Santa Monica City Council
June 14, 2022

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
~ Please Note ~
The following property and historical information identified below must be provided in order for your application to be determined complete by the City Planning Division.

You may provide information on additional sheets of paper.

PROPERTY INFORMATION
Description of site or structure, note any major alterations & dates of alterations:

Statement of architectural significance:

Statement of historic importance:

NOTES TO

APPLICANT
For more information
on designation
procedures, refer to
SMMC Section 9.56.

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Packet Pg. 1454 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Person(s) of historic importance:

Local State National
Statement of other significance:

Documents and publications that relate directly to proposed improvement (bibliography):

FOR STRUCTURES ONLY:

Date of construction: Factual Estimated
Source:

Architect/Designer/Engineer:

Contractor/ Other builder:

Architectural Style:

Historic Use of Structure(s):

Present Use of Structure(s):

Is/Are structure(s) on original site: Yes No Unknown
Is/Are structure(s) threatened with destruction: Yes No Unknown If yes, state reason:

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Packet Pg. 1455 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

APPLICATOIN REQUIREMENTS
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – all items must be provided
Completed Application.

Payment of Fee, if applicable.

Payment of Fee is WAIVED for Non-Profit Organizations. Documentation demonstrating Tax-Exempt Status must be included with this application and at the time of filing to be eligible for a Landmark/Structure of Merit Designation Application fee waiver.

Staff will confirm non-profit organization status prior to deeming this application complete.

Eight (8) sets of labeled Color Photographs of the building elevations or improvement on 8½" x 11" paper (Color photocopies are acceptable).

Any information you feel would be of assistance in reviewing the application, such as original plans, old photos, or other historical information.

For structures only: if applicant is requesting approval of modifications, please submit all materials requested for a Certificate of Appropriateness Application.

I hereby certify that the information contained in this application is correct to the best of my knowledge. ____________________________________________________
Applicant’s Name (PRINT)
_________________________________________________________ Applicant’s Signature Date

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Packet Pg. 1456 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 631 Colorado Avenue – A.B.C. Distributing Company
Property Description
Description
The subject property includes two parcels, lots K and L in block 193 of the Town of Santa Monica Tract, on the northwest corner of Colorado Avenue and Seventh Street. It is developed with two brick, Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style light industrial buildings built in 1937 and 1941, that sit like bookends on the east and west edges of the parcel as viewed from Colorado Avenue. The east structure, built in 1937, covers the entire east 50 feet of the double lot adjoining three property lines. It was built with groutlock brick, a product intended to be resilient in the event of an earthquake, made by the Simons Brick Company. Its primary façade facing Colorado is divided into three bays separated by protruding piers embossed with four vertical grooved lines, and with stepped tapered caps that rise above the roofline. The area above the windows is stuccoed, decorated with two horizontal sets of grooved lines, three in each set, appearing continuous behind the piers. Steel-framed divided light windows with a grid pattern of 12 x 4 panes span the full width of each bay between the piers, inclusive of six sets of hopper windows. Below the windows the bricks that comprise the structure are exposed, and the groutlock ridges of some bricks are visible. The secondary elevation facing east abuts the sidewalk on Seventh Street. It is divided into six bays by a reinforced cement support structure of vertical and horizontal beams that are flush with the surface of the brick. The bay closest to Colorado Avenue is punctuated by a 6 x 4 multi-light steel framed window, also with hoppers inclusive. Each of the next four bays heading north has a small steel framed hopper window in the center, flush with the ceiling height as marked by a horizontal reinforced concrete beam.

The west elevation of the subject property faces the interior of the parcel and is not completely visible from the public right of way. It appears to be divided into six bays like the east elevation, with similar small steel hopper windows. The third bay in from Colorado Avenue contains the building entrance with a contemporary doorway. A second story addition was added above the northern most bay at the rear of the structure in 1998, and a single story el has been added to the interior side of the same bay.

The west structure measuring 25 X 42 feet, sits on the south and west property lines of the parcel, fronting Colorado Avenue and adjacent to an alley. The brick façade facing Colorado Avenue is obscured by a hedge, but appears to be intact. It shares the beamed support structure of the main building on the site. All four corners of the west structure are finished with piers with tapered caps similar to those on the east building but appear to be either replaced or altered. They are finished with plain, smooth concrete. The west, north and east elevations are clad in smooth-finish concrete or stucco and have no openings. The building entrance is on the east elevation facing the interior of the site, which is not visible from the street.

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Packet Pg. 1457 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Permits and Alterations
The original building permit for the east structure was issued to A.B.C. Distributing Company on May 8, 1937, indicating a 50 X 100-foot structure, 20 feet in height to be built of groutlock brick at a cost of $7000. No architect is listed. According to a permit dated December 11, 1941, the west structure was added as a loading canopy that cost $500. It had a composition roof but sat at ground level with no raised floor. The west side of the structure was unenclosed. In 1947, a loading platform and doors were added for $800.

In June 1955, both brick buildings were sandblasted. The Aerophysics Development Corporation filed for electrical and plumbing permits in August, September and November 1955, but did not make any structural changes to the property. In 1957, Keystone Body Works replaced four interior columns with two in the west structure, and built a 21-foot addition to it along the alley elevation to serve as an enclosed paint spray booth. It appears in aerial images that a remaining residential structure on the site was removed at that time. The following year, in 1958, Keystone added an unenclosed canopy structure for polishing cars behind the spray booth, which filled in the remaining alley elevation to five feet from the north property line. Keystone also added an 18 square foot metal projecting sign to the property. The central area of the parcel remained undeveloped. In 1959, a permit for an 8-foot-tall cinder block wall along the alley was issued. No more substantive work was done on the property until a 1994 Safety Assessment after the Northridge Earthquake noted that bricks had fallen from an unidentified “rear wall.” Regardless, the building was green tagged because the “building doesn’t look like it took any damage.” It is likely that the brick wall referred to fell from the west structure abutting the alley, or on its north elevation where it is presently stuccoed.

In 1996, a new owner filed a permit for tenant improvements, which appear to be the addition of partition walls inside the east structure. The west structure is labeled “storage” on the plans.

The two automotive-related additions to the west structure were removed, but the block wall along the alley was retained. The space between the structures was marked for 17 parking spaces. In 1997 the bricks on both buildings were sandblasted a second time, inside and out.

A 730 square foot second-story addition was added in 1998 along the rear (north) elevation of the primary structure over the last bay. It is subtly differentiated by flashing along the Seventh Street elevation where it ties in at the top of the exposed structural ceiling beam. The east and south elevations of the addition are clad in brick to match the original structure. The addition is differentiated with a scored stucco finish on the north side, with the original bricks remaining exposed on the original ground floor wall below. The addition is punctuated by two steel windows on the east elevation facing Seventh Street that are larger than the ground floor windows and set midway between the floor and ceiling. The addition is not visible from the front of the property at Colorado Avenue. On the west elevation a first-floor-only addition appears to create a shallow el by modestly extending the sixth bay. The addition has a scored

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Packet Pg. 1458 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 plaster finish on the interior-facing elevations, and full width windows facing west that proportionally reflect the windows facing Colorado Avenue. That same year, a fence was added to close off the Colorado frontage between the two structures, and the curb cut was removed.

The fence is comprised of a low concrete wall topped by contemporary curved wrought iron pickets rising to ten or more feet and punctuated by square columns that reflect the design of the original fluted pilasters on the east structure, but are differentiated as new by the smooth cement and black metal tapered caps. The fencing picks up again along the alley frontage behind the west structure, where only iron pickets are used to create an automatic gate for vehicular access. In 2002, the present owner filed a permit for an interior remodel of the two buildings, and the addition of landscaping to the site, primarily along the west elevation of the east structure where it meets the addition.

Comparables
From the 1950s through the 1990s, the eastern portion of Downtown was dominated by low brick commercial industrial buildings. Today, only two one-story brick commercial industrial buildings in addition to the subject property remain standing in Downtown Santa Monica at 501 Broadway Avenue (built in 1955) and at 1557 7th Street (built in 1958). They are both featureless brick buildings with simple boxy massing. Both properties currently have replacement projects that are working their way through the city entitlement process. The subject project is both the first and the last of its type in downtown, and the only one known to have used historically significant engineering methods or to be reflective of an architectural style.

Simons Brick & the Groutlock System
Brickmaking took place in Santa Monica in the first months after its founding when the bricks that built the Rapp Saloon (extant) on Second Street were fired on site by brick contractors Spenser and Pugh, who had collected the clay on the east side of town. By 1903, the prospects for brickmaking concerns in the Los Angeles area were so great that Robert Jones (the founder’s nephew) and William Gillis (older brother to R.C. Gillis), began a brick plant of their own, Sunset Brick and Tile, near Twenty-third Street and Colorado Avenue. They were major shareholders in the successor company that bought out the remaining holdings from the retiring founders. The new brick concern help establish the city’s industrial district just beyond the edge of the original townsite between Colorado Avenue and the edge of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica at Pico Boulevard. They sold Sunset Brick and Tile to the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company (established 1887) a year later. Two months after that, in November 1904, the Simons Brick Company (established 1886) also began setting up shop in Santa Monica. With deep reserves of excellent clay, Simons planned that Santa Monica would become their new main plant since the reserves in their original Pasadena clay pits were running low, and their Boyle Heights plant was small. But in 1906, they added a vast new site in Montebello to their portfolio, which enabling

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Packet Pg. 1459 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 their business to expand beyond expectations, became their main plant. While some brick firing did take place in Santa Monica, a lot of the uniquely deep-red, high-quality clay that came out of the Santa Monica pits were moved by railroad to the Montebello plant for processing.

