Santa Monica officials could purchase a $5.7 million building to house a local homeless services provider.
The 22,000 square-foot building is located at 1753 Cloverfield Blvd., in the heart of the city’s industrial zone. It could be used for a variety of different services, city officials said.
One idea considered is using the building as a new location for the Ocean Park Community Center — a city-funded local provider of services to the homeless.
“The city does believe deeply in the continuum of care for the recipients of these social services and OPCC is a very important link in providing that care,” said the city’s economic development manager, Mark Richter, who negotiates real estate deals for the city.
“The city does believe deeply in the continuum of care for the recipients of these social services and OPCC is a very important link in providing that care.” — — MARK RICHTER City Economic Development Manager
City officials also may use the new building for additional community meeting space and a possible station along the proposed Exposition Light Rail line.
“The property is in close proximity to the Exposition right of way,” Richter said. “It’s near where hopefully there will be a light rail or transit corridor that we’ll see sometime in our lifetime.”
The building is owned by Andrew Lessman, who for many years ran a vitamin distribution operation out of the building. Since the vitamin company moved out last year, the building has remained vacant.
Charles DeSantis, the real estate agent hired to sell the building, said there has been “a lot of activity” and interest in buying the building. Lessman has set the asking price at $5.7 million.
“It seems to work for them,” DeSantis said. “So the question remains can they make it work and achieve what the city wants to achieve. At this point, it’s up to the city to come forth and complete the transaction.”
Even though the city is projected to have multi-million dollar budget deficits, money for the purchase would not likely affect the city’s finances because it would not be taken from the city’s general fund, officials said.
Officials said they envision using a mix of social service and transportation grants, along with the city’s redevelopment money, to pay for the project.
OPCC must vacate the building it leases from the city on the Big Blue Bus campus near the corner of Sixth Street and Colorado Avenue during the bus operator’s expansion project, which is scheduled to begin next year.
However, concerns have been raised about moving OPCC out of downtown Santa Monica, where most of the city’s homeless population lives. The location also would make it more difficult for the homeless to access services designed to lift them off the streets, some critics have said.
Others have criticized the building being used for community space because its located near a busy off-ramp of the Santa Monica Freeway, and a busy intersection that makes access difficult.
Critics also say the building may not be up to handling all the functions the community would like to use it for.
“It doesn’t hurt the city to look at it,” said Councilman Herb Katz. “It’s a property that isn’t selling quickly, and it has parking issues. It can’t fit a lot of parking, which is a real problem in my eyes.
“But let’s see what they will come up with,” he added. “But I’ll ask those tough questions when the issue arises, like on parking and traffic and all those areas.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 27, 2002. Read the original PDF.