A three-story development will replace two Mid-City buildings occupied by Coogie’s Cafe, a barbershop and a hobby store.
The Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a mixed-use building with 46 units and 13,735 square feet of commercial space at 2906-2918 Santa Monica Blvd. The corner site at Yale Street and Santa Monica Boulevard is owned by Yale West LLC, managed by producer and director Marius Markevicius.
Coogie’s, a diner that closed in April after a fire and the death of its owner Lawrence Rhee, occupied 2906 Santa Monica Blvd. decades. Aero Hobbies and Don’s Cutting Edge occupy 2918 Santa Monica Blvd.
The 36-foot tall building will feature a brick, wood and glass facade, interspersed with balconies and living walls. The building’s upper floors are broken into six blocks.
Eight of the building’s 46 units are live-work units along the ground floor facing Yale that open directly onto the street. Six are studios and two are one-bedroom units.
The rest of the building will contain 34 market-rate units, two of which are studios. 19 have one bedroom, nine have two bedrooms and six have three bedrooms. There will also be three affordable one-bedroom units and one affordable three-bedroom unit.
A two-level subterranean garage will hold 118 parking spaces for cars and 118 for bicycles.
The project will stand adjacent to two other three-story mixed-use developments. 2822 Santa Monica Blvd. is under construction across the street and 3008 Santa Monica Blvd. was completed in April.
When the Architectural Review Board gave preliminary feedback on 2906-2918 Santa Monica Blvd. in March, board members said the building should be broken up in a different way and asked the architect to swap out some facade materials.
Planning staff said the architect has only partially responded to the feedback. While the building’s facade will feature more brick and a different window pattern, staff said the architect has not broken up the building’s mass.
Before approving the project, acting Planning Commission chair Shawn Landres said the Architectural Review Board should require the architect to break up the building.
“I would like the ARB to ensure that the final product does not give us one big mass of a building on Santa Monica Boulevard,” Landres said.
The commission also stipulated that the building not be used as corporate housing.
As part of its development review permit, the project will pay almost $300,000 in parks and recreation, transportation and affordable housing fees. It is also providing 50% more affordable units than required and a transportation management plan that encourages residents and workers in the building to take public transportation and bicycle.
The project will now head to the Architectural Review Board.
madeleine@smdp.com
