clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Get a load of Frank Gehry’s redesigned hotel tower for Santa Monica’s Ocean Avenue

New, 16 comments

It’s much, much shorter

A hotel tower with a rooftop deck would face Ocean Avenue.
Renderings via city of Santa Monica

A developer looking to erect a hotel tower designed by Frank Gehry on Santa Monica’s iconic Ocean Avenue has reworked its plans and released a new rendering of the project.

Originally proposed five years ago as 22 stories, the hotel has been reduced to 12 stories—or 130 feet—to comply with the city’s new development plan for downtown. It’s just one part of a larger project that would also include a museum, shops, ground-floor open space, and 79 apartments.

A community meeting for the public to preview the plans is set for 7 p.m. January 11.

Developer Jeff Worthe put the project on hold while city planners hashed out new height rules and other design guidelines for downtown Santa Monica.

The Gehry-designed project is one of three big development proposals that were put on ice while that happened. The other two are the expansion and renovation of the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, also on Ocean Avenue, and a mixed-use complex on city-owned land at Fourth and Arizona.

Project plans call for a new museum and the preservation of two local landmarks, including a Victorian built around 1906.

The new downtown plan caps building heights at 84 feet, but allows the three big projects to top out at 130 feet if the developer seeks a development agreement, which would allow the city to ask for community benefits, like money for parks and transportation.

Gehry has said the project “has the potential to reinvigorate Ocean Avenue, and could be a catalyst for more public amenities along Ocean Avenue.”