Simons Brick became the largest brick manufactory in the world at its peak in 1924. The company founded by Reuben Simons was built up under the leadership of eldest son “Big Joe” Simons. In 1914, a coup that resulted in a family feud, shifted leadership to Joe’s youngest brother Walter Simons who saw the company through its heyday, final demise, and dissolution in 1952. Simons Brick is both celebrated for its brick and ignominious for the company town they built in Montebello which was the largest, racially segregated industrial town ever built in the United States.

With demand for building supplies slowing after the Great Depression began in 1929, it was the beginning of the end for Simons Brick. Things turned abruptly for the worse on March 10, 1933, when the Long Beach Earthquake wreaked havoc on the Southland, causing severe damage to most masonry buildings standing at the time, and schools in particular. Shoddy brickmaking, bricklaying, grout quality, and building engineering were blamed for the failure of masonry structures during the earthquake more than the material itself.1 But brick fell out of favor anyway, used mostly for small scale industrial buildings such as the subject property through the end of the 1930s. The Riley Act, which among other things required all California cities to have building departments with teams of inspectors to enforce a new uniform building code, was adopted soon after the quake. The Field Act established rigorous new seismic safety standards for school buildings in particular. Groutlock brick had been developed by Simons Brick a year before the earthquake. The groutlocks featured corrugated ridges on the grout faces of the brick, and gaps for inserting metal reinforcing rods. Both features locked the bricks together even during a seismic event that introduced lateral forces. Walter Simons began promoting his groutlock product aggressively soon after the Long Beach Earthquake, using it to build back trust in brick for safety and permanence.
2 Simons was back in production at a rate of
150,000 groutlock bricks per day within a few months of the quake, only ten percent of their peak production, but a big boost to the foundering company.3 New structural reinforcement techniques, such as use of reinforced concrete beams that isolated sections of a structure so in the event of damage it was less likely that a whole building would collapse, along with the use of the groutlock brick allowed brick construction to tentatively begin again. All these engineering innovations are demonstrated in the subject property. Construction slow-downs during WWII struck the final blow to Simons Brick, which shut down all its plants by 1950. No other groutlock brick structures are known in Santa Monica. 1 Quake Building Law May Be Softened to Permit Some Bricks, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, May 21, 1933, Brick Chatter, Pasadena Post, Pasadena, California, March 22, 1934 2 Home Features Reveal Genius, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, May 1, 1932 3 Factories Throughout City Increasing Production, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, May 21, 1933

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Packet Pg. 1460 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Early Context
The map for the Town of Santa Monica was recorded with the county clerk on July 10, 1875. It included the area between today’s Colorado Avenue and Montana Avenue and extended east from the Pacific Ocean to Twenty-sixth Street. But parcels in most of that area were not placed on the market for many years, remaining largely agricultural. When the first land auction took place on July 15, 1875, sales were focused on the blocks closest to the coast and railroad that came through the city just south of Railroad (Colorado) Avenue. By the time the City of Santa Monica was incorporated in 1886, development was concentrated along Ocean Avenue, Second, Third and Fourths Streets. Commercial activity was centered on Second and Third Streets between Utah (Broadway) Avenue and Oregon (Santa Monica) Avenue. South of Utah to the railroad tracks was developed with stables, boarding houses, and small dwellings. North of the commercial center were large homes, many on double lots, and churches representing three different denominations.4 By the 1891 Sanborn map, the north side with larger homes had extended north as far as Washington Avenue, and enjoyed the addition of a tennis club and the opulent home of city co-founder John Percival Jones. The dwellings south of Oregon Avenue, and particularly south of Utah Avenue now extended east to Sixth Street and were notably smaller than those on the north side. Tucked between the town and the railroad, they shared their small district with three Chinese laundries.5 By 1895, development south of Utah Avenue extended east as far as Ninth Street and included the subject parcel, which was shown with a small, narrow cottage and several accessory structures behind it on the Sanborn map that year. The area was dotted with numerous similar dwellings, and several others hardly bigger than sheds.

According to historian Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson, Santa Monica enjoys the oldest African American community on the Southern California coast.6 At the time of the 1880 census, fifteen African Americans out of a total Santa Monica population of 417 lived in the city.7 According to census records, between 1880 and 1900, the African American population in Santa Monica crept up to 60 persons, an increase that lagged slightly behind the overall population of the city, which jumped from 417 persons to 3057.

Most African Americans in Santa Monica at the end of the nineteenth century made their homes in today’s downtown between Broadway and Colorado Avenues, at the edge of town by the railroad tracks. A few scattered households were on Main Street in Ocean Park, and a few more African American households were scattered around in unincorporated areas in the east part of the city. Only those who worked as live-in domestics were residing on the north side of 4 Santa Monica, California, Sanborn Map, 1887 5 Santa Monica, California, Sanborn Map, 1891 6 A Short History: Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century Santa Monica African American Community, Draft 2, by Alison Rose Jefferson, Belmar History + Art Project for the City of Santa Monica, 2018 7 United States Census, Santa Monica, California, 1880, www.ancestry.com

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Packet Pg. 1461 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 town.8 Between 1900 and 1910, the African American population in Santa Monica grew to 191, keeping pace with the population growth for Caucasians by remaining at 2% of those that called Santa Monica home.9 By 1910 many African American families were also living in the Bandini Tract as well, an area that included the Belmar Triangle and the western half of the present day Santa Monica High School campus inclusive of Firth Street.

The community of African Americans in Santa Monica established numerous religious and social organizations in the early 1900s. They first held religious services in Santa Monica in Hull’s Hall on Third Street near Utah Avenue (Broadway).10 Hull’s Hall, a public meeting space available for rent above a furniture store, was in the center of the earliest grouping of African American homes. But the dream was to have a church of their own. In 1908, the Washington School at the corner of Ashland and Fourth Streets in Ocean Park was damaged by fire and slated for demolition, to be replaced with a fireproof structure. The tragedy had fortuitous timing for African Americans who, with the help of the larger church organization in Texas, purchased the building from the school district, and a site at the corner of Bay and Fourth Streets on which to place it.11 The Santa Monica A.M.E. Church was named Phillips Chapel. New social and political organizations were formed regularly following the establishment of Phillips Chapel, including the Afro-American Council of Santa Monica that provided support to African Americans for rent, real estate matters, and other practical needs, a literary group called The Forum, and a chapter of the Masonic Lodge dedicated to African Americans.12 A Santa Monica Chapter of the NAACP was established by a strong community of activists which had Phillips Chapel at its center.

Etta Vena Moxley: “Lifting As We Climb”
On January 5, 1897, Etta Vena married John Walter Moxley in Los Angeles. Soon after they moved to Santa Monica and made a home on the subject property where they lived for over thirty years.

Etta Vena was born on March 27, 1870 in Toledo, Ohio to William Walter Vena of Kentucky, and Georgiana Newton of Virginia. The year before her own wedding, Etta Vena’s brother Clarence Vena married her fiancé’s sister (whose name was also Etta, so her married name was Etta Moxley Vena). John Walter Moxley was born on April 6, 1862 in Dresden, Ontario, to a Black 8 United States Census, Santa Monica, California, 1880-1920, www.ancestry.com 9 Will Help Solve the Question, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, June 6, 1903 10 Colored People Want a Church, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, March 2, 1908 11 Phillips Chapel Christian (formerly Colored) Methodist Episcopal Church, by Alison Rose Jefferson, Term Paper, Spring 2005, University of Southern California, submitted to the City of Santa Monica as documentation for the Landmarks Designation of Phillips Chapel, 401 Bay Street, October 10, 2005 12 Afro-American Council Holds Interesting Meet, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, November 11, 1910, Forum Organized at Phillips Chapel, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, February 18, 1911, Masonic Lodge for the Colored People, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, February 27, 1911

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Packet Pg. 1462 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Canadian mother, Melvina Richey of the same place and John Walter Moxley Sr. a drayman (truck driver) born in Georgetown, Kentucky. The Moxley’s moved to Toledo, Ohio in 1878, soon after Melvina died from complications of childbirth. The two families lived on the same block in Toledo in the 1880s. John Walter Moxley’s other known siblings were Alice, Emma and James. Etta Vena Moxley had at least one other brother named Edward. She also had a cousin, James Vena, who was the editor of a newspaper for the African American community in Los Angeles. It appears that both the Moxley and Vena families lived as free Blacks as early as 1840 in their respective homes in Kentucky and Ontario. J.W. Moxley Jr. moved to California in 1888.

