SANTA MONICA—The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, which has a view of the Santa Monica Bay, will be getting a major upgrade, after the City Council approved a redevelopment project on Tuesday, September 29.

Former Mayor of Santa Monica Nat Trives was thinking about what possibilities the half-billion dollar redevelopment project, after a decade of planning, will bring to the hotel and the city.

“This project could give us another 100 years of the Miramar. I don’t buy too big. I do not buy too big. Santa Monica is bigger at 90,000 people than many cities at half a million. And what I mean by that is because it has done things that have become famous worldwide,” Trives said.

The renovation of the hotel is expected to add 11 rooms (bringing the total to 312), completely transforming the land to include 60 condos, another 14,000 square feet of open space, new retail stores and 40 units of affordable housing.

The redevelopment construction will create more than 3,000 union jobs (675 total and 214 in net new jobs) and $418 million in economic output ($122.6 million annually).

$1 million will be contributed to childhood initiatives; $720,000 for affordable housing (mentioned above); $500,000 for equity and economic opportunity initiatives; $350,000 in support of services for programs assisting seniors; $200,000 for the park ambassador program, which focuses on Reed Park.

Local hiring and internship programs will also be part of the redevelopment.

There are also six driveways around the hotel property that some people are opposed to because of the amount of traffic they feel it will add to a residential area, increasing the amount of vehicles that will be driving through.

Speaking to ABC 7 Los Angeles, Elizabeth Van Denburgh, a Santa Monica resident, who is also the chair of the Wilshire Montana Neighborhood Coalition, has made it clear that her group supports the upgrade. However, they cast doubt on the idea of 500,000 square feet renovation, seeing it as an idea that can be utilized for a condominium.

Van Denburgh also believes the affordable housing that’s being added in the redevelopment project isn’t adequate enough.