By Mark Shepherd
Is there an uglier building in Santa Monica than the city-funded poverty tenement going up at 15th (Street) and Broadway? Drive by and look. What the hell is all that metal hanging on the front?
The City Council has amassed in upwards of $70 million for its development binge, while at the same time making it virtually impossible — through down-zoning, taxes and confiscating units — for private builders to upgrade the city’s deteriorating housing stock.
Already nearly 10 percent of all Santa Monica apartments are owned by the city’s housing agency, with hundreds more on the way. These new buildings, under proposed rules, would be exempt from community comment and architectural review in the planning process. They will be bigger, wider and taller than any buildings private developers could put up.
When it comes to traffic, quality of life, neighborhood sustainability, scale and pedestrian orientation — why are these poverty projects exempt? Either we care about these values or we don’t.
Check out the monstrosity at 15th and Broadway, where a cool neighborhood Mexican deli used to be. This building is a vision of the future of Santa Monica over development, brought to you by Santa Monicans for Renters Rights.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 22, 2006. Read the original PDF.