Now that the dust has settled from last week’s City Council meeting where the Council unanimously approved a settlement with WS Communities, here’s a quick look at where things stand with the fourteen properties owned by WS today.
From when the news broke last week that a settlement was offered, there has been some confusion as to how much property WS owned, what was being changed and what was unaffected by the settlement. Here’s a quick synopsis. WS owned 14 properties that had development plans submitted during the “Builder’s Remedy” window last fall when zoning codes were temporarily suspended for Santa Monica by the state. After a settlement reached with the city, the status of 13 of those properties has changed.
Ten of the properties will be withdrawn from the Builder’s Remedy pipeline and resubmitted with plans that concur with the existing zoning code. These 10 properties will have far less units, both affordable and market rate units, than they would have under the Builder’s Remedy. Three of the projects will be withdrawn and will not be resubmitted for new development. The last, will move forward as it is. That project is at 1433 Euclid Street.
To get these concessions, the city gave up a lot. The city will drop a lawsuit against WS, will insure that the new developments get density bonuses, increased parking maximums and reduced the amount of units that have to be affordable.
Below are the fourteen WS properties that were submitted during Builder’s Remedy and a slide from the staff presentation explaining how much smaller, and how fewer units, the developments at these sites could have if they are built as large as possible.
