Key Downtown Project Still Not on Target

By Oliver Lukacs

August 5 -- Contending that a proposed five-story housing development in the heart of Downtown is still not unique enough, the Architectural Review Board again sent the project slated for the site of the failed Target project back to the drawing board Monday night.

The 57-unit mixed-use building with ground floor retail underwent major revisions after the board argued in May that it closely resembled a proposed 52-unit adjacent building. The pair of buildings, the board contended, was little more than one mega-structure sliced to skirt the 60,000 square foot Downtown threshold the council has now taken steps to lower.

Leading the charge was Board member Rick Abelson, who was still troubled by the buildings' similarity.

"I think when we see this built in cooperation with the one down the street this is going to feel massive," said Abelson, who argued that the building looked too cubic and therefore plain. "I like the building, but I think there are some things that can be done to make this special.

"We really do need to raise the bar a little bit. It seems as if you took a block and an eraser and cut everything into 90 degree angles," he told the project's architect David Hibbert.

Architect David Hibbert -- who designed both buildings -- responded: "That's consciously what I was trying to get to."

Board members said they were pleased but not satisfied with Hibbert's redesign, which included changing the rooftops and roof decks, adding two-story-tall and projecting windows and making the landscape more contemporary. The redesign also opened up the center courtyard for an outdoor dining space accessible from Santa Monica Blvd, 5th Street and the alley.

Saying that he only has the power to suggest, board member Rodolfo Alvarez asked Hibbert -- who was standing in thong sandals, dress pants and a button-down shirt -- to consider a marine theme for the 52,922 square-foot building.

"We are Santa Monica, this is by the beach. Perhaps something that evokes a connection with the ocean," said Alvarez, adding that he feared that the predominantly white and blocky building would contribute to Santa Monica rapidly "losing the beach-city quality."

Except for a couple of landscaping details he said needed fine tuning, Board chair Sergio Zeballos said he was happy with the changes. "I have to commend you on the design scale and how it sits on the corner and how it fits into the city fabric especially in this part of town."

Abelson said that if the board's suggestions were incorporated the building could "become an icon of the street."

Arthur Harris, the lone public speaker, also said he was content with the changes. "This is a clear case of the intervention of this board resulting in a better design," said Harris, who lives Downtown. "I thank you for your intervention."

Prepared to give the project a thumbs up, board member Iris Oliveras asked the board to vote, but the other members failed to follow suit. Instead, the item will be continued until late September.

The two proposed buildings are part of a larger development that would have encompassed the two lots separating them. But developers got cold feet and pulled their applications after the City Council moved to lower the Downtown threshold to 7,500 -- 15,000 with housing bonuses -- to discourage "slicing and dicing" block-long mega-projects.