More ocean views?The Santa Monica City Council Santa Monica City Council is the current governing body of Santa Monica, California. The council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Councilmembers
Maritz Wolff & Co., which owns the Fairmont at 1133 Ocean Ave., can begin negotiating with the city for the construction of the rooms, a 600-spot underground parking garage, 40 units of affordable housing and ground floor restaurant and retail space. Like many developers of large projects, the company is seeking to strike an agreement with the city that would establish the framework of an acceptable project. Such agreements give municipalities more say in projects and can make the approval process easier for developers. A green light on working out such an agreement is a victory for Maritz Wolff, which submitted plans in December 2002 that were harshly criticized by the planning commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle . The original proposal called for a 16-story tower consisting of luxury condos and apartments. "I think this plan is much more beneficial to the community in terms of bed tax," said Lewis Wolff Lewis N. Wolff (commonly shortened to Lew) is an American real estate developer. Wolff is also known for owning sports franchises; he is currently the co-owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. , chairman of Maritz Wolff. "And even then, we are only talking about a couple hundred rooms, so it's not like we're diluting the city's room supply, either." Santa Monica's resort hotels, stretched along its beachfront beach·front n. A strip of land facing or running along a beach. adj. Situated along or having direct access to a beach: beachfront hotels; beachfront property. Noun 1. , have made the city one of the strongest hospitality markets in L.A. County, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. PKF PKF Peace Keeping Force PKF Pannell Kerr Foster (accounting firm) PKF Park Falls, Wisconsin (Airport Code) Consulting. Through September, Santa Monica had an average room rate of $197, up nearly 3 percent from the like period last year, and an average occupancy of 77 percent, flat from the like period last year. Both are substantially higher than the county average. Further aiding hoteliers is a 2000 ballot initiative banning future beachfront hotels, leaving current owners with little threat of future competition. Wolff said the agreement being sought with Santa Monica is only preliminary and would give his company the right to work with the planning department on developing a proposal to bring before the city council at a later date. Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263, or by email at afixmer@labusinessjournal.com. |
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