The Street Seen: Bowled Over
234 Pico Blvd @ 3rd
As noted in February, the Bowlmor redevelopment project is on hold. The site was approved in 2018 for re-development with a new 3-story, 36-foot high, mixed-use building with 105 residential units across two structures. The 1.28 acre site consists of six Los Angeles County Assessor parcels and is Santa Monica zoned Mixed-Use Boulevard Low (MUBL). The Tier 2 project has an FAR of 1.75 and 226 subterranean parking spaces.
A new developer Cypress Equity Investments has taken over the project - with new architect KFA. The new proposal is for a 5-story, 58-foot high, mixed-use building with 200 residential units (including 21 deed-restricted affordable units - 10.5% of total), ground floor neighborhood-serving retail space, and 384 subterranean parking spaces.
At 10% affordable housing, the project crosses the State density bonus law threshold allowing an increase in FAR and concessions to the maximum building height and number of stories.
The new proposal seeks Administrative Approval (i.e. to not require discretionary review – to not go before the Planning Commission) pursuant to Santa Monica Interim Zoning Ordinance No. 2633 and the 12th Supplement to the Executive Order of the Director of Emergency Services Declaring a Local Emergency. Administrative Approval projects are still required to obtain Architectural Review Board (ARB) approval.
Prior to submitting an Administrative Approval application, the applicant must conduct a virtual community meeting with adjacent property owners and tenants within a 750-foot radius of the proposed project. A virtual community meeting was scheduled for last night (Thursday, September 23, 2021 @ 6:00pm — 7:00pm), but was postponed by the property owners as the development team wanted more time to prepare.