Metro staff have zeroed in on a preferred development team for the Division 6 property in Venice.

Aerial view looking westMetro Venice Art Collective LLC

A report to the Metro Board's Planning and Programming committee recommends that the agency should enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Metro Venice Art Collective, LLC - an entity owned by Pinyon Group. Their plan for the site at 100 Sunset Avenue, dubbed Metro on Main, calls for:

  • 341 homes - including 86 apartments restricted to households earning no more than 80 percent of the area median income level;
  • approximately 12,900 square feet of public open space at the ground floor;
  • a pedestrian crossing for beach access between Main Street and Pacific Avenue;
  • integration of the existing Vietnam War Memorial at the southwest corner of the site;
  • approximately 5,400 square feet of dedicated community spaces for Venice Arts to host a cafe, classes, exhibits, and other events;
  • approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial space fronting Main Street, with a preference for local businesses; and
  • a subterranean parking garage serving residents, commercial tenants, and beach visitors.

Past community outreach presentations indicate that the project team also includes the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, design firms Steinberg Hart and Marmol Radziner, and Gehl.

View from Pacific Avenue looking northMetro Venice Art Collective LLC

According to a past community presentation, the total cost of the Metro on Main is estimated at $315.8 million, which would be divided between $130.2 million in equity and $185.6 million from AFL-CIO.

The three- acre Division 6 site - bounded by Sunset Avenue to the north, Main Street to the east, Pacific Avenue to the west and Thornton Place to the south - was once the Pacific Electric railway's Ocean Park Car House, prior to being converted into a bus maintenance and storage facility. Metro ceased operating out of Division 6 in 2016, opening the property up for redevelopment.

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