Plans to Bring More Housing to Downtown Santa Monica Move Forward

As of September 1, 2011, ALL 1,875 retail establishments are prohibited from providing light-weight, single-use plastic carryout bags to customers at the point of sale. MORE

By Jason Islas
Lookout Staff

September 23, 2011 -- More people will be able to live and work in Downtown Santa Monica if two large-scale housing projects continue to gain city approval.

Development Agreements (DAs) for two mixed-use buildings that will bring over 100 new apartments and almost 9,000 square feet of retail space to Seventh Street at Arizona Avenue were given the green light by the Planning Commission Wednesday.

“There's a lot to like about this project,” said Commissioner Ted Winterer. “It is providing a lot of housing.”

Both building designs aren't yet final, but mixed-use buildings are encouraged by the Land Use and Circulation Element as part of changing the urban landscape of Santa Monica.

The properties at 702 Arizona Avenue and 1317 Seventh Street will satisfy affordable housing requirements by adding “very-low income” units on the properties themselves. The city has been encouraging developers to build their affordable housing units on site instead of paying an “in-lieu” fee.

Winterer did express a reservation about the fact that the Arizona Avenue development will have 43 one-bedroom apartments and six studio apartments, – a noticeable lack of family housing, he said.

But the Seventh Street property can accommodate small families, as it has 13 two-bedroom apartments, about half of which will be affordable housing, attorney Chris Harding, who represented the applicant, told the commission.

Winterer added another word of caution.

“We're getting a certain homogeneity in our downtown residential structures. That's something we should think about with future projects,” he said.

Both buildings will have on-site tenant bike parking and about ten percent of the parking spaces will be set aside for future installation of electric vehicle charging conduits.

Though the current plan for the Arizona Avenue property shows one bike parking space per unit, since there is retail space included in the property, there will also be some guest bike parking.

However, the commissioners were concerned about the low number of guest bike parking spaces.

“Is eight biking spaces really going to be enough?” Commissioner Jennifer Kennedy asked. She presented a hypothetical situation in which a family of four decide to stop over at the Arizona property on a bike excursion and take up half the available spaces.

Staff corrected Kennedy, saying that the plan in fact shows ten guest bike parking spaces, the minimum number of spaces agreed upon by city officials. But Kennedy said there needed to be more.

The design process is not complete and staff said that they will continue to help guide the applicants as they draw up their plans for the two buildings.

The commissioner unanimously recommended that the City Council approve both development agreements. Commissioner Hank Koning was absent.