Etta Vena and several other family members among the Moxley’s and the Vena’s also moved to California around that time.13
Newlyweds John and Etta Moxley settled in Santa Monica at 103 Seventh Street. Based on an examination of Sanborn Maps and old street numbering patterns, it appears that this was the address of a pre-1895 cottage at the corner of Seventh Street and Colorado Avenue, the subject parcel. By 1899, John had established himself as a barber at 214 Third Street, a midblock shop between Utah and Oregon Avenues (Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevards). 14 By 1901, the
barbershop was well-known enough to be invited to enter a float in the Fourth of July Parade in Santa Monica.
15 In September 1902, the deed for the subject parcel at Seventh Street and Railroad Avenue (Colorado Avenue), where they had already been living, was recorded by John P. and Georgina Jones to J.W. and Etta V. Moxley.16 Soon, Moxley added three new chairs to his barbershop, and the couple added a $400 frame cottage with five rooms to their parcel behind the original cottage. Etta gave up a job working for a caterer in Los Angeles to start her own business catering weddings, luncheons, banquets, and receptions for white society ladies. She worked from home at Seventh and Colorado.17 The hard-working Moxley’s were well on their way in their quest to achieve the American Dream.
13 Moxley and Vena, Los Angeles County, California Marriage Licenses, January 5, 1897, www.findmypast.com, John Walter Moxley, State of California Department of Public Health, Vital Statistics, Standard Certificate of Death, October 15, 1938, www.findmypast.com
14 J.W. Moxley, Santa Monica Directory, 1899, Santa Monica Public Library 15 A Grand Parade, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, June 2, 1901 16 Jones to Moxley, Los Angeles County Deed Records Book 1621, page 181, September 2, 1902, www.familysearch.com, [Note: this deed only transferred lot L in block 193 of the Town of Santa Monica Tract.

Evidence was found that the Moxley’s did own both properties, but a somewhat exhaustive search did not come up with a deed for lot K. Also, the deed may reflect the satisfaction of a mortgage, taken on the property a few years earlier, which might explain how they came to live there prior to the deed recording date. Still the cottage pre-dated the Moxley’s arrival in Santa Monica. It may have been built buy a previous buyer who was not able to satisfy their mortgage resulting in the ownership of house and lot reverting back to Jones.] 17 (untitled), Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, March 19, 1903, A New Cottage on Colorado, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, December 8, 1903, (untitled), Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, September 30, 1904

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Packet Pg. 1463 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Meanwhile, Etta Moxley’s commitment to public service and community organizing was becoming publicly apparent. With no equivalent yet in Santa Monica, Etta remained associated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. The A.M.E. Church at the turn-ofthe-century did not open leadership positions to women. Instead, to exercise their influence church women formed groups, societies and coalitions to bring people together, socialize, raise money, and provide community services. In 1898, Etta V. Moxley was elected president of the Women’s Mite Missionary Society, one such women’s organization associated with the church.18 In 1904, Etta Moxley gave a speech at the Afro-American Congress in Los Angeles entitled Club Life Among Colored People. She told her audience that for the people of her race to achieve their goals under the pressures of racism, they had to be super-achievers, to be the very best at what they set out to do. Drawing on the up-close observations of the white women’s club luncheons she catered, Etta explained what that meant for African American club women.

We are the greatest imitators in the world and what our white sisters can do we can do.

We have many women’s clubs, and we are anxious to imitate our white sisters in that respect, but we seem to have missed a point; our club soon degenerates into a social club or a literary society. Such a club disgraces the name of women’s club and can never gain the recognition for which we strive. There are likely white women’s clubs that do the same, but we are only entitled to credit when we imitate them in the best things. . . .

We must do things if we wish to be recognized. When we have provided education for our young men and women and homes for our old folks, we will have done something worthy of recognition, for we will have made ourselves benefactors to all the people.19 “Lifting as we Climb,” was the official motto of the National Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, and appears to have been Etta Moxley’s personal motto as well. In 1905, Etta was appointed president of the Sojourner Truth Industrial Club, a new group within the church that had been founded the previous year by Mrs. J.M. Scott. Under Etta Moxley’s leadership, a large committee of the Sojourner Truth Club was preparing to build a group residence for unmarried, self-supporting, African American women, a group that would be very vulnerable without community support in a large city like Los Angeles. The Sojourner Truth Home was entirely funded and managed by African American women. It was the first establishment of its kind in the state, and the only one for several decades.20 During this highly productive period in Etta’s life references to the delicious meals she catered to the white club women of Santa Monica appeared regularly in the society pages of the Santa Monica Outlook. She appeared to have 18 Women on a Mission: African Methodist Episcopal Missionary Women, Gender and Race Relations, 1900-1940, Claire Cooke, Doctoral Thesis, School of Humanities, University of Western Australia, 2014, How To Get Up, Los Angeles Evening Post, Los Angeles, California, August 20, 1898 19 Colored Women Take Laurels, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, August 31, 1904 20 (untitled), Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, November 15, 1904, Will Assist Negro Girls, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, April 13, 1906, The Criminalization of Black Angeleno Women:

Institutionalized Racism and Sexism in Los Angeles, by Kaitlin Therese Boyd, Master’s Thesis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 2012

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Packet Pg. 1464 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 been highly regarded as a caterer among her club-member employers who ranked at the top of Santa Monica society and spent significant time and money on lavish luncheons. In 1907, the Sojourner Truth Home was up and running, and Etta was elected president of the group for the third time. She travelled to Oakland that year to represent her club at the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.21
While his wife worked to make the world a better place, Mr. Moxley became treasurer of a new Santa Monica Union League in 1908, which held card parties and other social gatherings for men. Not particularly active in community organizing, J.W. Moxley attracted a different kind of attention in the news when he was arrested for firing his gun within the city limits while hunting ducks. It is worth noting that he was south of Pico Boulevard during the infraction, which was undeveloped land. Not all the circumstances were reported. 22 He did serve as a poll
officer for a local election.
23 On August 16, 1908 the Moxley’s only child, a daughter they named Honoré, was born.

In 1910, Etta Moxley and Mrs. S.A. Wright organized a Santa Monica Chapter of the National Association of Colored Women. The national president of the association, the largest African American women’s group in the country at the time, was Mrs. Booker T. Washington. The activist organization promoted African American women’s suffrage, which was not represented in the mainstream suffrage movement. They also pushed back against Jim Crow laws, and worked to improve schools and educational opportunities for African Americans. Etta began as secretary on the founding board of the local chapter of the N.A.C.W., 24 and she delivered
periodic speeches at events at Philips Chapel reflecting her important work. She was soon elected vice-president of the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs as well, which published a cookbook in 1910 featuring two of Etta Moxley’s recipes.

Marshmallow Salad
1 fourth Ib. marshmallows cut up
1 half Ib. pecan nuts broken in bits
1 cup white cherries
1 cup pineapple cut up
Dressing, 1 half cup whipped cream
1 third cup mayonnaise
21 Gone to Attend State Federation, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 5, 1907 22 Hunts in Middle of City, Los Angeles Herald, Los Angeles, California November 27, 1909 23 Colored People Have Organized, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, February 12, 1908, Precincts, Polling Places and Officers of Road Bond Election, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, July 22, 1908 24 Colored Women Are to be Organized Here, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, March 18, 1910, National Association of Colored Women, Allison Lange, Ph.D., National Women’s History Museum, http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/nacw, Fall 2015

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Packet Pg. 1465 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Chill the fruits and before serving mix with dressing and place on lettuce leaf. MRS. ETTA V. MOXLEY, First Vice President of State Federation, Santa Monica.

Jellied Potato Salad
One quart cold boiled potatoes cut in dice. Coat small moulds with gelatine decorate with sliced pimolas. Put the potatoes with a very little onion, celery and cucumber into the mould. Season the rest of the gelatine which is the remainder of the half box used, with parsley and onion and pour over the ingredients in the mold, chill and turn out on a lettuce leaf. Serve with mayonnaise in which a cup of shrimps has been chopped. MRS.

