City Unveils $70M Parks Plan, Funding Unclear

The city still owes $23 million on the land itself.

Holly Bieler · July 28, 2026

Malibu finally has drawings for the 61 acres of vacant community lands it bought in 2018: a roughly $63 million recreation complex on Heathercliff Rd., $5.6 million in permanent soccer fields below City Hall, and a trolley-and-parking hub on the triangle lot. What it doesn't have, is the money.

The concept designs made back-to-back debuts last week before the [Parks and Recreation Commission](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G30r54rgsYE&t=1s) on Tuesday and the [Public Works Commission](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNfRiSRINU4&t=9s) on Wednesday, ahead of a City Council vote in late September. The plans are expected to go online at [malibucommunitylands.org](http://malibucommunitylands.org) for public comment in the coming days.

The centerpiece is a one-story terracotta "multigenerational center" in Point Dume, in the vacant lot at PCH and Heathercliff Rd. Plans show a sprawling project that includes a dedicated senior center, fitness center, four-lane lap pool, plus a regulation-size multi-use field, and a 200-space, partially submerged parking garage.

The Ioki parcel across from City Hall would get two regulation soccer fields, terraced into the hillside.

Construction funding for any of it has not been identified. Staff told commissioners the city plans to establish a parks foundation to fundraise, including selling naming rights. The city still owes $23 million in principal on the bonds used to buy the land, which don't mature until 2040.

"In other words, we owe a bucket of money," one public works commissioner summarized.