Civic
Center Village Design Concepts Updated |
By Anita Varghese
Staff Writer
December 14 -- New design concepts for the Civic Center
Village that include three residential buildings taller than 75
feet were approved Tuesday by the City Council as part of ongoing
development agreement negotiations.
The action comes after council members in August directed staff
to reduce the massing of buildings on park frontage and the massing
of an 86-foot-high residential building in the proposed complex,
which sits on City-owned land adjacent to the Rand Corporation headquarters.
The project -- which consists of affordable and market rate housing,
retail space, artist live/work space, on-site open space, a public
plaza and parking -- will evolve further during the ongoing negotiations,
according to City officials.
Most changes to the project, which is spread across what is referred
to as Sites A, B and C, will take place on the later site, where
the project’s tallest buildings would stand.
“This project is really coming together,” said Mayor
Pro Tempore Richard Bloom. “Site C was the subject of a great
deal of concern, but it has dramatically improved and these renderings
show that we have something very special ahead of us.”
Sites A and B are integrated with shared open space, a parking
garage, “living street scheme” and public plaza, officials
said.
Separately, Site A provides market rate condominium units and 8,000
square feet of retail or commercial space on the ground floor, while
Site B consists of affordable housing units.
Functioning apart from Sites A and B, Site C features three mixed-use
residential buildings standing at 76, 86 and 96 feet tall, one lobby
with an elevator, retail anchors at corner locations, an outdoor
plaza, water display, open space, views and amenities.
Council members allowed one building to reach 96 feet in an effort
to reduce the massing of other buildings, since the nearby Viceroy
Hotel also stands at 96 feet.
“We are presenting design changes that would accommodate
160 affordable units and 165 market rate units, the purpose of which
is more than creating a mixed-income community,” said Joan
Ling, executive director of the Community Corporation of Santa Monica.
Community Corporation is developing the project with Related of
California on a parcel purchased by the City.
“When the City Council decided to buy the site several years
ago, it was probably one of the best real estate investments the
City has made in a long time,” Ling said.
“The market rate condominiums will subsidize affordable housing,
so that the City would not have to put in more money to make the
affordable housing happen,” she said.
Many who spoke at Tuesday’s Council meeting support the site
plans and the City’s efforts to build more affordable housing
units.
However, a few Santa Monica residents dislike the project’s
impact on traffic and cubed shape of the residential units.
“In my opinion, these are the ugliest buildings ever proposed
in Santa Monica,” said Ellen Brennan. “The world of
architecture gets excited about ideas that seem new.
“The problem with new is that when it wears off, the ugliness
remains and people who live in affordable housing don’t need
to live in ugly buildings,” she said.
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