The first wave of digital billboards are being installed on the Promenade this month with construction crews mounting frames and conducting electrical work at two prominent intersections.
The California Coastal Commission signed off in April on development agreements clearing the way for up to 16 digital displays on the Promenade and at Santa Monica Place. That approval follows the City Council's Jan. 13 final adoption of the Digital Display District ordinance which took effect roughly 30 days later.
The council first introduced the ordinance late last year. The program authorizes displays of up to 1,000 square feet each on corner buildings along the Promenade and four building faces at Santa Monica Place.
Two operators are set to install the signs: UNITED XYZ LLC, which will operate displays at 301 Arizona Ave. and 1202 Third Street Promenade, and Trigild IVL, the court-appointed receiver for Macerich SMP assets, which will operate four displays at Santa Monica Place. BIG Outdoor, the city's existing kiosk vendor, is also described as a partner in the broader initiative.
Financially, each operator will pay the city a one-time $500,000 fee per display, plus annual payments of either 20% of gross revenue or a $500,000 minimum guarantee, whichever is greater, escalating 3% annually starting June 30, 2027. If all 16 displays are built, the city projects $3.5 million to $7 million in annual revenue. The agreements run 30 years.
The first $5 million in revenue will go to the city's Realignment Plan. Beyond that threshold, about 10% will repay borrowing from the Housing Trust Fund, 85% will fund downtown revitalization, and up to 5% will support a new moving-image media art program. Each display must also devote 20% of its screen time — roughly 12 minutes an hour — to city and public-art content.
The program reverses a citywide ban on off-site advertising that has been in place since 1985 and waives Landmarks Commission review for six of the 12 eligible Promenade buildings that hold historic designation, a provision that drew objections from preservation advocates. Concerns were also raised about the potential dangers of distracted driving and fears the long-term installation of such visible advertising would spoil the City’s reputation.
City officials have framed the billboards as an economic lifeline for a corridor that has struggled with elevated retail vacancy since the pandemic, part of a broader Realignment Plan addressing Santa Monica's declared state of fiscal distress.
The billboard district is separate from the city's existing Wayfinder kiosk network, an operational system of about 30 two-faced digital pillars offering wayfinding, transit information, public Wi-Fi and paid advertising. That program was awarded to vendor BIG Outdoor under a 20-year franchise agreement approved by the council Dec. 13, 2022, and formally adopted the following month. The kiosk deal gives the city a 50% revenue share with a $5 million annual minimum guarantee, once all first-phase kiosks are operational, plus a $4 million signing bonus. Installation carried no cost to the city, and BIG Outdoor handles ongoing maintenance.
The two programs differ sharply in scale and controversy. The kiosks, rolled out in phases since 2024, have drawn scattered criticism over low usage and privacy concerns tied to built-in cameras, but have not faced the same opposition seen with the billboard district. The billboards, by contrast, required reversing a decades-old advertising ban and bypassing standard historic-preservation review, prompting more pushback.
City staff have acknowledged the new billboards could also cut into BIG Outdoor's kiosk advertising revenue, which underwrites the kiosk program's minimum guarantee.