A staff presentation to the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board (ARB) unveils a new design for a proposed mixed-use affordable housing development at 1238 7th Street.
WS Communities, the developer behind the project, intends to raze a single-story commercial building to make way for a six-story edifice featuring 37 residential units above 1,543 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
The 1238 7th Street development is intended to satisfy the off-site affordable housing requirements for another WS Communities project at 601 Colorado Avenue. Plans call for the apartments to be priced for households earning at or below 30, 50, 80, and 120 percent of the area median income.
KFA Architecture is designing the project, which has evolved since it was initially presented to the ARB in May 2019. Per a staff report, commissioners stated that design was "too bifurcated," and the project team was encouraged to use different building materials in subsequent iterations.
The revised design is described a series of staked forms which rotate against each other around a central metal column. Though taller than its immediate neighbors, the building envelope is similar in height to the new Proper Hotel which opened last year on the opposite side of 7th Street.
WS Communities, which has more than two dozen developments planned or in construction in Santa Monica, is planning additional affordable housing projects at 711 Colorado Avenue and 1514 7th Street.
Interested in finding affordable housing? Visit housing.lacity.org.
