Major changes are coming to Ocean Park Boulevard (adjacent to the Santa Monica Airport, Clover Park and the Santa Monica Business Park) if a project outlined in a permit application to the city comes to fruition.
The mixed-use project proposes 375 units, 44 of which are deed-restricted affordable, parking with ground-floor retail. Buildings would be five or six stories and would rise to 85 feet tall. It would replace the existing one of the existing office buildings.
You can see the entire application on the city’s website here.
The application comes at an interesting moment. Supporters of a Great Park at the airport property after its closure have argued that putting housing on the airport property would be a mistake despite the regional housing crisis. Instead, they argued, more housing could be put near the airport property to best take advantage of the large park they dream will be built.
The City Council, despite its YIMBY credentials, have largely backed this vision and now, weeks after the last city council approval of the airport to park process; a large residential development is being proposed next to the airport. Its approval could placate activists that saw the soon-to-be-closed airport land as future housing and could frustrate anyone who latched on to the large “Great Park Coalition” to stymie housing development in east Santa Monica.
The development is seeking administrative approval through a state law passed in 2019 (and extended last year) that requires a “timely” permitting process and limits the number of public hearings that a project is required to go through if it meets certain requirements. In this case, the project is more than ⅔ residential and includes over 11% affordable housing.
BXP is a past advertiser with Santa Monica Next. They were not consulted for this story.
