblicity is at the core of it. The rumors — rumors I emphasize — are that their London money came from some pretty illicit stuff. In any event, the online BS about their net worth ir ridic. I think the film/TV stuff is their core. She can quite RHOBH probably, but without that + VPR she’s in deep doodoo. So she needs Jax and all the other reprobates to keep her afloat.
Yep. These are facts that everyone likes to turn a blind eye to. They are the Giudices with a pretty accent.