ETTA V. Moxley, Santa Monica Cateress.25
In 1912, Etta V. Moxley, was elected president of the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. As leader of the club of clubs, Etta toured the state, visiting all fifty-two member organizations in California. She returned from the tour and was re-elected to serve as president for another year, and also as delegate to an upcoming National Federation meeting in Wilberford, Ohio.26 Her husband John continued his participation in more leisure oriented clubs, hosting The Rising Son’s League of Santa Monica at his barber shop, which had moved to 219 Utah Avenue (Broadway) in the Keller Block. John served as treasurer to the group as well as host.27 By contrast, Etta became a blur of purposeful activity presiding over numerous groups, fundraisers, and rallies for political causes, and giving speeches continually over the next decades. In 1914 as president of the Colored Women’s Vincent Morgan Club, she presided at a rally on the brand-new tennis courts of the La Bonita on Belmar Place. (Etta often worked closely with respected Los Angeles matron Mrs. G.M. Warner, who was the aunt of Helen Warren, owner of La Bonita.)28 Etta Moxley publicly endorsed local candidates, started new civics organizations, and gave more speeches. Her daughter Honoré was often at her side, sometimes playing piano as part of the entertainment at events. With other members of Phillips Chapel she organized get-out-the-vote campaigns for the African American community, continuing to take a special interest in women’s suffrage. The church also formed a women’s auxiliary dedicated to Red Cross work in 1917, with Etta Moxley an active participant.29 A family tragedy occurred in 1917, when the police were called due to a disturbance in the Moxley home. Etta was found bloodied and unconscious on the floor. She had been badly beaten by her husband. Etta pressed charges which resulted in her husband spending six months in jail. It appears that she lived apart from her husband for more than a year, before 25 The Federation Cookbook, A Collection of Tested Recipes Contributed by the Colored Women of the State of California, by Mrs. Bertha L. Turner, State Superintendent Domestic Science, Pasadena California, 1910, Library of Congress
26 To Inspect Colored Clubs of State, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, July 29, 1913, Honor for Local Woman, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 7, 1913 27 Rising Son’s Meet, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, October 31, 1913 28 (untitled), Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 21, 1914 29 Members of Colored Church Work for Red Cross, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, December 15, 1917

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Packet Pg. 1466 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 they reconciled.30 Etta maintained her day-job as a caterer, and until 1920 also served as a janitor at one of the branch libraries in Santa Monica possibly to make up for her husband’s lost income.
31 A group called the Monday Morning Club opened new headquarters on San Juan Avenue in Venice in 1926, after holding its first meetings in a Baptist Church nearby. Mrs. Moxley was not only a board member, and later president of the club, but was part-owner of the underlying property. Well-known and respected in the African American women’s club world, Etta spoke at the inaugural event for the Monday Morning Club house.
32 When W.E.B. Du Bois came to speak
in the area in 1927, Mrs. Moxley made a presentation on behalf of all club women at that event as well.
33 In 1929, Honoré Moxley graduated from the University of Southern California, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Education.34 Around the same time, her parents moved from her childhood home at 631 Colorado Avenue to 1458 Euclid Street on the outskirts of the Pico Neighborhood, which was concentrated between 14th Street and Cloverfield Avenue, and between Santa Monica and Pico Boulevards.
35 They held on to the Colorado Avenue parcels,
which were developed with several rental cottages. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Honoré delivered a keynote address at the First A.M.E. Church in Venice as part of a weekly evening program for which Etta Moxley herself delivered a keynote address the following week.36
The Moxley’s move to Euclid Street was consistent with the overall migration of African Americans, and all people of color in Santa Monica during the 1920s and 1930s. Downtown Santa Monica, concentrated on Second, Third and Fourth Streets, was becoming a commercial success, and racist practices among realtors that became openly accepted in the 1920s made it difficult for boom-time African American new-comers to the city to settle new sections of downtown. The block of Seventh Street where the Moxley’s lived was almost entirely populated by African Americans and Latinx but with no room to expand their community, the new-comers and their cultural activities, clubs, and churches, became established in the Pico Neighborhood.

A new Masonic Lodge Hall on Eighteenth Street and Broadway hosted a well-attended candidates forum sponsored by the Federated Clubs and presided over by Etta Moxley in 1930.

Her political endorsements delivered in open letters carried weight in her community eager to ensure they voted for representatives who were unprejudiced and would treat people of all 30 Husband Beat Wife Most Cruelly, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, September 12, 1917, Wife Beater Jailed, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles California, September 14, 1917 31 Story Hour at Public Library Pleases ‘Kiddies’, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, November 3, 1920 32 New Quarters of Club Dedicated at Sunday Services, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, December 3, 1926
33 DuBois Addresses Large Gathering, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, February 23, 1927 34 Santa Monicans to Receive Diplomas, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, June 13, 1929 35 [Note: the Moxley moved sometime between 1927 and 1930.] 36 First (Venice), Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, April 26, 1930, May 10, 1930

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Packet Pg. 1467 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 races fairly.37 Etta Moxley was active in the Womens’ Political Study Club during this period, which became known for advocating for equal access to public places for African Americans by engaging the courts.38
As Etta Moxley entered her 60s, she still worked as a club-luncheon caterer in Santa Monica and continued to take the speaker’s podium at churches, organizational meetings, fund raisers for social service causes, and political events. Her husband John Walter Moxley retired from barbering and passed away at home on Euclid Street in 1938. He had sold the site of their first Santa Monica home (subject property) the previous year to beer distributor Glen A. Moyer. Etta Vena Moxley died on January 28, 1950. Her obituary credited her with a host of additional affiliations not mentioned in the survey above including being one of the organizers of the order of Eastern Star in California, and Matrix of the O.E.S., Past Matron of Orpha Chapter, O.E.S. and Heroines of Jericho, and Past Historian of Delta Mothers and Sponsors Club.39 Other sources add that she had been a “trail blazer” in the Fanny J. Wall Home and Day Nursery, and the Eastside Settlement House.
40 Honoré Moxley was married three times and divorced twice. Her first marriage in 1931 was to Harry Chandler Wallace. In 1937, Honoré married Edgar Carey, and in 1949 she married Kenneth Irving Levy.41 She served as president of her chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority for three terms (the first African American Sorority in the United States established in 1912), worked as a teacher and guidance counselor in Los Angeles public schools, and continued her own education at USC and Los Angeles State College, eventually earning a Ph.D. She was politically progressive, at one point attracting the attention of the Committee on Un-American Activities, which claimed to ferret out suspected communists. In 1954 four years after her mother’s death, Honoré emceed the golden anniversary celebration of the Sojourner Truth Home her mother helped found. In 1956 at Jefferson High School, she became the first African American woman to head the counselling department in a secondary school in Los Angeles.

Honoré Moxley Levy died in 1979.

Tenants on the Moxley Property
The structures on the subject property during the Moxley years were listed under a variety of addresses, including 619, 621, 625, 631, 641 Colorado Avenue, and on Seventh Street they were 37 Candidates Speak at Club Gathering, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, July 2, 1930, Negroes Endorse Lyon, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 18, 1930 38 Santa Monica, California Eagle, Los Angeles, California, October 12, 1934 39 Pioneer Mrs. Etta Vena Moxley Passes After Short Illness, California Eagle, Los Angeles, California, February 2, 1950
40 Negro Who’s Who in California, Negro Who’s Who in California Publishing Company, 1948 41 Wallace to Moxley, Marriage License, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, June 19, 1931, www.findmypast.com, Carey to Moxley, Marriage License, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, November 21, 1937, www.findmypast.com, Levy to Moxley, Marriage License, Orange County, California, June 19, 1931, www.findmypast.com

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Packet Pg. 1468 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 numbered 1554, 1558, and 1562. There were four cottages and a small commercial building.

The latter was squeezed onto the corner of the parcel where Seventh Street and Colorado Avenue intersect around 1925, though no permit was found for it. It appears that the Moxley’s lived in the “front” house on 7th Street until they built the cottage known as 621 Colorado behind it in 1905 for which a permit was found. They lived there until 1928, when they moved to Euclid Street. The cottage known as 619 Colorado, on the west side of the Moxley’s, and the cottage just north of that known as 1554 Seventh Street were added between 1907 and 1912.

No permits were found for either of those cottages. Santa Monica directories through 1928 show the cottages occupied by a range of laborers, fishermen, housekeepers, laundresses, plasterers, janitors, and others. The small commercial building added in 1925 was occupied by neighborhood-serving uses including John Moxley’s barbershop, a grocery, and a second-hand furniture shop. Directories from 1931-1936 show a number of vacancies on the property leading up to its sale in 1937.

A.B.C. Distributing Company & the Growth of Downtown
In 1937, Glen A. Moyer applied for a building permit for a one-story brick office and warehouse building at 631 Colorado Avenue to house the A.B.C. Distributing Company, which distributed beer for the Aztec Brewing Company based in San Diego. Moyer was born an Iowa farm boy in August 1891. By 1920, he had left his father’s farm and was living on his own doing odd jobs.42 In 1929, Moyer married Zora McCourry in San Diego, California. She worked in a steam laundry, and he was a machinist in a steel mill. In 1933, with prohibition about to be sent packing, Aztec Brewing Company made a big push to find entrepreneurs to disseminate throughout the region to distribute their beer to very thirsty Americans. Like many beer companies across the United States, the Aztec Brewing Company had made several major preemptive moves in order to be ready on day one, when laws relaxed and then repealed prohibition. Moyer was in the right place at the right time to leverage the opportunity to his own advantage by accepting a beer distribution franchise.

In 1931, when repeal of prohibition was coming down the pike, enforcement in Los Angeles County was lax.43 But it wasn’t until after the November 1932 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt that there was real movement towards legalizing drink. On March 22, 1933, Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act that made sales of low-alcohol beer and wine permissible while the complete end of prohibition cranked its way through the machinery of United States politics, which was expected to take years. The act became effective two weeks later on April 7, which some beer enthusiasts still celebrate as National Beer Day. The complete repeal of national prohibition occurred sooner than anticipated on December 5, 1933, with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution. 42 Glen A. Moyer, United States Census, Guthrie County, Iowa, 1900, www.ancestry.com, Glen A. Moyer, United States Census, Crook County, Wyoming, 1910 & 1920, www.ancestry.com 43 Prohibition’s Thing of Past, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, November 7, 1931

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Packet Pg. 1469 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 The Aztec Brewing Company was established in Mexicali, Mexico in 1921, during prohibition in the United States by American businessmen Edward P. Baker, Herbert Jaffe and William H.

