Target Changes Face to Woo Support of Council

By Jorge Casuso

Divide and conquer.

That seems to be the strategy of Target officials who unveiled a new retro design for the proposed downtown department store that divides the 162,000-square-foot structure into seemingly smaller components in the hopes of conquering the votes of a potentially skeptical City Council.

"We thought about what the planning commission said," said Target consultant Craig Johnson, referring to the planning commission's 5 to 2 vote in October to oppose the project. "We looked at the skin of the building and decided to redesign.

"It harkens back to Santa Monica history," said Johnson, a local developer who grew up in Santa Monica. "We've changed the pedestrian orientation. We have five components, so it feels like five smaller buildings instead of one large one."

The new design -- which features brick, wrought iron and glass -- recalls an earlier era when department stores like Henshey's -- which occupied the proposed site at 5th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard -- anchored the city's downtown.

The design also tries to appeal to City officials' insistence on "pedestrian orientation" by combining varying rooflines, window heights and building materials to break up the building into five smaller visual elements along 5th Street.

The redesign by the original architect, David Forbes Hibbert, provides three separate pedestrian entries along 5th Street -- into the optics store, the main store and the lower-level community room.

The new design also integrates elements of the new transit mall, which, among other things, will widen sidewalks along Santa Monica Boulevard and Broadway and create dedicated bus lanes. Robin Brailsford, the artist who designed the transit mall, which is slated to begin construction next month, designed the art glass awnings over the store's entrances.

Johnson said that the proposed three-story store perfectly complements the transit mall, since many Target customers are expected to arrive by way of public transportation.

"This is the very best use for the transit mall," Johnson said. "It's ironic that the (opponents') argument is that we are going to add traffic, when the people we are most tied in to are transit users."

Opponents have argued that the store would be a prime destination for shoppers who would clog the already congested downtown streets with vehicles and worsen an already critical parking shortage.

Supporters argue that the store would actually cut down on car trips by Santa Monicans, who now must drive out of the increasingly upscale city to find affordable shopping. They also point to a recent study that found that two of every three Santa Monica residents already visit downtown at least once a week.

The battle over Target -- which has been building over the past year -- is expected to come to a head on February 20 and 22, when the council is expected to hear testimony from dozens of residents and vote on the project.

"It's been a great process, and we've put together a great store with the help of the community," said Carolyn Brookter, director of public relations for Target Stores. "Now we have to rely on the wisdom of the council."