A staff report to the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board unveils a new look for a proposed mixed-use development at 1437 6th Street.

WS Communities, the real estate firm behind the project, is seeking approvals for the construction of a six-story building containing 62 apartments - including nine affordable units - above 1,920 square feet of ground-floor retail space.  The project would include 41 single-room occupancy units, 11 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, but no on-site parking.

The design by KFA Architecture is described in a staff report to the Architectural Review Board as featuring a series of recessed balconies that create a sense of order and variation.  The current blue-and-white design from an earlier iteration presented to the Board in January 2020, which depicted a similar building with lime green accents.

The staff report recommends that the Board should approve the project.

The proposed development is among six projects from WS Communities that have been granted expedited processing per the terms of a settlement agreement with the City of Santa Monica regarding SRO housing in the Downtown area.

WS Communities now has more than 20 housing developments in the pipeline in its hometown of Santa Monica, including a larger apartment complex now under construction at the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue.