In July the Office for Metropolitan Architecture's (OMA) competition proposal for a mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Santa Monica was recommended by City Council members after they "seemed genuinely wowed by OMA's theatrically-terraced design." City officials have since voted to re-evaluate the recommendation over concerns of a lack of affordable housing in the development, as well as issues "related to design [and] economics." They have also invited Related California, a team comprising of BIG, Koning Eizenberg Architecture, and Rios Clementi Hale Studios, to revise its original proposal that was shortlisted in March of this year.
The practice, who also recently won the Miami Beach Convention masterplan competition, have stated that "our design provides residents, tourists, and entrepreneurs a dynamic new public realm that achieves a strong interaction between interior program and exterior environments." Santa Monica requires that "20% of units within a new development be designated as affordable" with "at least 30% of all new multi-family units for any fiscal year be affordable." Although no deadline has been fixed, Santa Monica are expecting to see reworked proposals in around three months time.
References: Santa Monica Daily Press, AN Blog, OMA
