October 15, 2026
"Our landlords have terminated our lease early, due to lower sales than they would like," Frankie & Jo's wrote in a July 27 Instagram post, as Redwood Bark reported. "And, we get it. Having a more well-known ice cream shop in the Mart would serve the community there, although we'd sure love to stay."
The vegan ice cream shop at Larkspur Landing closed on August 31, and Salt & Straw is set to open a couple of doors down. A mile or so west on Magnolia Avenue, the building where Larkspur's original Left Bank served its last dinners in June has no replacement we could find announced. The former Lucky grocery at 570 Magnolia has been empty since 2023. Larkspur's two dining and shopping hubs are changing at very different speeds this fall, and ownership explains most of the difference. At Marin Country Mart, one landlord decides who stays, so a slow quarter can mean a new tenant within weeks. Downtown, every storefront has its own owner, so a closing can leave a building dark for years, and the city has few tools to change that.
Once you see the ice cream counter's history, the Frankie & Jo's lease makes more sense. Redwood Bark lists the sequence: Three Twins opened at Marin Country Mart in 2011, Frankie & Jo's followed in 2023, and Salt & Straw comes next. The Mart treats that spot as something to program. It keeps the category and swaps the operator.
The Mart's own site lists Salt & Straw as "coming soon" at 2247A Larkspur Landing Circle and names founders Kim and Tyler Malek. Hours and contact details are still to come. As of Redwood Bark's September 10 report, no opening date had been announced beyond "later this year." Fans of Frankie & Jo's dairy-free and gluten-free scoops can still order online for frozen delivery.
Other shops have turned over too. The Mart's homepage banner marks Varley, a contemporary women's fashion brand at 2409 Larkspur Landing Circle, as "Now Open." With one owner deciding the mix, the regulars at the Mart, Hog Island Oyster Co., Farmshop and Rustic Bakery, share the courtyard with whatever the landlord adds next.
When one owner controls the space, it can also fill the weekends. Marin Country Mart has run Movie Night every Friday at 6 p.m. since June 19, showing family films like Babe, The Aristocats and Coco, with dinner, beer and wine from Mart merchants. The series ends October 30. Here is what's left on the Mart's calendar this month:
The farmers market keeps running every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. after the special events end, according to Visit Marin's listing.
Magnolia Avenue has no calendar like this, because no single party is in charge of it.
Downtown changes too, one storefront at a time, and each change starts with a specific person who chose to invest.
The Silver Peso is back at 450 Magnolia. The bar sits in a former 1905 blacksmith shop. Before it reopened, the Marin Independent Journal reported a refresh that covered flooring, bar siding, paint, bathrooms, TVs, pool tables and shuffleboard, with management saying it wanted to keep the bar's character. The bar's own site now says "Welcome Back," names Max Perry and Conor Flaherty as owners, and describes a low-key place for drinks, sports, pool, shuffleboard and pinball, with the piano and open-beamed ceilings still there. It lists hours of noon to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends.
Down the block, Stef Tousignant opened the Phoenix Used Bookshop at 501 Magnolia, a used bookstore for children and teens. The Marin IJ covered it on July 4.
At 455 Magnolia, Borhen and Afag Hammami run the Feerma Love coffee cart. In February they were planning Feerma, a full North African and Mediterranean restaurant and bar, with a summer opening projected at the time. In April, Redwood Bark reviewed the cart and its specialty coffees, matcha, juices and pastries. We haven't found a public announcement that the restaurant has opened, so check the Hammamis' own channels before planning dinner around it.
The established places keep downtown steady between these changes: Emporio Rulli at 424 Magnolia, Perry's on Magnolia, Restaurant Picco with its half-hourly risotto, and Equator Coffees on its corner.
Downtown's model works when an operator wants to move in. It struggles when a large tenant leaves and nobody follows.
Left Bank started in Larkspur in 1994, when restaurateur Ed Levine teamed up with French chef Roland Passot, and grew from there to Menlo Park, Santana Row and beyond. The Marin IJ reported that Vine Hospitality, the company that owned it, shut down all its restaurants in June after failing to raise new capital. The closing affected 54 jobs at the Larkspur location, which served its final lunches and dinners over two days. The building it leaves behind has a long history. In a 2017 history column, the IJ traced the site to the old Hotel Larkspur, whose lower floor was rebuilt in local blue basalt and renamed the Blue Rock Inn in 1911. As of this writing, we haven't found a public announcement of a new tenant.
The Lucky building shows how long a downtown vacancy can last. The store at 570 Magnolia Ave. closed in 2023 after about 40 years. Albertsons owns the 26,344-square-foot building, which sits on about 2 acres, and the property is listed for sale with no price, asking for "best offer," according to the Marin IJ's July 24 report. The city zoned the site "transitional downtown," which allows residential, commercial and other uses, and its housing element offers faster approvals to a developer whose project includes a grocery store. SFGATE reported that the city and Albertsons had talked about housing on the site. Albertsons wanted an all-housing project, the city wanted grocery space included, the talks went quiet, and the property went back on the market.
Mayor Stephanie Andre described the city's limits in the same IJ story. "The Lucky's parcel is a privately owned parcel, so the government only has so many levers it can do," she said. "We can't really dictate what goes in that space, although we can try to use the tools we can to encourage a market." She also mentioned ongoing talks with grocery operators about other locations, but said she couldn't share details.
One of those tools would be a tax on long-vacant properties. On June 17, the City Council held a workshop led by City Attorney Sky Woodruff, who had worked on a similar tax in Oakland. As the Marin IJ explained, a parcel tax like this would be a special tax and would need two-thirds voter approval. The city could decide the rate, which properties count as vacant, and which are exempt.
Council members didn't agree. Councilmember Scot Candell said the idea "sounds terrible" and asked about other ways to encourage owners to fill their buildings, including a registry with fees and maintenance standards. Mayor Andre listed the vacancies residents already know: Bed, Bath & Beyond, Lucky's, and several former banks on Sir Francis Drake next to Bon Air. "I don't think implementing a tax makes it all go away, but what can we do to discourage the long-term vacancies?" she asked. Many of the letters the city received focused on the old Lucky's and on getting a grocery store back in town.
The workshop ended without a vote. In July, City Manager Dan Schwarz said staff were still working out what a tax might look like and would bring it back for another workshop. The item didn't appear among the public hearings or business items in the council's September 2 minutes, and we haven't found a vote or ballot plan in the council records posted since.
At Marin Country Mart, the next update will probably be a Salt & Straw opening date. On Magnolia, it will come when a new tenant signs for one of the empty buildings or when city staff bring the vacancy tax back to the council.
We follow both hubs closely at Zamira Knows Marin. If you'd like to know what changes on Magnolia Avenue or at the Mart could mean for your corner of Larkspur, we're glad to talk it through. Start your Marin home journey with a conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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