It's done: the massive--and massively contentious--East Village mixed-use project is back on again now that the Santa Monica city council has approved a second agreement with developer and Village Trailer Park co-owner Marc Luzzatto, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. To get the 377-unit development moving forward, Luzzatto agreed to bump up the number of affordable units from 16 to 38 (including three for "extremely low-income" tenants), satisfying the council's concern when they unapproved the project back in December. In return, Luzzatto will keep the minipark of 10 trailers instead of giving the parcel to the city. And he only has to keep the trailers for 10 years; after that he's free to develop the land as multi-family housing, whether or not there are still people living in those trailers. In another change, East Village's 216 condos will be converted to apartments, making all the units rentals.
Of the four councilmembers who voted to unapprove the project last year, only Gleam Davis switched her vote yesterday. Two of the remaining dissenters found the new development agreement to be "substantially worse" than the one that was originally approved, with one calling Santa Monica's loss of the mini trailer park parcel "a disaster." For her part, Davis explained that her change of heart "had nothing to do with a pending lawsuit filed by Luzzatto." With the new deal, Santa Monica will lose 71 affordable units when all the Village Trailer Park's trailers are demolished.
· Village Trailer Park development wins council approval [SMDP]
· SaMo Unapproves Trailer Park-Killing East Village Mixed-User [Curbed LA]
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