City To Sell Parking Lot on 4th and Colorado, to Developers of 570 Apartment Units

Even in a sluggish real estate market and with mortgages at 8%, there is endless developer money for massive apartment construction in Santa Monica.

Developers have proposed 570 housing units on a commercial parking lot just south of the train station on 4th Street and Colorado Avenue. This will join the massive apartment complex

City Council is contemplating granting an exclusive agreement to a set of corporations, as part of a Surplus Land Act sale of city owned property. The proposal would build yet another a large housing development that would include affordable and market rate units.

The potential sale is a result of the City declaring several parcels of land surplus last year. This includes a building on 5th Street and Olympic, and an adjacent parking lot. The site includes a vacant office building at 1632 5th St. and the Expo Kiss & Ride lot that sits between the office building and 4th Street.

Developers have built hundreds of apartments in DTSM over the last 5 years, the great majority of which stand empty. Few people choose to pay $6000 for three bedrooms in a dense area, it seems.