Strouse. Their products became very popular among Americans who travelled to Baja to drink.

Their best seller was an award-winning pale lager dubbed “Famous A.B.C. Beer,” recognized in Mexican and Spanish beer competitions. In April 7, 1933, the day the Cullen-Harrison Act became law, Baker announced that the Aztec Brewing Company had already moved to San Diego where the new plant was prepped and ready to start beer production, strategically poised to get in on the ground floor of the long-suppressed beer industry in the United States.44 The army of franchise holders was immediately deployed, fanning out over the western United States. Over the next several months, liquor license applications for A.B.C. Distribution Company outlets from counties all over California, as well as Arizona, Nevada, and Utah were filed by the group organized by the brewery before the laws had changed. 45 Glen A. Moyer, of the first wave of A.B.C. Distributors during that heady beer-only-permitted period in 1933, set up his first location at 1711 Washington Boulevard (Abbot Kinney Boulevard) in Venice. An ad for Moyer’s business appeared in the Santa Monica Outlook in August. An advertisement in the Los Angeles Times the next day listed no less than six A.B.C.

Distributing Company outlets in Los Angeles County, including Moyer’s. But so far, none were in the more conservative Santa Monica, where the end of prohibition was not welcomed the way it was in fun-loving Venice. Since the new alcohol rules were administered at the county level, it was legal to drink low-alcohol beer in Santa Monica, but city ordinances prevented its sale to end users by the drink where there was dancing or even standing. Santa Monica imbibers had to be firmly planted on a chair or stool with a plate a food in front of them in order to be served.46 As Santa Monica adjusted to the new reality of legal drink, Glen Moyer moved his outlet for A.B.C. Distributing Company a little further north to 2611 Main Street, at the corner of Ocean Park Boulevard by 1936. The exact date of the move was not found, but a flurry of advertisements for A.B.C. Beer at the Main Street location appeared in the Santa Monica Outlook in March and April of that year, a strategy Moyer may have used to ensure his regular customers would be able to find him in a new location. There was one other beer distributor in the city directory at that time, M&B Distributing at 1551 12th Street. No information was found about M&B Distributing, who owned it, or exactly what they sold.47 Moyer’s A.B.C. Distributing Company needed more space than either of the tiny properties on Abbot Kinney Boulevard and Main Street it had been occupying afforded. Glen A. Moyer purchased lots K & L in block 193 of the Santa Monica Tract from John and Etta Moxley so he 44 Brewery Sold, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, April 7, 1933 45 Applications for Beer Sale Granted Eight, Santa Ana Register, Santa Ana, California, July 12, 1933, A.B.C. Beer Advertisement, The Bakersfield Californian, Los Angeles, California, September 1, 1933 46 Police Ordered to Close Al Pseudo Saloons Within the City, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, December 7, 1933
47 Brewer’s Agents, Santa Monica City Directory, 1936, www.ancestry.com

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Packet Pg. 1470 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 could expand his business. On May 8, 1937, Moyer applied for a building permit for a one-story office and warehouse building. The 50- by 100-foot structure sat along three lot lines at the east end of the double lot and cost $7000. It was made with groutlock brick, an innovation of Simons Brick Company heavily promoted after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. One cottage and a garage from the Moxley period of ownership remained on the north-west edge of the parcel.

The other cottages were demolished.
48 In the mid to late 1930s, evidence of efforts to emerge from the Great Depression began to yield results in reports of development activity in downtown Santa Monica. Montgomery Ward, Sears, and J.C. Penney were all building or improving stores, as were Coast Outfitting, Thrifty Drug, and Henshey’s Department Store. Remodeling on a smaller scale was going on in numerous other locally-based establishments. Parking meters, which were patented in 1927 and first installed in Oklahoma City in 1935, came to downtown Santa Monica in August 1936 on a trial basis (they succeeded), and alleys in downtown up to 5th Street were made one way to relieve traffic confusion.49 Second, Third, and Fourth Streets in downtown had made a dramatic transition to commercial uses during the population and development booms of the 1920s. The success of Santa Monica’s commercial district in the post-Depression era was assured. Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Streets in downtown were still almost entirely residential in spite of the aspirational C-Zone (commercial) designation all of downtown up to Lincoln Boulevard in the 1922 zoning ordinance. The homes that remained in downtown represented the first section of middle- and working-class homes in the city. Most of the cottages dated from the 1880s through the turn of the century and were now showing their age. Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Streets between Colorado and Santa Monica Boulevards in particular was a neighborhood of people of color at the former edge of town since the earliest days when the downtown section comprised the entire developed area of the city.

The A.B.C. Distributing Company was the first major commercial structure in Santa Monica’s downtown east of the core original commercial district on Second, Third, and Fourth Streets. By the time of an aerial photograph taken on March 5, 1940, the subject property built three years earlier was still the only new development in the long-standing residential neighborhood in Santa Monica populated with African Americans, Lantinx, and the white working class. 50 The
1950 Sanborn map indicates little additional change. The transition to low-rise commercial buildings in that part of downtown took hold during the 1950s, and was nearly complete in 1960. The subject property is the only example of a low-rise industrial commercial building in downtown built during the art deco/streamline moderne period. Today most of that area of 48 Application for Building Permit, 625 Colorado Avenue, applicant A.B.C. Distributing Company, City of Santa Monica Planning Document Archives, May 8, 1938, Warehouse Constructed, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, May 22, 1937
49 Business Zone Shows Change, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 15, 1936, Businessmen on 4th St, Undertake Extensive Improvements, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, October 24, 1936, Auto Parking Meters Urged, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, August 18, 1936, One-Way Traffic Rule Will Apply to Alleys, Santa Monica Outlook, Santa Monica, California, December 12, 1936 50

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Packet Pg. 1471 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 downtown has been transformed again with the largest apartment buildings permitted in the city, leaving only three low-rise examples including the subject property, from the second phase of downtown development.

A 1947 building permit for 631 Colorado Avenue indicates Moyer, still owned the property but had delegated management of the A.B.C. Distributing Company in Santa Monica to Sam D.

Hecht. Hecht had been employed by the Calvert Distillers Corporation from 1934-1945, so it’s possible he took the job with Moyer a year or two sooner. A 1949 article reporting that Aztec Brewery was no more, and the plant had been bought out by Altes Brewery of Detroit, Michigan, referred to Sam D. Hecht as owner and operator of the Santa Monica outlet.51 Glen Moyer died in 1951, the same year Hecht was on trial for tax fraud for shenanigans on his 1945 tax return.52 To hide income from business activities that were in violation of a noncompete agreement Hecht had with his then employer Calvert distillers, he had attributed income, and sometimes ownership of holdings to various family members in a cover-up scheme. The family members also happened to be in lower tax brackets than Hecht was, lowering the tax liability on the holdings. Hecht was found guilty, and his case set a precedent for the illegality of that type of transfer as tax fraud.
53 The Altes (formerly Aztec) Brewing Company in San Diego shut its doors and sold off its assets in 1953, obviating the need for an A.B.C. Distributing Company.

The Aztec Brewing Company Building, a recognized historic resource in the city of San Diego, was leased to an aircraft corporation. The A.B.C. Distributing Company building had a similar fate.54 The 1954 Santa Monica Directory indicates that the subject property was vacant that year.

Aerophysics Development Corporation
In 1955 and 1956, the subject property was occupied by the Aerophysics Development Corporation, founded in 1951 by Dr. William Bollay. In 1950, Bollay served as Technical Director of the North American Aviation Aerophysics Laboratory. Guided missile development was becoming the main thrust of the aircraft industry at that time, and the field of aerospace where Bolloy was an expert and innovator, took hold.55 He left North American Aviation to establish Aerophysics Development Corporation in 1951, working from the basement of his Pacific Palisades home. The founding project of the new company was a commission from the United States Army for a guided anti-tank missile referred to as the Dart. The aerospace industry was already finding a home in Santa Monica due to the presence of Douglas Aircraft. Douglas was by 51 Eastern Beer Now Being Made in West, Venice Vanguard, Venice, California, September 28, 1949 52 Funeral Services Held for Glen A. Moyer, Mirror News, Los Angeles California, January 17, 1951 53 Reports of the Tax Courts of the United States, January 1951 to June 1951, Volume 16, Paul H. Walker, Acting Reporter, United States government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1951 54 Brewery to Close, Mirror News, Los Angeles, March 19, 1953, Brewery Auction, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, July 19, 1953, Rohr Aircraft Corp. Leases Altes Brewing Co. Building, The Chula Vista Star, Chula Vista, California, June 18, 1953 55 Guided Missile Study Boom to Industry, The Colton Courier, Colton, California, January 5, 1950

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Packet Pg. 1472 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 far the largest company in town, but four smaller companies of note focused efforts on research related to military defense in the city: Propulsion Research, RAND, Research Corporation, and Aerophysics Development Corporation.
56 By 1953, Bollay established administrative offices for the company at 15304 Sunset Boulevard in Pacific Palisades. Space for fabrication and research was rented from Waldo Waterman at 1554 Fifth Street at Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica (demolished), a former Buick car dealership, where Waterman had invented the first functional flying car called the Arrowbile, in 1937.57 Classified advertisements by the hundreds appeared in local papers seeking engineers, draftsmen, designers, model-builders, and researchers to work for the new company. By 1955, Aerophysics had added four more offices in Santa Monica to accommodate its 175 employees:
1452 Fourth Street (demolished), 309 Santa Monica Boulevard (Junipher Building, a designated Landmark), 506 Santa Monica Boulevard (extant), and 631 Colorado Avenue (subject property).

