Community Benefits

The Miramar Santa Monica includes an 100% affordable housing building on the Hotel’s Second Street lot directly across from the new hotel’s entrance. The Miramar has partnered with Community Corporation of Santa Monica who will own and operate the 42-unit building, including a majority of two- and three- bedroom apartments.

Aggressive sustainability requirements on water savings (20% savings from the existing hotel) and energy savings (15% savings from the existing hotel), LEED Platinum rating, new stormwater and internal hotel water capture and re-use on-site, extensive solar and electrical vehicle infrastructure.

The Miramar will remain a union hotel and will create over 100 new permanent hotel jobs with a total of $13.7 million in net new compensation paid annually to workers.

Per agreement with Unite HERE, existing employees can choose between a generous severance package or health insurance during construction and a return to their job upon re-opening.

During construction, thousands of new union construction jobs will also be created per Project Labor agreement with the Building Trades along with equal opportunity subcontracting.

A local hiring program will be implemented for both temporary construction jobs and permanent jobs at the hotel.

4 internships annually for students at Santa Monica high schools or SMC.

Over 50% of the site is dedicated for ground-floor open space, including an approximately 14,000 square foot publicly-accessible garden and several new outdoor dining areas accessible to the public.

Anchoring the approximately 14,000 sf publicly-accessible open space at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Ocean Avenue will be a prominent work of public art that will inspire residents and visitors alike.

The centerpiece of The Miramar Santa Monica is the historic Moreton Bay Fig Tree. Rather than being surrounded by a driveway, as it is today, the Moreton Bay Fig Tree has been thoughtfully integrated in a magnificent new open space with a raised wood deck to protect its roots and enhance its health. The new design will allow pedestrian access to and public enjoyment of the tree and the adjacent new food and beverage outlets with stunning views of Santa Monica Bay.

The Palisades Building will be rehabilitated with design inspiration taken from historic images from the 1940s-1950s. Hotel guests will enjoy and celebrate the rehabilitated Palisades Building from an outdoor terrace directly off the main hotel lobby.

Following an international design competition, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and the father-son team of Cesar and Rafael Pelli was selected to lead the design of the project. Internationally-renowned landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (now known as GGN) and prominent preservation consultant Robert Chattel of Chattel, Inc. were later added to the team. The result of this extraordinary design collaboration was a project featuring stunning contemporary architecture and magnificent new open spaces that honor and celebrate the rich history of the Miramar.

Restore the Miramar as a world-class, full-service luxury resort that can compete effectively with the best coastal resorts in California, with new and improved banquet and meeting facilities for guests and community organizations, thereby ensuring the Miramar remains a treasured community asset for the next 100+ years.

The City’s independent financial consultant – HR&A Advisors suggests that the redeveloped Miramar will provide substantial economic benefits for the City:

$15.4 million per year in direct City tax revenue ($8.1 million more than the existing hotel) and approximately $444.4 million in direct City tax revenue over the first 25 years of operations ($218.3 million more than the existing hotel).

$40.7 annually in economic benefits to the City and over $1 billion over the first 25 years of operations.

$3.5 million annually to local schools ($3 million more than the existing hotel) and $112 million over the first 25 years of operations.

The Miramar Santa Monica will provide substantial funding for critical issues facing our community including affordable housing, affordable lodging, economic equity/opportunity initiatives, childcare initiatives, senior services, Reed Park ambassador program, Palisades Park character defining features and parks and open spaces.

The proposed project will also provide new on-going monthly revenues specifically targeted for affordable housing and economic equity initiatives.

During construction and the closure of the existing hotel, the Miramar Santa Monica will provide $12 million dollars in advance transient occupancy tax payments to the City of Santa Monica to ensure the closure does not disrupt City revenues.

Significant new pedestrian access to and through the site from Ocean Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard and Second Street.

Significant new short-term and long-term bicycle parking for all guest, residents, visitors and employees (342 spaces).

The revised parking and circulation plan will facilitate the traffic flow and circulation on the immediate streets and intersections around the Miramar by providing adequate on-site parking for all residents, guests and visitors. This will eliminate well over a hundred daily valet trips to offsite parking locations and free up hundreds of parking spaces on neighborhood streets that will be available to local residents and visitors to the coast.

The Miramar Santa Monica will provide 4 times more on-site parking from 103 to 477 subterranean spaces (428 striped spaces and 49 aisle spaces) to meet the anticipated demand of the hotel’s employees, guests, residents and visitors.

New parking will resolve a longstanding issue in the community by moving employees off neighborhood streets and freeing up substantial amounts of parking for our neighbors and visitors to the coast. In addition, it will eliminate the need for valets to leave the site in order to find a place to park cars.

Comprehensive transportation demand management plan with monetary incentives for employees to bike, walk or take public transit.