Just south of the Malibu Pier, the former homes of the now closed PierView and Windsail restaurants have been sitting adandoned for years. The lots were purchased back in 2005 by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison and after six years of delays, construction is finally underway on one of the properties.  The Windsail will become the new branch of Nobu Malibu sometime early next year, when Nobu’s beach outpost moves from the Malibu Country Mart to a 6300-sq.-ft. space on the water.

So who’s going into the massive Windsail space? Rumors spread that it was going to be a Wolfgang Puck project – his return to Malibu after shuttering the nearby Granita back in 2005.  But according to Tom Kaplan, senior managing partner of the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group: “Not true. We had been in negotiations with Larry’s folks but we decided to not pursue the project.”

Also turning in the rumor mill:  Thomas Keller could be opening a branch of The French Laundry in the site.

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