Testing for the Dart guided anti-tank missile began in 1954, but technical challenges called for redoubled efforts in research and development. Aerophysics Development Corporation was bought out by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation in 1956. Studebaker-Packard solved the company’s space problem with a move to Goleta, California where they provided a new 103- acre campus that accommodated 300 employees to continue efforts on the Dart. In 1958, after the Army had spent $44 million on the Dart, which still had not met specifications, the project was cancelled. The Aerophysics Development Corporation’s Goleta campus attracted several other aerospace companies to Goleta establishing it as a new hub for that industry. 58 Keystone Autobody Shop
In 1957, Keystone Autobody took over at 631 Colorado Avenue. According to permit records, Keystone was owned by Jack Hammer. Three Jack Hammers were identified. Two were wellknown singer-songwriters who adopted it as a stage name, one remembered for co-writing the song Great Balls of Fire, the other for Black Widow Spider Woman. Neither of them owned a body shop in Santa Monica. The third Jack Hammer was local, a Danish immigrant born Svend Hammer, who changed his name to Jack upon his naturalization. He lived in Sunset Park and worked in a dry cleaner for many years. During the years when Keystone Autobody was established, he was listed as a gardener at Santa Monica College in city directories, so it wasn’t him either. The only historical reference found to Keystone Autobody was in a biography of surf-rockers Jan and Dean, who purportedly had their car fixed there. Keystone Autobody remained at the subject property until 1994, moving to 1762 Fourteenth Street. Under the business name Bair’s Keystone Autobody, the company operated there until the present year, 56 Goodrum and Vincent Building, City Landmark Assessment Report, PCR Services Corporation, Santa Monica, California, April 2012
57 Aerophysics Development Corp., Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, November 2, 1953 58 City of Goleta Citywide Historic Context Statement, Historic Resources Group, Pasadena, California, September 27, 2017

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Packet Pg. 1473 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 shutting down during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since 1996, the subject property has been occupied with film production uses.

Statement of Significance
When the A.B.C. Distributing Company building was built in 1937, it was the first industrial commercial building in the south-east portion of Santa Monica’s downtown, which had been a working-class neighborhood primarily occupied by people of color since the founding of the Town of Santa Monica in 1875. The two contributing structures book-ending the property were built during the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne period and reflect characteristics of that style.

The composition uses modern abstract geometric forms in vertical/horizontal interplay, decorated with groups of scored lines. The line bundles of three or four are known as “speed lines” in Streamline Moderne architecture, as they suggest movement and allude to the modern machines of transportation – railroads, ocean liners, aircraft. The stepped caps over the piers reflect the step-backs found in Art Deco architecture. Because it was a decade or more before the area continued to be redeveloped with similar single-story brick commercial buildings, it was the first in the area and the only built in downtown in the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style. Furthermore, since the 1990s the neighborhood has been almost completely redeveloped with a third phase of multi-story apartment buildings, leaving the subject property as a rare and significant example of the type of development it pioneered, which is almost extinct from the vicinity.

The A.B.C. Distributing Company building is significant as an example of post-Long Beach Earthquake engineering techniques for ensuring that brick and mortar structures had seismic integrity. Reinforced beams provide a structural frame for brick and mortar panels that would have previously relied on gravity alone for stability. The bricks themselves were groutlock bricks, a historically significant product of the Simons Brick Company that was actively and aggressively promoted as the answer to seismic deficiencies in masonry buildings. The groutlock bricks had grooved mortar surfaces, and spaces for reinforcing steel rods that literally locked them in place so they could resist the lateral forces of seismic activity. The building structure and materials are significant as an example of state-of-the art masonry technology following the Long Beach earthquake of 1933.

The A.B.C. Distributing Company itself is significant as one of the first, if not the first, beer outlet in the city after Prohibition. While it had two other rented locations prior to construction of the subject buildings for its own use, this building best exemplifies the sustained success the company experienced as a result of a strategically prepared and timed infiltration of the Southern California Beverage Market set to begin the moment beer sales were permitted again after Prohibition ended. It exemplifies economic development following the end of prohibition.

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Packet Pg. 1474 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Finally, the subject property is a significant site apart from the improvements there today for its association with Etta Vena Moxley, a dedicated life-long leader in the African American Women’s Club movement in the State of California, Los Angeles and in Santa Monica; a member of a leading group of Santa Monica African American activists striving for social justice and developing the community engagement needed to get there; a suffragette; and an organizer of significant community support institutions and social services such as the Sojourner Truth Home.

Application of Santa Monica Criteria
Landmark Criteria:

1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion. When the A.B.C. Distributing Company building was built in 1937, it was the first light industrial/commercial building in the south-east portion of Santa Monica’s downtown, which had been a working-class neighborhood primarily occupied by people of color since the founding of the Town of Santa Monica in 1875. The two contributing structures book-ending the property were built during the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne period and reflect architectural characteristics of that style. Because it was a decade or more before the area continued to be redeveloped with similar single-story brick commercial buildings, it was the first commercial industrial building in the vicinity, and the only built in downtown in the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style. Furthermore, since the 1990s the neighborhood has been almost completely redeveloped with a third phase of development consisting of multi-story apartment buildings, leaving the subject property as a rare and significant example of the type of development it pioneered, which is nearly extinct in the area.

The A.B.C. Distributing Company is significant as one of the first, if not the first, beer outlets in the city. The City of Santa Monica took a more conservative stance on alcohol consumption at the end of prohibition than neighboring communities in Los Angeles County. A.B.C. Distributing Company was established just over the border in Venice as soon as federal law allowed, and moved into Santa Monica a few years later. While the company had two other rented locations prior to construction of the subject buildings for its own use, these buildings are the only ones it built for itself, and thus best exemplify the sustained success the company experienced as a result of a strategically prepared and timed infiltration of the Southern California Beverage Market set to begin the moment beer sales were permitted again after prohibition was over, and the re-establishment of alcoholic beverage sales in the City of Santa Monica. Therefore, the A.B.C. Distributing Company buildings reflect the economic development of Santa Monica.

2. It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

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Packet Pg. 1475 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 The subject property does not qualify under this criterion. While there are decorative elements on this structure, they do not rise to the level of significance necessary to meet this criterion.

3. It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion for its association with Etta Vena Moxley (1870-1950), a dedicated life-long leader in the African American Women’s Club movement in the State of California, Los Angeles and in Santa Monica. Etta Moxley was a member of a leading group of Los Angeles and Santa Monica African American activists striving for social justice and equal rights for people of all races. Through social groups and clubs, often associated with churches, they developed the community engagement necessary to be effective. Etta Moxley was associated with a number of significant groups often in leadership roles including the Women’s Mite Missionary Society (president), Afro-American Congress of 1904 (speaker), Sojourner Truth Industrial Club (three-time president and organizer of the Sojourner Truth Home), State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (delegate to the Convention in of 1907, vice president, president), Santa Monica Chapter of the National Association of Colored Women (founding organizer, secretary of founding board), Colored Women’s Vincent Morgan Club (president), Red Cross Women’s Auxiliary of Phillips Chapel (member), Monday Morning Club (founder, president), Women’s Political Study Club (member), California Order of the Eastern Star (organizer, Matrix, and past Matron of two different chapters of the Eastern Star), and Delta Mothers and Sponsors Club (historian). In her work with these groups, Etta Moxley was a suffragette, resistor of Jim Crow, promoter of good schools and good access to them for African Americans, endorser of candidates sympathetic to civil rights issues, organizer of GOTV campaigns among African Americans, and an organizer of significant community support institutions and social services such as the Sojourner Truth Home, the first, and for many years the only, residence for single working African American women in Los Angeles established, funded and operated completely by African American women. Well known because of her years of leadership and community service, Etta Moxley was a keynote speaker at church and club events across many decades, including at a 1927 Santa Monica engagement featuring W.E.B. Du Bois.

