The City of Santa Monica is inviting creative proposals for how to use its nearly 200-acre airport property after the airport is permanently closed at the end of 2028.
City officials are seeking Letters of Interest (LOIs) from individuals, organizations, or firms with ideas for arts, recreational, educational, cultural, or other community-serving uses. Proposals may include short-term pop-ups or long-term development concepts. The effort is part of the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project, which aims to transform the site into a park-focused community space, in line with guiding principles adopted by the City Council.
Consequently, an email was sent out by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce to its members requesting ideas on Friday of last week.
“The Chamber has been involved in a lot of development projects in the city and even the creation of the original airport,” Chamber of Commerce CEO Judy Kruger says. “But what the Chamber leadership is really asking is that our members get involved in creating conceptual ideas, taking into account what's best for the community and how to support both the community and local businesses as well.
“Some of our surveys that we've had with members – and they're not large surveys – would indicate that a lot of our membership wants the airport to be a park and something else. So what is that something else?” Kruger says, adding, “So we'll be continuing to survey our businesses and members about what it is that they wish that the airport would look like and how can that support a vibrant business community and vibrant community.”
The airport closure is part of a legal agreement reached in 2017 with the Federal Aviation Administration. The city originally purchased the land with park bond funds and plans to reimagine the space as a long-term public asset serving both Santa Monica residents and the wider region.
The email emphasized that this is not a request for a master plan, but rather an opportunity to gauge the range of potential public-private partnerships and other funding models that could support future development. Submissions should focus on a specific idea or group of ideas for a portion of the site. No formal negotiations or selections will be made at this stage.
Responses to the LOI may be considered in future planning discussions and selected ideas could advance to a later Request for Proposals process if approved by the City Council.
More information, including background documents and community engagement summaries, is available at smacproject.com and the deadline for LOI submission is Monday, May 5, 2025.
