Jacmar Eyes Art Deco-Style Apartment Tower in Santa Monica

The Jacmar Companies wants to build a 13-story, Art Deco-style apartment tower in Santa Monica.

The Alhambra-based family office led by John Tilley has filed plans to build the 100-unit high-rise at 1427 Lincoln Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Daily Press reported.

It would replace commercial storefronts containing Restoration Rugs and Pickletown.

Plans for the tower, dubbed Asterisk Santa Monica, include 100 studio, one, two- and three-bedroom apartments above a three-level underground parking garage for 100 cars.

The developer would employ density incentives in exchange for 16 affordable apartments set aside for moderate-, low- and very low-income households.

The turquoise tower, designed by Culver City-based KFA Architecture, has 1930s Art Deco features reminiscent of the Eastern Columbia Building in Downtown Los Angeles and the Wiltern Center in Koreatown.

It would include a rooftop deck and exterior balconies, with zig-zag motifs from the Depression-era design, according to a rendering.

If approved, the development would rank among the tallest in Santa Monica, though it would fall short of a 24-story tower planned nearby at 601 Colorado Avenue.

The proposal is the third swing by Jacmar for the Lincoln Boulevard site, after previous plans for 15-unit and 30-unit apartment buildings, according to Urbanize. The plan reflects the city’s evolving approach to infill housing and increasing pressure to meet state housing goals.

The property sits next to a proposed development by Hankey Capital for an eight-story, 90-unit apartment complex at 1441 Lincoln Boulevard.

If both get built, the new tower could obstruct north-facing views from the eight-story building and vice versa, a point that may factor into future public comment or architectural review, according to the Daily Press.

Jacmar, a conglomerate founded in 1960 by the Tilly family, owns Shakey’s Pizza, and stakes in BJ’s Restaurants and Jacmar Foodservice Distribution. It’s also heavily invested in real estate.

Last year, the company was approved to build a 120-unit apartment complex at 6066 Olympic Boulevard, in Mid-Wilshire.

— Dana Bartholomew