4. It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion because the A.B.C. Distributing Company building is the only known example of post-Long Beach Earthquake engineering techniques for ensuring that brick and mortar structures had seismic integrity. Visible reinforced beams provide a structural frame for brick and mortar panels that would have previously relied on gravity alone for stability, and the beams isolated sections of the structure so in the event of damage it was less likely that the whole building would collapse. The bricks themselves were

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Packet Pg. 1476 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 groutlock bricks, a product of the Simons Brick Company that was actively and aggressively promoted as the answer to seismic deficiencies in masonry buildings. The groutlock bricks had grooved mortar surfaces that literally locked them in place, and connecting gaps that were filled with metal rods secured in place by adhesive grout so they could resist the lateral forces of seismic activity. With demand for building supplies slowing after the Great Depression began in 1929, it was the beginning of the end for Simons Brick, established in 1886. Things turned abruptly for the worse on March 10, 1933, when the Long Beach Earthquake wreaked havoc on the Southland, causing severe damage to most masonry buildings standing at the time, and schools in particular. Shoddy brickmaking, bricklaying, grout quality, and building engineering were blamed for the failure of masonry structures during the earthquake more than the material itself. But brick fell out of favor anyway, used mostly for small scale industrial buildings such as the subject property through the end of the 1930s. Walter Simons began promoting his groutlock product aggressively soon after the Long Beach Earthquake, in an effort to build back trust in brick for safety and permanence. Simons was back in production at a rate of 150,000 groutlock bricks per day within a few months of the quake, only ten percent of their peak production, but a big boost to the foundering company. Groutlock brick allowed brick construction to tentatively begin again. The subject property is an excellent example of the use of groutlock brick and the associated seismic construction methods developed in the mid-1930s as a response to the Long Beach Earthquake. No other groutlock brick structures are known in Santa Monica, making the A.B.C. Distributing Company buildings a unique and rare example of a post-Long Beach Earthquake construction technique.

The A.B.C. Distributing Company buildings are significant under this criterion as exemplifying the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style. The pair of industrial commercial buildings sit like bookends on the east and west edges of the parcel as viewed from Colorado Avenue. The east structure, built in 1937, exposes its structural system of concrete beams interfaced with groutlock brick on its east wall. Its primary façade facing Colorado is divided into three bays separated by protruding piers embossed with four vertical grooved lines, and with stepped tapered caps that rise above the roofline. The area above the windows is stuccoed, decorated with two horizontal sets of grooved lines, three in each set, appearing continuous behind the piers. The composition uses modern abstract geometric forms in vertical/horizontal interplay, decorated with groups of scored lines. The line bundles of three or four are known as “speed lines” in Streamline Moderne architecture, as they suggest movement and allude to the modern machines of transportation – railroads, ocean liners, aircraft. The stepped caps over the piers reflect the step-backs found in Art Deco architecture. Steel-framed divided light windows with a grid pattern of 12 x 4 panes span the full width of each bay between the piers, inclusive of six sets of hopper windows. Below the windows the bricks that comprise the structure are exposed, and the groutlock ridges of some bricks are visible. The secondary elevation facing east abuts the sidewalk on Seventh Street. It is divided into six bays by a reinforced cement support structure of vertical and horizontal beams that are flush with the surface of the brick. The bay closest to Colorado Avenue is punctuated by a fourth 6 x 4 multilight steel framed window, also with hoppers inclusive. Each of the remaining bays have a small

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Packet Pg. 1477 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 steel framed hopper window in the center, flush with the ceiling height as marked by a horizontal reinforced concrete beam. The west structure sits on the south and west property lines of the parcel, fronting Colorado Avenue and adjacent to an alley. The brick façade facing Colorado Avenue shares the beamed support structure of the east building.

5. It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

The subject property does not qualify for this criterion because it is not associated with any particular architect or builder, notable or otherwise.

6. It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The subject property does not qualify for this criterion because in spite of its 80 years at a corner location it does not stand out for a particular feature of interest that would qualify it to meet this criterion.

Structure of Merit Criteria:

A. The structure has been identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion because it is listed in the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory with a status code of 5S3.

B. The structure is a minimum of 50 years of age and meets one of the following criteria:

1. The structure is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion because it is the only known example of groutlock brick in the city and is an excellent example of post-Long Beach Earthquake seismic reinforcement techniques. (see criterion 4 above)

2. The structure is representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent.

The subject property qualifies under this criterion because it is the only Art Deco/Streamline Moderne commercial industrial building in Downtown, and one of three remaining commercial industrial buildings of any style in Downtown due to widespread redevelopment in recent years. (see criterion 4 above)

3. The structure contributes to a potential Historic District.

The subject property is not a contributor to a potential historic district.

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Packet Pg. 1478 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Santa Monica Directory Search
Year Address Name Occupation Notes
1905 – J.W. Moxley barber, 214 3rd St home not listed
– J.E. Moxley barber, 214 3rd St home not listed (brother?) – Walter Moxley barber, 214 3rd St home not listed (father?) 1907 7th & Colorado Mrs. J.W. Moxley caterer business listing 1912 1558 7th St Guard Robbins plasterer –
1554 7th St Richard Mallet emp So Cal Edison –
619 Colorado Carlos Judson driver Pendleton & Sons married to Mallet’s daughter 621 Colorado John W. Moxley barber, w 225 Utah Ave Keller Block 1913 1554 7th St George Van Pelt gardener [fisherman] record sized fish SM Pier - boats 1554 7th St Orrin Van Pelt laborer –
1554 7th St Wm Van Pelt fisherman became SM Police Officer 1558 7th St vacant – –
619 Colorado Carlos Judson cement worker –
621 Colorado John W. Moxley barber 219 Utah Keller Block 1914 1554 7th St Henry P. Jones – 1920 obit: coffee & tea business 1558 7th St David J. Wilson engineer Sunset Inn –
619 Colorado vacant – –
621 Colorado John W. Moxley barber 219 Utah Keller Block 1915 1554 7th St Henry P. Jones – –
1558 7th St Mark Allen elevator operator maybe Af Am boxer, law troubles 619 Colorado Mrs. Roselia Cooper widow C.P., laundress – 621 Colorado John W. Moxley barber 219 Utah –
1917 1554 7th St vacant – –
1558 7th St John T. (Dollie) Manriquez cement worker –
619 Colorado Mrs. Jennie Mack widow J.A., domestic –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 219 Utah – 1918 1554 7th St (not listed) – –
1558 7th St John P. (Ella L.) Manriquez cement worker – 619 Colorado Mrs. Jennie Mack widow J.A. –
621 Colorado Mrs. Etta Vena Moxley – –
– John W. Moxley barber, 219 Utah no home listed, Keller Block 1919 1554 7th St John Crawford laborer Street Dept maybe veteran 1558 7th St Alphonso (Ethel) Brice janitor Rouse & Livengood – 619 Colorado Mrs. Jennie Mack widow J.A. –
619 Colorado Hebe Mack – –
621 Colorado Mrs. Etta V. Moxley janitor OP Library –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 219 Utah – 1921 1554 7th St Raymond (Mary) Ponce – –
1558 7th St Guadalupe (Rosa) Moreno laborer shot at all night card game 619 Colorado Mrs. Jennie L. Mack widow J.A. –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 219 Utah – 1923 1554 7th St Angel (Snyda) Rangel plasterer [Kneen Paving] wife died medical malpractice 1558 7th St Guadalupe (Rosa) Moreno laborer –
619 Colorado Mrs. Jennie L. Mack housekeeper –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 219 Utah – 1925 1554 7th St M. (Teho) Takahasi gardener –
1558 7th St Guadalupe (Rosa) Moreno laborer –
619 Colorado (not listed) – –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 641 Colorado new bldg. confirmed 1927 aerial 1927 1554 7th St M. (Teho) Takahasi gardener –

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Packet Pg. 1479 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Year Address Name Occupation Notes
1558 7th St Guadalupe (Rosa) Moreno laborer –
619 Colorado (not listed) – –
621 Colorado John W. (Etta V.) Moxley barber 641 Colorado new bldg. 1928 aerial 621 Colorado Honore E. Moxley – –
641 Colorado J.W. Moxley barber –
1928 1554 7th St Oriental [sic] – –
1558 7th St Guadalupe (Rosa) Moreno laborer –
619 Colorado Anthony (Margie) Perry fisherman –
621 Colorado (not listed) – Walter Moxley 1538 Euclid
641 Colorado R.G. Adams barber –
1931 1554 7th St Jos (Lupe) Munje laborer daughter Luz Isabell born 1558 7th St Neaavis [sic] Sanchez – –
1562 7th St Thomas A. (Janet) Moody grocer same as 641 Colorado, lives 6th St 619 Colorado (not listed) – –
621 Colorado (not listed) – J, E, H Moxley 1538 Euclid
641 Colorado (not listed) – –
1933 1554 7th St Jos (Lupe) Munje laborer arrested for drunk driving 1558 7th St vacant – –
1562 7th St vacant – –
619 Colorado (not listed) – –
621 Colorado (not listed) – –
641 Colorado (not listed) – –
1936 1554 7th St Jas Joyce laborer –
1558 7th St Henry Cluff laborer –
1558 7th St Louis Olsen – –
1562 7th St Mrs. Eleanor Baines 2nd hand furniture –
619 Colorado (not listed) – –
621 Colorado (not listed) – –
641 Colorado (not listed) – –
Brick Building Constructed 1937
1938 623 Colorado ABC Distributing Co. GA Moyer mgr, wines and liquors
1940 631 Colorado ABC Distributing Co. liquors
1947 631 Colorado ABC Distributing Co. Sam D. Hecht mgr, wholesale liquors
bldg. permit lists Moyer, owner
Hecht, manager
1952 631 Colorado ABC Distributing Co. liquors
1954 631 Colorado vacant –
1960 631 Colorado Keystone Body Shop Inc. – bldg. permit lists Jack Hammer, owner
Research conducted by Nina Fresco
May 2021

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Packet Pg. 1480 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1895 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, subject parcel in red. The south half of the subject parcel was already developed with a small dwelling before the Moxley’s arrived in Santa Monica.

