Tag: development

SANTA MONICA—On Wednesday, July 30, the city of Santa Monica announced that the RAND Corporation’s Santa Monica headquarters at 1776 Main St. could soon see new retail, restaurants and office uses, following approval of an amended development agreement by the Santa Monica City Council on July 29.

As part of the updated agreement, RAND will pay $5.5 million to the city’s General Fund to fund programs and services that benefit residents of Santa Monica, businesses and visitors.

The funds are expected to be paid in two installments, with $3.5 million upon agreement execution and the remaining $2 million no more than three years later.

Potential uses could include:

-General and creative offices, including RAND
-Media production
-Retail shops and services (salons, dry cleaners, etc.)
-Restaurants
-Convenience markets
-Banks and credit unions

“RAND is a longstanding fixture in Santa Monica and has made many contributions to our community,” said Mayor Lana Negrete. “With this new agreement, we’re ensuring that this central property remains an active, productive and contributing part of our civic center district.”

Santa Monica first entered into a development agreement with RAND in 2000, when only “institutional office” use was permitted, as the original development was built to provide RAND with replacement office space when it sold land to the city’s Redevelopment Agency where its then-existing building was located — now home to Tongva Park and the mixed-use Village Project.

RAND’s needs changed in recent years, with hybrid work and fewer employees needing workspace at the headquarters site. Tuesday’s council action also included adopting an update to the Civic Center Specific Plan to allow for new site uses.

RAND, a nonprofit public policy organization, was founded in Santa Monica in 1948 and the company first opened its headquarters at 1776 Main St. in 2004. The building is approximately 326,170 square feet and has 799 parking spaces.

By Danny Jones

SANTA MONICA—On Friday, July 19, the city of Santa Monica posted on its Facebook page that two hotel projects have been approved to move forward on development. The Miramar Hotel and the Ocean Avenue Hotel Project, are moving forward that is aimed to bring economic growth and cultural vitality.

The Miramar Hotel will undergo a redesign featuring 301 rooms, 60 condos, public gardens and affordable housing, banquet facilities, retail space and a spa and will also incorporate new areas for public access and enjoyment, including 14,000 square feet of Public Garden Terraces, with programmed events, public art, and new food and beverage offerings. The Architectural Review Board signed off on the project design this month and the next step is a public hearing at the Landmarks Commission later this year.

The Ocean Avenue Hotel is a mixed-use hotel, residential and cultural uses campus designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry. The project includes a 120-room hotel, 100 residential rental units, 25 percent of which will be deed-restricted affordable units, a 34,000 square foot cultural uses campus and a publicly-accessible observation deck. It is set to go before the Architectural Review Board later this year.

The redevelopment of the Miramar Hotel will take the next steps forward with the city of Santa Moncia Architectural Review Board and Landmarks Commission reviewing the design this summer and fall.

At the end of May, world-renowned design team Pelli Clarke Partners submitted the Design Review Application for the renovation of the Miramar hotel complex, which will build on the historic identity of the property to revitalize this key site at the northern end of the downtown.

It will also provide significant community benefits, including 42 units of vital new affordable housing, new union construction and hotel jobs and significant new annual revenues for the city’s general fund.

The city’s Architectural Review Board, or ARB, reviewed the project at its July 15 meeting and made a unanimous positive recommendation to support the final project design. The Board appreciated the way the design has progressed since the City Council approved the development agreement in 2020 and commended the design team for its commitment to integrating historic preservation principles with high-caliber architecture and an outstanding landscape plan for the 4.5-acre site.

Next, the Landmarks Commission will hold a public hearing for the application, anticipated for the fall, with special attention paid to ensuring protection of the Landmark Moreton Bay Fig Tree and the Landmark Palisades Building. The project Development Agreement was approved by the Santa Monica City Council in September 2020 and by the California Coastal Commission in March 2022.

The Ocean Avenue Hotel Project is the name given to Worthe Real Estate Group’s mixed-use hotel, residential and cultural uses campus designed by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.

The Ocean Avenue Project Development Agreement was approved by the city in July 2022 and by the California Coastal Commission in December 2023. The project was negotiated based on community-identified priorities that were gathered through an extensive community engagement and city review process.

In January 2024, the city’s Landmarks Commission conducted and approved the design of the museum campus, including the treatment of two city-designated historic Landmark buildings. The Architectural Review Board’s public hearing to review the remainder of the project site is set to be scheduled later this year.

By Trevor