Huge Enormous Block Apartment Planned for 1238 Lincoln Blvd. 232 Apartment Units and a Hellish Design Proposed

I live in a condo one block east of the latest behemoth planned for Lincoln Blvd. There are dozens more apartment blocks coming throughout the city, including one just south of Bay Cities Deli, from which this monstrosity must have taken its anti-design. Our already dense housing is being gradually penned in by Blvds of Abomination, with the latest group coming not even trying for interesting architecture.

Specifically, regarding the "scaled back" version at 1238 Lincoln Blvd... It's gone from 256 units to... wait for it... only 232 units! Wow, way to go for broke in the restraint department!

A filing made in April, as reported by Urbanize LA, puts Patrick Tighe Architecture in charge of a refreshed design that features a C-shaped podium building wrapping a rear-facing courtyard. The updated program calls for 232 units, about 306 basement parking stalls, and density-bonus incentives in exchange for 24 income-restricted homes.

So, an eight story block that takes its design cues from 60's public housing, with a rear-facing courtyard, is being dropped into already congested Lincoln Blvd., replacing a much beloved Boys and Girls Club non-profit. Why not flip the design and have a front-facing courtyard that will break up the wall of ugliness confronting us? Or cap the building height to 4-5 stories? Why not at least try for something interesting, like the recently opened building at Broadway and Lincoln, over the much needed new Vons?

1238 Lincoln Blvd is currently the Boys and Girls Club

One lie that's being told is this will solve our housing and homeless crisis. It won't. We get 24 income restricted homes in exchange for 208 $5,000/month one bedrooms. That's not a good deal. Overdevelopment is being shoved down our throats as if one of the most densely populated cities in LA County was going to single-handedly solve America's housing crisis. We can't. Santa Monica is 7th in density in LA County, ahead of Long Beach and Inglewood, at 11,000 people per square mile. Like with the homelessness crisis, we've done more than our share. Yet this development is part of an overall vision by an entitled council, most of whom live in single-family homes on leafy streets, and take money from these developers.

As somebody who lives in "dense housing," I want to make clear, I'm not opposed to all development. Much of what got built downtown over the past decade, with 3-4 story height limits, and a nod to being architecturally interesting, works fine with the city's skyline. It's these huge, UGLY, units being jammed into former open spaces I object to. I also object to the vision behind them, which, according to carpet-bagger Councilman Dan Hall, is Vancouver. Sorry to pick on you, Dan, but you actually said the model for Santa Monica is Vancouver. So, families living in cramped city housing in East LA will now come to Santa Monica to discover, not fresh air and open sky, but... another city. The very thing that attracted Dan and his partner to Santa Monica, he's now taken a wrecking ball to. Our county's recreational urban release valve is being sold to developers, as SMRR ("You Will Rent Forever and You Will Like it!") continues to make disastrous long term decisions, this time written in concrete.

Make your voice heard, not only about this building, but the wholesale selling of Santa Monica by a council who's response to State overreach isn't to fight for the soul of Santa Monica that made it a worldwide destination, but to up the ante and go above and beyond what the RHNA law necessitates (Regional Housing Needs Allocation, in case you're not familiar with that Orwellian big brother acronym). There are 30 story towers on the agenda!

The overall vision is just wrong. If you want to help people build generational wealth, then invest in helping people into the forced savings of owning a home, starting with a one-bedroom or studio condo. Stop building expensive apartments that will only be affordable to the top 10%, and start subsidizing down payments for condos, which will create a city of invested residents, rather than a transient population that lives here a couple of years and moves on to a single-family home in a less expensive market to raise a family.

For now, fight this one planned monstrosity at a time. Tell them what you think at this Zoom meeting on Thursday, June 11, at 6pm: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85873761906?pwd=a5iSWnWjMHuj4N3WBwvgZbLsqVWA7t.1#success

JUST SAY NO TO THIS:

Arthur Jeon