A group of local residents packed the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board (ARB) meeting at City Hall, voicing their concerns with the proposed mixed-use housing development poised to replace Gelson’s grocery store and surrounding shops at 2601 Lincoln Blvd.
During the meeting, the ARB approved of the design, colors, materials and landscape plans for the Lincoln Center Project, which calls for a six-story, 65-foot tall development consisting of 521 residential units (53 of those being affordable units) and 30,200 square feet of ground floor commercial space. The approval came with several conditions, such as architectural firm Koning Eisenberg Architecture providing more variation throughout the development’s 12 buildings in color and material, modifying design to reduce height perception, and softening the design color and materials of buildings along Lincoln.
The project was initially submitted for city review by SanMon, Inc. on March 11, 2022, and has also received administrative approval from City Planning staff using density bonuses guaranteed by California law. Due to the ministerial nature of the project, it is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, and the ARB does not have the authority to review potential environmental effects or address the size of the project.
Despite the limited scope of the ARB, over a dozen public commenters bemoaned the project’s overall size and unwieldy nature that residents felt did not match the environment of the Ocean Park neighborhood. The Lincoln Center effort has been subject to scrutiny for years, dating back to a February 2022 community Zoom meeting that held mass skepticism of the project. In addition to public comment, over 90 letters were submitted to the ARB, the majority being in opposition to the project.
Peter Spellman, who said he’s lived in Ocean Park for over 46 years, urged the ARB to “send [the project] back to the drawing board” because it “violates every one” of the ARB’s criteria.
“[The project is] simply the maximum number of profitable units a developer can cram into the space … [a] huge, hulking, ugly grouping of buildings squished together, [it] blocks views, worsens traffic [and] most of its residents will be looking at another building,” Spellman said. “Housing could be built on this space, we need it, but it should be smaller, less dense, more open, sunny and more inviting to the neighborhood and with a pleasing design. This isn’t it.”
Another resident, Karen Croner, has been active in rallying neighborhood support and agreed that the Lincoln Center endeavor was not a part of the ARB’s mission. Croner focused on the sizable number of units in her comment time and predicted disaster if it were to be constructed.
“The developer wants to make as much money as possible, the majority of our community doesn’t want the development because they see that one-third of the buildings on Lincoln are empty … we have a real concern that this building will turn into one of those doomsday projects [that are] half-empty with a high potential for crime. It’s just too big. No one who can pay market rate wants to live crammed in like this.”
In advance of the meeting, critics of the project purchased advertising, including with the Daily Press, to voice their concerns and ask the developer to voluntarily reduce the project’s size.
Before listening to the long line of commenters, Koning Eisenberg Principal Nathan Bishop was able to submit comments to the ARB, stating that the project has been revised since the board’s prior review to “really get that garden neighborhood” north of the project to “meet” the boulevard.
“We all know Lincoln is pretty gritty, and we all know that just around the corner is a very beautiful garden neighborhood on the hillside,” Bishop said. “It’s rich with texture and light and shade and shadow, and those were real inspirations.”
Another revision comes in the move of the planned elevated pool deck further east, a consideration from the ARB’s September 18, 2023 preliminary design review. The outdoor space also calls for a gym and lounge area, along with a 7,200-square foot public plaza below.
“If you’ve driven down Lincoln, there’s a whole series of outdoor gyms that happen kind of informally, so having this gym fill out at this edge kind of connects with that kind of cool urban experience of Lincoln,” Bishop added.
Bishop had some backing during the meeting, as two of the 15 public commenters were for the project, one being former Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor. The former mayor noted that the architectural team has successfully responded to ARB inquiries, and that the project is already a “reduced version” of what could be built at that site. She added that another positive would be the potential for a younger crowd of renters.