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# Downtown development stacking up
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/downtown-development-stacking-up/
- Published: 2005-03-04T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:11:26.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import

*Luxury apartments in downtown expected to be complete in 2006*

DOWNTOWN — The transformation of nearly an entire block of prime real estate is slowly taking shape as a luxury apartment and retail center.

After years of construction, it’s expected that businesses along the south side of Santa Monica Boulevard between Fourth and Fifth streets will open their doors in 2006.

Toys “R” Us, at 402 Santa Monica Blvd., is scheduled to close in April. It was recently purchased by the CIM Group, a real estate development firm that directs its investment toward downtown business districts, according to a company profile. CIM owns nine properties in Santa Monica, with seven located on the Third Street Promenade.

City Hall records indicate no new merchants have applied for a business license at the Toys “R” Us site, but Kathleen Rawson, executive director of the Bayside District, which helps manage the downtown area, said if the space were to remain vacant for a short period of time, it would be normal.

“It’s up in the air,” Rawson said. “CIM is a close partner in the community, so I am sure they are waiting to find the right fit. Sometimes it takes a while.”

> “It’s up in the air. CIM is a close partner in the community, so I am sure they are waiting to find the right fit. Sometimes it takes a while.” — — KATHLEEN RAWSON Executive director, Bayside District

The Toys “R” Us building is 52,500 square feet and four stories high. The two bottom floors are designed for retailers, while the top two floors have been designated for residential space.

Planet Action, also located at the Toys “R” Us property, will continue to operate in its 8,600-square-foot building.

CIM representatives weren't available for comment but sources have previously said they are excited about acquiring the site, which they speculate will be an opportunity to lease a prime location that will grow stronger over time.

The total transaction for the Toys “R” Us purchase is valued at more than $30 million, $24 million of which CIM paid for the building, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.

The site adjacent to Toys “R” Us, the Santa Monica Luxury Apartments and various retail shops, is under construction. Officials fought for years to build a Target store at the location, but that propsal was shot down in 2001 because of concerns over the traffic problems it would cause downtown.

Three Coast Limited Partnership then bought the property for $11 million. Bill Hammerstin, a general partner for the firm, said the mixed-used residential and retail project will cost $30 million.

JSM Construction is developing the Santa Monica Luxury Apartments, four five-story buildings east of the Toys “R”

Us site along Santa Monica Boulevard and Fifth Street. Each apartment building will have between 50 and 60 housing units, comprised mostly of one-and two-bedrooms that range from 700 to 1,100 square feet. There will be anywhere between 3,000 to 6,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, according to Tracy Lavarnway, the project architect.

Lavarnway said each of the four buildings will have a distinct style. The building at 456 Santa Monica Blvd., on the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Fifth Street, will be a modern stucco building with a flat roof, aluminum windows and columns, and limestone on the ground floor. The building next to it, facing Fifth Street, will have a Mediterranean look with a sloped, ceramic tile roof and medallions set into the walls, Lavarnway said.

The two projects in the middle of the block also will be unique. One is modeled after the Italian style and the other will be contemporary, architects said.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed next January.

Par Commercial, a commercial brokerage firm, will lease the retail portion of the project. Rafael Padilla, Par Commercial owner, said he is looking for merchants.

“We have seen very strong interest from a number of retail clients, but none that compliment the city,” he said.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/030405-01_01.jpg)

Luxury apartments are beginning to take shape where a Target store had once been proposed between Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevard on Fifth Street. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/030405-01_03.jpg)

(Photo: Kim Calvert/Special)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 4, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/030405.pdf?ref=smdp.com)