Developer Proposes Apartments, Retail in Santa Monica

Santa Monica is slated to receive another new housing development with affordable units atop ground-floor retail.

A new application filed with city planners calls for demolishing a low-rise office complex at 1655 26th Street and building an eight-story residential development on the site, the Santa Monica Mirror reported. The property owner is 1655 Property LLC, linked in state records to local philanthropist Hillel Kellerman.

The proposal includes 401 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments above roughly 2,070 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Of the 401 units, 41 would be set aside for affordable housing for moderate-, low- and very-low-income individuals in exchange for density bonus incentives that will allow the developer to build larger than what zoning regulations would normally allow. Owner plans also include parking for 419 vehicles and a rooftop deck.

Santa Monica planning officials will have to review the proposal before it is scheduled for public hearings.

The site is located around the corner from Bergamot Station Arts Center, which the City of Santa Monica is hoping to transform into mixed-income housing. Last year, Santa Monica officials began searching for developers to build affordable housing on city land.

The 26th Street proposal is one of several in Santa Monica consisting of residences, including some affordable, above retail.

Last month, Trammell Crow Company proposed replacing an existing office complex at 2716 Ocean Park Boulevard with 456 residential units, including 46 affordable apartments, above 6,200 square feet of ground-floor retail. The building would rise eight stories with studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts and would also benefit from density bonus incentives.

In September, city officials approved another eight-story housing development at 1907-1933 Wilshire Boulevard. That project, developed by an anonymous LLC, will have 26 affordable housing units above 21,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and four levels of subterranean parking.

— Chris Malone Méndez