The developer of the biggest project Main Street has seen in years may finally get approval tonight.
For more than three years, Howard Jacobs has been seeking approval to build a 133-unit housing and retail development in the former Pioneer Boulangerie Bakery site and across the street, where he has purchased both parcels just south of Pico Boulevard on Main Street.
And tonight he faces the city planning commission, the very board that voted unanimously in December to deny the project.
The commissioners said it would overwhelm the neighborhood and would aesthetically ruin the north end of Main Street. Commissioners also said the 170,000-square-foot development doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood.
But after making changes to the project, Jacobs appealed to and won approval from the city council in February. Council members all agreed the project was suitable for the neighborhood. They also said Jacobs’ changes made the development better and would revitalize an abandoned area of Main Street.
While city staff agreed in December that the development was out of character and scale of the surrounding area, officials now recommend that the planning commission reverse the ARB’s decision and approve the plan.
Because the development will take up an entire city block, the city council and the planning commission during the review process asked Jacobs to make the building seem like it was several with different store fronts. That would make it appear smaller and fit in better with the rest of Main Street, which has an eclectic mix architecture.
So Jacobs’ project team redesigned the buildings, which would be luxury condominiums with commercial and retail stores underneath, with different architectural styles every 60 feet. Those styles include contemporary, craftsman and international.
But the ARB said the different architectural styles were picked arbitrarily and did not have a consistent theme, making it unauthentic in appearance.
Jacobs hopes the planning commission reviews the plans fairly and looks at it as if it were a new project.
“I really don’t know how it is going to turn out,” he said. “I hope the planning commission likes the changes since many of the changes were their suggestions before it went to council.”
Jacobs is suing the city, arguing it dragged its feet in completing the environmental impact review on the project, which is supposed to be done within 12 months, as prescribed by state law. The report was completed late last year, months after the supposed deadline.
Jacobs claims that the delay has cost him between $2.5 and $3 million because he is sitting on land that he has to pay for and the city is delaying him his right to get a return on his investment. Jacobs said he pays $115,000 a month for the mortgage, insurance and maintenance of the property.
Some suggested that the council only approved the project to avoid losing the lawsuit. Some officials said if Jacobs wins, the city could be forced to pay $9 million in damages.
Jacobs said he doesn’t have a back-up plan formulated yet if he is denied by the planning commission, or how the cost overruns will effect the end product.
“Either we’ll lose the money or I don’t know what,” he said. “But I know we cannot bear these losses indefinitely...
“It’s been a long hard process and we appreciate the support of the city council,” Jacobs added. “But we would encourage the city as a whole to get its house in order.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 21, 2002. Read the original PDF.