Construction has gone vertical for a new mixed-use project from Cypress Equity Investments in Santa Monica.

The project at 1902 Wilshire Boulevard, which replaced a stretch of commercial buildings, for the construction of an eight-story edifice featuring 140 residential units above 7,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a subterranean parking garage.

View from 19th StreetUrbanize LA

CEI's project is part of a pilot program in Santa Monica in which a small number of developers are being allowed to develop required affordable units at an off-site location to jump start stalled developments. Cypress Equity Investments previously expected to accommodate 14 lower-income units within 1902 Wilshire, and will instead build them in a project at 1333 7th Street.

Patrick Tighe Architecture is designing the building, which will be clad in a combination of brick, porcelain, concrete, and stucco.

View looking southwest from Wilshire boulevardPatrick Tighe Architecture

"The project is composed of a series of volumes organized to create a linear open space above a podium and oriented in a north/south direction, with its opening onto Wilshire Boulevard," states a 2024 staff report to the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board.. "The volumes are differentiated from one another alternately using an additive or subtractive method along the elevations. As the design wraps the corners onto 19th Street and the alley the distinction between the volumes becomes less visible until the south elevation presents as a quiet, cohesive elevation."

CEI is also development housing on the former site of Pico Boulevard near Santa Monica's Civic Center, and recently secured financing for two additional mixed-use buildings along Wilshire Boulevard.

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