Chipotle Opening Date: April 30th!

Just received an email from Chipotle announcing that the 3rd Street Promenade location of the popular chain should be opening its doors in April:

If everything goes according to schedule it looks like the grand opening for that location should be around April 30th.

Sign up for the Chipotle newsletter if you want to receive the latest information about grand openings in the area: http://www.chipotle.com/tunein

Palisades Garden Walk

Ever wondered what the master plan for the civic center area looks like?
There's some interesting projects on that map that I hadn't even heard of. Apparently the parking lot east of Sears is also going to be redeveloped at some point and that huge parking lot next to the civic auditorium will be turned into a nice park... who knew? According to Architect's Newspaper construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2011.

Louis Vuitton Coming to Santa Monica

Remember when Macerich promised that they would try to get a good mix of tenants, not just upscale retailers as many people had feared? Well, not surprisingly Macerich has pretty much focused on luxury brands so far and the latest proof of that is the addition of a Louis Vuitton store. While no official announcement has been made, city documents confirm that there will indeed be a LV boutique at the remodeled SM Place along with other high-end retailer like Burburry and Michael Kors. Santa Monica may be wealthy community but we are no Beverly Hills. Do these stores really have a place in our city? Most people already think that stores in Santa Monica are too high-end and those who can afford to shop at those places seem to favor the cute, independent boutiques over on Montana. My guess is that Macerich is hoping that tourists will step in and shop til they drop...

401 Broadway - Review EIR before Comment Period Ends

This project at the corner of 4th and Broadway kind of seems like a no-brainer and makes you wonder why it wasn't built years ago. This highly visible corner will finally be turned into a nice 4-story restaurant/office mixed-use complex. If you want to learn more about this David Forbes Hibbert project, you can check out the EIR here. You can still submit your comments to the city until January 25. When exactly this project will break ground is unclear. The EIR suggests July 2012 while other sources point to 2010.

Public Hearing of Hines' Papermate Project Coming Soon

The building at the corner of 26th and Olympic has been empty ever since Papermate closed its local manufacturing business a couple of years back. Now that the opening of the Expo Line is just a few years away, the owner of the site, Texas developer Hines, is planning to put a large 6-story mixed-use complex there. This project, along with Paseo Nebraska and the Colorado Creative Studios Project around the corner, will surly transform this area into a more urban and walkable neighborhood. Though the project is still in its early planning stages, the project will be heard by the city planning commission on January 27th. Preliminary plans call for creative arts offices (big surprise), neighborhood-serving ground-floor retail, affordable, workforce and market rate housing, plus public open space. There are also plans to add two new streets that would complete the grid and make the area more pedestrian friendly. While there are no renderings available just yet, this project seems like a great addition to an area that is rather sterile and lacks decent stores and restaurants.

1800 Stewart St - New Agensys building?

The area around the future Expo Line station near 26th St is currently getting a lot of interest from developers. The latest proposal calls for a new Agensys building near the corner of Stewart and Olympic, adjacent to the future tracks of the Expo Line and across the street from the planned maintenance facility. Currently an empty warehouse, the project is still in the early stages but the biotech company is holding a community meeting on January 19, 2010, 7 pm at the Virginia Avenue Park