Dinerstein Cos., a Houston-based real estate firm, has commenced with construction for a multifamily residential complex at the former site of Santa Monica's Village Trailer Park.

The Millennium East Village, which is rising from a 3.5-acre site at 2930 Colorado Avenue, will consist of a series of five-story buildings featuring 374 residential units, coming in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans.  Approved plans call for 38 of the apartments to be set aside as affordable housing, as well as 25,000 square feet of commercial space along Colorado Boulevard.

Renderings of the development, which is being designed by the Cuningham Group, portray modern buildings, intersected with walkways and open space.  Cunignham's website describes the Village as a "fluid, interconnected campus," reconnecting a sprawling development site with the surrounding street grid.

Dinerstein's project is rising concurrently with a pair of creative office buildings to the west, located adjacent to the Expo Line's 26th Street/Bergamot Station.  Large commercial developments such of these have engendered controversy in Santa Monica over the past few years, prompting a failed ballot measure which would have required a citywide vote for all construction over two stories in height.