In a 4-2 vote, the Santa Monica City Council has signed off on the proposed redevelopment of the Miramar Hotel.

The project site - a 4.5-acre property at Wilshire Boulevard and Ocean Avenue - is poised for a development which would expand the Miramar, while also maintaining two of its signature elements - the historic Palisades Building and the Moreton Bay Fig Tree.  The new construction, slated for the southern edge of the site, would include 312 hotel rooms, 60 condominiums (which could be rented as hotel rooms), and 18,000 square feet of commercial space above a 428-car garage.

Additionally, Athens Group - the developer behind the project - is required to fund the construction of at least 42 deed-restricted affordable housing units on an off-site property at 1127 2nd Street, and provide a nearly $4.2 million payment for other community benefits such as senior programs, transportation improvements, and early childhood initiatives.

Pelli Clarke Pelli is designing the project, would include two new buildings, including a 10-story, 130-foot-tall structure which would rise to the maximum height allowable under the Downtown Santa Monica Community Plan.  The height of the project would gradually step down in height toward Ocean Avenue, creating a series of terrace decks overlooking Santa Monica Beach and a 14,000-square-foot garden surrounding the Moreton Bay Fig Tree.

The vote to approve the Miramar project - which was opposed by Councilmember Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Kevin McKeown - follows a multi-year entitlement process, which saw the project redesigned twice.

Completion of the Miramar redevelopment is expected in 2026.

A similar project - a proposed Frank Gehry-designed hotel and housing complex - is planned a short distance south at Ocean Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard.