SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica might demolish a downtown parking structure and build new affordable housing units in its place.
The parking structure is located on 1318 4th Street, known as parking structure number 3. The parking structure has been scheduled to be demolished. The city of Santa Monica has designed parking structure number 6 to replace parking structure number 3.
The cost of the demolition and to remediate the soil, which may contain hydrocarbons associated with gasoline, would be between $3 to $4 million. The construction itself will cost between $5 to $21 dollars depending on the number of apartments and the design of the project.
This past City Council meeting approved the issuance of a request for proposals to build on the 1318 lot on Tuesday, April 9. City council also approved the other possibilities for affordable housing in the city. The plan would be to build between 100 and 150 affordable apartments on the site. There have been concerns about the parking structure’s suitability for housing units. The city plans on hosting meetings in the coming months to discuss other potential sites.
The city wants to demolish and replace Samoshel which is a homeless shelter that was established in 1994 located in downtown Santa Monica. The city might consider rebuilding Samoshel on 1318 4th Street.
The latest affordable housing units located in downtown Santa Monica are the Arroyo Magnolia Villas. The construction of Arroyo Magnolia Villas were made possible by a city policy called the Affordable Housing Production Program. This policy requires local developers to directly contribute to the construction of affordable housing. Thanks to this incentive, the Arroyo Magnolia Villas were developed without city funding. The city of Santa Monica has dedicated 38 percent of new multi-family housing to serve low and moderate income households.
Back in 2015, the Pacific Theater Exhibition Corporation submitted a development application for 1318 4th Street. The parking structure was to be converted into a four-story movie theater, but that proposal has been withdrawn.
