A presentation scheduled for the May 17 meeting of the Santa Monica Planning Commission reveals an updated look for a new look for a proposed mixed-use apartment complex from Cypress Equity Investments (CEI).
The proposed project at 2501 Wilshire Boulevard, first revealed in 2022, calls for redeveloping a stretch of block-long stretch of commercial buildings near Douglas Park with a new four-story edifice featuring 71 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments above nearly 19,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 197 parking stalls in a three-level subterranean garage.
View looking northeast from Wilshire BoulevardOttinger Architects
CEI is set to build 12 affordable units in conjunction with 2501 Wilshire - albeit at an off-site location at 1215 19th Street.
Ottinger Architects is designing the apartment complex, which would feature an exterior of smooth plaster. According to a staff report to the Commission, the concept has undergone revisions since first being presented to the Architectural Review Board in 2022, which had urged a more significant "gesture" toward Douglas Park, as well as changes to materials at the ground floor.
Since then, the project has added roll-up doors to a ground-floor community room fronting 25th Street across from the park, and also introduced sloped overhangs and variations in the building elevation. However, the staff report indicates that the revisions may be too modest to address prior feedback.
2501 Wilshire BoulevardGoogle Street View
The staff report recommends approval of the project, which would be accompanied by a payment of more than $1.2 million in fees to the City of Santa Monica.
The proposed project is one of a number of new developments from CEI in Santa Monica, including a smaller housing and retail complex which would rise a few blocks west at 2025 Wilshire Boulevard. The firm's development pipeline accounts for more than 1,000 apartments in the city.
Follow us on social media:
- 2501 Wilshire Boulevard (Urbanize LA)
