Tag: retail

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/BEVERLY HILLS—The Los Angeles Police Department announced on December 13 that on December 5, the Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) conducted a retail theft operation near the 700 block of South Figueroa Street. One of the ORCTF strategies in resolving organized retail crime is the utilization of plain clothes operations, where officers work with retail stores in disrupting retail theft.

Personnel from ORCTF consist of detectives from the Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Burbank, Torrance and Glendale Police Departments. The ORCTF was assisted by personnel from LAPD Central Division, LAPD Transit Services Division, and Retail Loss Prevention personnel.

All the suspects who were arrested were spotted concealing merchandise and exiting the stores without paying. Uniform personnel contacted and arrested them.

The following arrests occurred on December 5, near the 700 block of South Figueroa Street:

• Tinder Math, female White, 43 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting, Release From Custody (RFC) citation #B44029
• Anthony Williams, male Black, 30 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting, RFC citation #B44032
• Dominique King, male Black, 33 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC-Shoplifting, RFC citation #B44033
• Gabriel Anthony Rubio, male Hispanic, 31 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting, RFC citation #B44037
• Tyler Damon Bood, male White, 28 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC-Shoplifting, RFC Citation #032321
• Jessica Mejia, female Hispanic, 31 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting, RFC citation #B44034
• Alecia Latonya Williams, female Black, 48 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting and a misdemeanor warrant for 484(a)PC- Petty Theft. She was booked and housed at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Booking No. 6721796, bail was set at $15,000.00.
• Davonte Charles Carter, male Black, 32 years old, of Los Angeles, was arrested for 459.5(a)PC- Shoplifting, RFC citation #B44026

Four juveniles were also detained and arrested for shoplifting and were subsequently released to their parents.

A total of 12 arrests were made during the operation. All stolen merchandise was returned to the retailers and the ORCTF, working with the assistance of divisional personnel, recovered all stolen items. The ORCTF will be conducting additional plain clothes operations during the holidays in the Los Angeles region, with the goal of identifying, locating, and arresting retail thieves.

Anyone with details is asked to call ORCTF Lieutenant II Mike McComas, (818) 374-9420, or email 37111@LAPD.Online. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (1-800-222-8477) or go directly to www.lacrimestoppers.org.

By Trevor