By Jorge Casuso

July 28, 2025 -- An era could officially come to an end Tuesday when the City Council takes up a proposal from RAND that would allow the research firm to sell or lease most of its sprawling headquarters in Santa Monica.

One of the city's largest employers less than a decade ago, RAND built its elliptical 326,170-square-foot structure as a cutting-edge research facility at the turn of the millennium.

Meant to accommodate 1,150 employees, the building is currently occupied by an average of 225 employees a day, according to a report to the Council from the City's Community Development Department.

On Tuesday, the Council will decide whether to amend RAND's 25-year-old development agreement with the City that was intended to run for another 30 years.

RAND's use of the building, staff wrote in its report, "has fundamentally changed, in large part due to 'work-from-home' mandates resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic."

"With so few employees in a relatively large facility, the work environment no longer meets RAND’s needs," staff wrote.

The "decrease in daily office visits, foot traffic and patronage of local businesses" has impacted "the vitality of the Civic Center and Downtown areas."

The proposed uses negotiated with RAND would fulfill the City's vision for a “vibrant mixed-use district” outlined in the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) and the Civic Center Specific Plan (CCSP), according to staff.

RAND's proposal focuses on commercial uses that include business, professional and creative office use, banks and financial institutions and business services.

It also includes "limited life sciences research and development, media production support facilities, and retail/personal services and restaurant uses," staff wrote. "No new construction of floor area is proposed."

RAND's proposal was made in an August 1, 2023 letter to the City from Eric Peltz, RAND's Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations.

"In 2000, when we sought City approval for the existing (building) on the property, we thought it would be our 'forever home' in Santa Monica," Peltz wrote.

"However, the way our staff works has dramatically changed over the past 20 years" and "since the pandemic, behaviors fundamentally shifted."

"The current City restrictions essentially limit use" of the existing building and "broader flexibility is necessary so that we can evaluate the possibility of selling or leasing all or portions of our Existing Building," Peltz wrote.

When RAND officially broke ground on it sleek headquarters across from the Civic Auditorium on August 19, 2002, the internationally renowned think tank's 1,100 employees had become an integral thread in Santa Monica's fabric.

Established in 1948 during the dawn of the Cold War as a research firm with strong ties to the country's military establishment, RAND had increasingly turned its focus to domestic issues after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The new 700-foot-long building's design was driven by the need to create a place where thinking was encouraged, with continuous hallways meant to minimize the hierarchy established by corner offices.

The unusual design was also meant to maximize the chances of RAND employees bumping into each other, striking up conversations and generating new ideas.

"This was a fairly unique design," James A Thomson, then RAND's president and CEO, said at the groundbreaking. "It's really the home for researchers who have to carry out their job."