Tishman Wants More Time to Build Santa Monica Apartments

Tishman Speyer wants more time to build a 43-unit apartment complex in Santa Monica.

The New York-based developer has asked for a two-year extension for its approved five-story building at 1318 Lincoln Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. It would replace a parking lot.

The Santa Monica Planning Commission will consider the request on Nov. 15.

The project is among the eight properties in Downtown Santa Monica approved for 620 apartments that Tishman bought early last year from Westwood-based WSC Communities for $150 million.

Plans approved in early 2018 call for 43 apartments atop 3,500 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants on Lincoln, south of Santa Monica Boulevard. Underground parking would serve 91 cars.

The gray complex, designed by Culver City-based KFA Architecture, would include a sculptured facade with inset balconies and windows, with floor-to-ceiling glass on the shops below.

Tishman Speyer has asked for more time to complete the building because its parking lot serves as offsite parking while it builds a 97-unit apartment complex at 1430-1440 Lincoln Boulevard, according to a staff report.

“Until the parking facilities at 1430-1440 Lincoln Boulevard are completed, they are being outsourced to the subject property preventing construction,” the report to the commission said.

Its project at 1430 Lincoln is expected to finish by the end of next year, which would allow construction to begin at 1318 Lincoln in 2025.

Tishman Speyer has also indicated it wants to postpone construction to wait for better economic conditions and lower interest rates, according to Urbanize.

Other projects acquired by the developer are underway in Santa Monica.

In addition to 1430 Lincoln, Tishman has broken ground on an affordable senior housing complex at 711 Colorado Avenue and a 98-unit apartment complex at 1650 Lincoln, according to a letter to the city.

The projects mark Tishman Speyer’s first entry into the L.A. housing market. As of last year, the firm owned 2 million square feet of offices across the region, including a 147,000-square-foot office building at 2120 Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica.

— Dana Bartholomew