By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

December 8,2015 -- More than three years after the Santa Monica City Council approved a development agreement for a nearly 300-room hotel on the 700 block of Wilshire Boulevard, the governing body will again be asked to vote on the project on Tuesday.

This time the council will serve as an appellate body determining the fairness of a special panel’s decision to reject the hotel's design.

If the council sides with owner Alexander Gorby, he can move on to the final stages preceding construction. Otherwise, Gorby must come up with a new design and reapply for a permit.

The council voted in March 2012 to approve the project that includes the adaptive reuse of the landmarked Santa Monica Professional Building at 710 Wilshire Blvd.

It was a high-temperature meeting, with the council not only voting on a development agreement for the project, but also on a living wage for the hotel workers.

At one point in the meeting, Councilmembers Pam O’Connor and Kevin McKeown went head to head before then-Mayor Richard Bloom intervened (“City Council Approves Living Wage for Proposed Santa Monica Hotel,” March 21, 2012).

Because the project involved a landmark, Gorby needed final approval of the design from a body called the Joint Design Review Body (JDRB), consisting of four Landmarks Commission members and three members of the Architectural Review Board.

The special panel reviewed the project in June 2014, and then looked at it further three months later (with Gorby altering the design in response to feedback), then again in September 2015.

The JDRB’s conclusion was that the project could receive one of two needed permits, but not the other.

A majority of the board objected to the “smooth plaster finish and generic detailing of the building,” according to a City staff report. There were also other declared offenses.

Gorby soon filed an appeal. He has has the support of Planning and Community Development Director David Martin, who recommended the council uphold the appeal.

“Staff believes that the applicant has sufficiently addressed the concerns raised by the JDRB throughout the review process in addition to the eight design conditions imposed by the Council in the approval of the development agreement,” Martin wrote.

Also on the council agenda is the proposal for a 78,000-square-foot mixed-use development at the former Norms Restaurant site on Lincoln Boulevard off Colorado Avenue.

The project, which includes 90 residential units, earned the backing of the Planning Commission in September. Also included are 10,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a subterranean garage with 168 spaces.

It is being proposed as part of a development agreement, so owner Fifield Co. is required to offer public benefits.

Among the benefits being offered is a deed restriction so that 19 of the units are affordable.

Also, Fifield would pay the City more than $2 million for municipal programs, including transportation, parks and recreation, affordable housing, sustainability, early childhood initiatives and historic preservation.

The project site is across the street from the Denny’s property. The council approved a permit in October for that site to be replaced with a 102,000-square-foot mixed-use development with 100 residential units.