A shopping center anchored by a Gelson's in the Ocean Park neighborhood could be cleared for one of Santa Monica's biggest residential developments in recent memory.

SanMon, Inc., an affiliate of Balboa Retail Partners, is seeking approvals to raze existing improvements from a 4.7-acre site at the southeast corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Ocean Park Avenue, potentially clearing the way for the construction of an approximately 870,000-square-foot development consisting of:

  • 521 apartments - including 53 affordable units
  • approximately 36,000 square feet of commercial space; and
  • parking for 880 vehicles.

SanMon, Inc., which is partnering with prolific local developer Cypress Equity Investments on the project, is planning a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom units.

The project's proposed entitlements, which rely on density bonus incentives for relief from certain zoning regulations for the property, would require that the affordable units be priced for households at the very low-income level. According a project website, that would translate to $700 per month for a studio unit, $800 per month for one-bedroom unit, and $900 per month for a two-bedroom unit.

Koning Eizenberg is designing the project, named Lincoln Center, which would include 10 separate buildings standing up to five stories in height.

Gelson's which now anchors the property, is not certain to return. According to the project website, the new project will also include a grocery store, but an operator has not been signed at this point in time.

SanMon, which has owned the property since 2017, expects to break ground on Lincoln Center no earlier than 2024.

The project site is located a short walk north of 2903 Santa Monica Boulevard, where CIM Group broke ground last year on a smaller mixed-use residential project.