A commercial building near the western terminus of Metro's E Line could give way to what could be the tallest building in the City of Santa Monica.

The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that a community meeting was held earlier this week for a proposed mixed-use, high-rise development at 601 Colorado Avenue. The proposed project which would rise at the northeast corner of Colorado and 6th Street, calls for the construction of a 24-story building containing 264 apartments - including 40 deed-restricted affordable units - above 4,200 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a two-level, 103-car basement parking garage.

Aerial view looking eastOttinger Architects

The tower, at roughly 260 feet in height, would rival the scale of 100 Wilshire - a 21-story tower which has held the title of Santa Monica's tallest building since the 1970s.

The project is being developed by Madison Realty Capital, which took control of the site earlier this year after its prior owner, NMS Properties, lost control of roughly 50 percent of its Santa Monica-heavy portfolio. The 601 Colorado site was one of 10 Builder's Remedy projects which Santa Monica agreed to process as part of a settlement agreement with NMS in 2023. That accounts for its height, which outstrips the maximum 130-foot building height allowed by the city's Downtown community plan.

Ottinger Architects is designing the project, according to the Daily Press. Renderings portray a contemporary glass-clad high-rise.

Aerial view looking northwestOttinger Architects

While this may be the first high-rise Santa Monica has seen in decades, it is not expected to be the last. Applications for other buildings ranging up to 18 stories in height are also being considered by the city.

Madison Realty Capital also took over portions of the NMS portfolio outside of Santa Monica, such as the recently-finished apartment tower at 6401 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Grove. Madison is now seeking to subdivide apartments within that building to increase the total number of rental units.

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