Two of downtown Larkspur's biggest addresses on Magnolia Avenue are empty this October. Left Bank served its last meal at 507 Magnolia in June. The former Lucky grocery at 570 Magnolia has been vacant since 2023. Meanwhile, the newest arrivals and the one notable return on the street are tiny, and the people who own them are the ones working there.

The smallest of them is 5 feet wide and sits next door to the building Left Bank left behind.

Next Door to a Landmark, a Shop the Width of a Hallway

Stef Tousignant opened Phoenix Used Bookshop at 501 Magnolia Ave. this summer, according to a Marin Independent Journal profile published July 4. She started out planning a bookstore for adults and had already collected about 15,000 adult titles. The 5-foot-wide space changed her mind, and she turned it into a children's shop. The shop sells used books for children and teens, with separate sections for babies, kids and teens. Some of the stock comes from donations and local reuse groups, and the average price is $6 to $8. Tousignant accepts any kind of book and sets aside damaged or moldy copies.

Fall hours started Sept. 8. The shop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Monday and Tuesday, according to the shop's hours page.

Next door, 507 Magnolia is the Blue Rock Inn, which went up in 1895 as a two-story Queen Anne hotel with a tower. The city's downtown walking-tour notes say it was first the Hotel Merwin and then the Hotel Larkspur. After the 1910 purchase, local designer-builder Gustave Nagel remodeled it with the locally quarried blue basalt pillars that gave the building its name. The hexagonal tower with its witch's cap is still there, and the neon sign dates to the 1920s. The third story was added in the 1950s.

Left Bank's own site lists its Larkspur restaurant at 507 Magnolia Avenue. The company began in Larkspur in 1994, when restaurateur Ed Levine teamed up with French chef Roland Passot on a brasserie menu and look. A Menlo Park location followed in 1998. The Larkspur restaurant closed when parent company Vine Hospitality shut down. The Mercury News reported on June 22 that the restaurant would serve through that Wednesday, which made June 24 its final night. Vine CEO Alistair Levine told the San Francisco Chronicle that the group's seven closures followed difficult operating conditions and failed financing for two planned San Francisco restaurants. The closure cost 54 jobs in Larkspur. Across the company, more than 300 workers were let go, and a fundraiser was launched for them.

The building has been a hotel and a restaurant over 131 years. This fall, the newest door on its stretch of sidewalk belongs to a shop 5 feet wide.

The Bar That Came Back by Changing as Little as Possible

Farther down the street, the Silver Peso at 450 Magnolia went the other way. In February, owner Rebel Lee sold the business and the rest of its lease to Conor Flaherty and Max Perry. Both men are also managing partners at Sam's Anchor Cafe. At the time, they were hoping to reopen by St. Patrick's Day, depending on the liquor-license transfer. The actual reopening came at noon on Saturday, May 30. It followed structural repairs and upgrades, and property owners Tommy and Shannon Lamanna paid for improvements to the building.

The upgrades mostly can't be seen: new pool tables, new floors, fresh paint and a new point-of-sale system. "It looks and feels exactly the same," Perry told the Marin IJ. The new owners kept longtime bartender Erica "Rikki" Blumenberg, and Perry said in July that the reopening was going well, according to a follow-up column. The column opened by noting that it seemed like every other week another long-established restaurant or bar was closing.

The Peso and the bookshop follow the same pattern as the rest of this fall's downtown. One is brand new and one is a longtime neighborhood bar. Both are small rooms run by people whose names are attached to them. That kind of business is filling Magnolia right now, and multi-location restaurant groups are not.

Two Acres That Became the Election Issue

The largest vacancy downtown is at 570 Magnolia Ave. The Lucky store there closed in 2023 after about 40 years. Albertsons owns the building, which Save Mart Companies operated. The building covers 26,344 square feet on about 2 acres, and it is zoned "transitional downtown." In July it was listed through CBRE for "best offer." Its empty storefront affects foot traffic for everyone else on the street.

Downtown retailers, restaurateurs and gallery owners have said exactly that. A Sept. 22 Marin IJ column by Dick Spotswood called the old Lucky the single issue in Larkspur's council race, ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The column said residents want a full-service grocery store on the site and that downtown businesses blame the inactivity for reducing foot traffic. An "available" sign is still on the building.

The city's options are limited because the site is private property. Here is where things stand:

1. 2023: Lucky closes at 570 Magnolia after about four decades.
2. June 17, 2026: The city council holds a workshop on how vacant properties can be regulated, including a parcel tax. No decision is made.
3. July 2026: The Marin IJ reports that a resident has written to the City Council asking for an affordable grocery, and that the property came up in a recent council discussion. Officials discuss a possible vacancy tax and an approval incentive for grocery stores. The mayor reports ongoing talks with grocery operators about other locations, and City Manager Dan Schwarz says staff will bring the tax back for a workshop.
4. Sept. 22, 2026: The site is still vacant and still marked available. One idea under discussion is a tax on commercial property that has been empty for more than six months.
5. Oct. 21, 2026: The council's next regular meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. An unofficial summary of the Sept. 16 meeting listed a commercial vacancy tax as expected for discussion at this meeting.

No grocery tenant for the site has been publicly announced. Anyone who wants to follow the issue can check the agenda on the city's calendar ahead of Oct. 21.

Where the Evenings Are This Fall

With Left Bank's dining room dark, the Lark Theater at 549 Magnolia Avenue has one of the fullest evening calendars downtown this fall. Its online calendar shows a heavy October and November, which is a good reason to walk down Magnolia on a weeknight. Listings below were checked Oct. 7, and schedules can change.

The theater sits between the dark Blue Rock Inn and the empty Lucky. On a weekend afternoon, a full loop can start at the Peso, pass the bookshop at 501, go by the tower and neon at 507, and end at the Lark before showtime. That loop now covers most of what is open and active on this end of downtown.

Melissa Crawford keeps track of 507 and 570 Magnolia because whatever ends up in those two buildings will affect downtown Larkspur for years. If you'd like to talk through what the Oct. 21 discussion or a future tenant could mean for your part of town, Melissa Crawford is happy to share what she's hearing. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.