After nearly a decade of planning and design changes, Frank Gehry’s proposed Ocean Avenue mixed-use development has finally been given the go-ahead by the Santa Monica City Council.
Gehry Partners says it will be characterized by a “full-service hotel, world-class exhibitions and programs in a new space for cultural institutions, affordable and market rate housing, and a variety of publicly accessible spaces including a new pedestrian mall,” and come along with a LEED Silver certification. The estimated cost of the project is around $243 million, and the firm says it will include a cultural program and employment package that will deliver an estimated $53.3 million in economic benefits to the Westside community.
“The Frank Gehry Project is unique, brings new amenities like a cultural institution to the Downtown, and will provide one-time funds to deliver City services including transportation infrastructure, parks, recreation programs, early childhood initiatives, affordable housing, economic opportunity initiatives, and more,” Santa Monica’s City Manager David White said of the multi-year project.
In total, the project is expected to add some 2,800 new jobs to Santa Monica's economy. Its construction will deliver a total of $258.2 million in one-time economic output and another $59.8 million in annual outputs owing to its hotel, “cultural-use campus”, and 36,100 square feet of retail spaces.
Included in the development agreement is a mandate for a new “world-class” art museum to be built in part as a showcase of some of Gehry’s own extensive creative output for a period of at least 15 years. It also includes the adaptive reuse and preservation of two repositioned historical buildings, a total of 44 (out of 100) apartment units that are either deed-restricted or rent-controlled, and the new 120-room hotel.
The next steps will require a reverie from the California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles Architectural Review Board, and Landmarks Commission, followed by the issuance of building permits. Construction is expected to begin shortly afterward, with the final result coming online within a three-year window.
4 Comments
I am a retired architect who did little to help mankind prepare for the future. So, I can't throw a very big stone. With our contemporary society about to economically crash again, with global warming, decaying environment, disappearing middle class, the rich getting richer, etc., etc., I just don't have sympathy for Gehry and his supporters. Frank, figure out a way to help save the planet. Enough of your wobbly walls is enough. We know what you can do for the money people. Take a break from the deep pockets and indulge in design that is as fully self-sustainable as possible, and cheap. Do that and you will be an architectural hero for generations to come. You have the stuff. Give it a go!
i'am glad someone cares. Hopefully i can get a better job and also help my community.
Great moves, Gehry. Keep it up, proud of you!
Unfortunately, the "tower" was chopped by the City's Downtown Code. In the original proposal, it was much taller, such that it would match the height of Cesar Pelli's 100 Wilshire tower. The symmetry of Pelli's slick white tower and Gehry's twisted white tower would have made a compelling skyline.
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