Council Declared the Approximately 1.85 Acres of Property as “Surplus Land”
By Zach Armstrong
Santa Monica City Council approved initiation of negotiations with AMCAL Multi-Housing, Inc. for a 570-unit affordable and market housing development across downtown’s Expo terminus station.
The project, at the block bounded by Olympic and Colorado and 4th and 5th Streets, includes AMCAL’s proposal to acquire the adjacent 27,176 square foot office/commercial building at 1640 5th Street, known as the “Comma Building”, from Lincoln Properties, for additional housing units.
After the council declared the approximately 1.85 acres of property as “surplus land”, the City notified affordable housing developers followed by an analysis of 11 offers, according to a previous agenda item. As previously reported by Santa Monica Mirror, a Letter of Intent with the City provides for the purchase of the property for just over $7.6 million. Funding for the acquisition is available from the Redevelopment Agency, as long as the City and Redevelopment Agency make findings that the use of funds for the acquisition benefit the Earthquake Recovery Redevelopment Project Area, according to a previous agenda item.
According to its website, AMCAL is a 45-year-old company that develops affordable, market-rate and student rental housing in California, Texas and Washington. The company is behind Los Angeles-based affordable housing projects including Hollenbeck Terrace located at 610 S St. Louis Street and the Broadway Villas located at 9501 S Spring Street.