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Packet Pg. 1481 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1902 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, subject parcel in red. The Moxley’s had been living at 103 Seventh Street as early as the time of the 1900 census. Because the house opposite and slightly north of the subject parcel is numbered 108, it can be inferred that the earliest address for the subject parcel was 103 Seventh Street.

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Packet Pg. 1482 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1909 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, subject parcel in red. In 1903, soon after their deed was recorded, the Moxley’s built 621 Colorado Avenue behind the original cottage on their property. It became the family home until 1928. No other permits or deeds were found with the Moxley’s name after construction of their home, but by 1909 they had clearly added a third cottage to the parcel. The Rest-A-While rooming house and apartments that served African American tourists is marked in blue.

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Packet Pg. 1483 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1918 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, subject parcel in red. By 1918, the Moxley’s owned both of the subject parcels and had added a fourth cottage at the rear of the northern section. The Seventh Day Adventist Church, a precursor to the Calvary Baptist Church in the Pico Neighborhood is marked in blue on Sixth Street. The Rest-A-While is on Fifth Street (in blue); the map labels it “tenements.”

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Packet Pg. 1484 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 African Americans in downtown per U.S. census 1900 - 1940, subject parcel in red. The citywide version of this map shows that this is where nearly all African Americans lived in Santa Monica in 1900. By 1910, some black families were also living in Belmar, on the future Samohi site, and in Ocean Park. By 1920, population was booming. African Americans lived east of 14th Street for the first time, and in significant numbers. No African Americans ever lived north of SM Blvd or south of Pico Blvd during this period.

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Packet Pg. 1485 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1950 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, subject parcel in red. Marked in green: By 1950, in addition to the Moxley property, only four other commercial developments had been added to the commercially-zoned residential district. Referencing previous maps, most of those parcels had been vacant, leaving the residential community intact. Marked in blue: The church had moved on by this time, but the Rest-A-While carried on with additional cottages squeezed into every available space on the parcel.

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Packet Pg. 1486 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 1950 Sanborn Map, Santa Monica, California, detail. The A.B.C. Distribution Company buildings are built of reinforced brick with reinforced concrete pilasters and beams, all of which remain visible today. The east brick structure (labeled here as 621 Colorado) was the loading canopy in the 1941 permit. It was completely open on the west elevation.

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Packet Pg. 1487 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 August 1, 1927 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. Second, Third, and Fourths Streets were becoming increasingly commercial through the 1920s, but Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Streets retained their residential character.

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Packet Pg. 1488 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 February 20, 1937 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Colorado Avenue at left. A few months before the building permit was pulled for the beer distribution company, it appears that the cottages known as 619 and 621 Colorado had already been demolished.

The house and garage retained after the east building was constructed are in the lower portion of the red ovals.

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Packet Pg. 1489 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 1, 1938 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. A year after A.B.C. Distributing Company was constructed, the house and garage at the west end of the parcel remain and an unidentified structure sits between the old house and the brick building along the north property line. It appears that the rest of the parcel is paved. Commercial development in downtown is spreading south to Colorado, but the first phase of residential development remains in the east half of downtown.

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Packet Pg. 1490 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 March 5, 1940 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. The A.B.C. Distributing Company property appears to have been built out almost as depicted in the 1950 Sanborn map by 1940. The west structure will be added in one year from the date of this image. The surrounding area remains residential, unchanged since the 1938 aerial above.

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Packet Pg. 1491 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 January 1, 1947 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. Very little has changed in Downtown since the 1940 aerial. The most significant changes are south of Colorado Avenue were the Sears Building and the trailer parks that began to dominate the landscape.

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Packet Pg. 1492 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 July 1, 1956 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. The layout of the subject property appears unchanged since the previous aerial. Several parcels in the east half of Downtown have now been cleared and are used for surface parking. A significant shift towards commercial use is occurring in the long-time residential area surrounding the subject property.

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Packet Pg. 1493 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 May 1, 1960 aerial, UCSB Collection. Lincoln Blvd. at top, Santa Monica Blvd. at left. Keystone Bodyworks’ paint booth and car wash canopy referenced in permit records have superseded the old cottage that was still extant in the previous aerial. The area surrounding the subject parcel has been almost completely rebuilt with low-rise commercial buildings since an aerial taken just four years earlier. Note that the Rest-A-While is one of the few extant properties from the first phase of development.

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Packet Pg. 1494 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Cottages at 1531 Seventh Street, 1949. Signs read: “For Sale, To Be Moved,” marking the beginning of redevelopment of the east half of Downtown.

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Packet Pg. 1495 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Building Permit, May 8, 1937, construction of east building.

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Packet Pg. 1496 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Building Permit, December 11, 1941, construction of west building.

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Packet Pg. 1497 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Building Permit, March 5, 1947, addition of loading platform and doors to west building

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Packet Pg. 1498 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Simons Brick advertising campaign for Groutlock Masonry: Los Angeles Times, August 6, 1933, January 10, 1937, October 15, 1933

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Packet Pg. 1499 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Santa Monica Outlook, October 5, 1937

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Packet Pg. 1500 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Santa Monica Outlook, September 30, 1938 (above)
Collectible Aztec Brewing Company beer cans (below)

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Packet Pg. 1501 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Aztec Brewing Company, San Diego California. Exterior (above), Tap room (below).

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Packet Pg. 1502 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 December 31, 2001

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Packet Pg. 1503 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1504 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1505 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1506 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1507 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1508 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1509 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. South facade of main building. The notches on the tops of grout lock bricks are visible in some places.

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Packet Pg. 1510 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. East facade, main building.

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Packet Pg. 1511 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. East facade of second story addition to east building. Metal flashing on top of reinforced beam signals that the addition is not original.

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Packet Pg. 1512 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. North end of east elevation.

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Packet Pg. 1513 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Reinforced support beams on east elevation. Bracing was added at beam intersections as additional seismic reinforcement after the Northridge Earthquake.

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Packet Pg. 1514 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Pedestrian gate on south elevation. Old and new pilasters juxtaposed. New pilasters have tapered black metal caps.

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Packet Pg. 1515 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Fencing along south edge of parcel connecting the two historic structures.

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Packet Pg. 1516 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. View of property from south-west corner.

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Packet Pg. 1517 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Wide view of entire west edge of parcel.

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Packet Pg. 1518 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. View of interior courtyard through vehicular gate on the north side of the west edge of the parcel off the alley.

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Packet Pg. 1519 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Views into courtyard from vehicular gate in alley.

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Packet Pg. 1520 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Vehicular gate.

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Packet Pg. 1521 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 23, 2021. Vehicular gate and north elevation of west building.

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Packet Pg. 1522 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 2021. Google views inside courtyard, facing west.

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Packet Pg. 1523 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 April 2021. Google views inside courtyard, north (top) and east (bottom).

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Packet Pg. 1524 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application June 2021 Comparables. In a district that once proliferated with single story brick commercial industrial buildings, only three remain standing today, the subject property, 1557 7th Street (above), and 501 Broadway Avenue (below). Both structures pictured above have already been approved for demolition and replacement projects are in the process of obtaining entitlements.

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Packet Pg. 1525 Attachment: Designation Application 631 Colorado (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Landmark Assessment Report
Date: January 3, 2021
For: Stephanie Reich, Design and Historic Preservation Planner Subject: 631 Colorado Avenue
From: Emma Haggerty, Associate Architectural Historian
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ Executive Summary
The property at 631 Colorado Avenue is occupied by an industrial vernacular warehouse and an auxiliary building that were built in 1937 and 1941, respectively. Prior historical resource inventories and surveys of Santa Monica did not identify the property as appearing individually eligible for Santa Monica Landmark listing, a Structure of Merit, or contributing to a potential historic district.

However, the property was identified in the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Update and assigned a status code of 5S3, indicating that the property appeared to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica.

The current property owner filed a Demolition Application with the City of Santa Monica (City) in February 2021 and a Landmark Application was subsequently submitted in May 2021. As part of the interim demolition permit review process for properties over 40 years of age, GPA Consulting (GPA) has been retained by the City of Santa Monica (City) to prepare this Landmark Assessment Report to determine if the property appears to be eligible for designation, and if so, under which criteria.

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Packet Pg. 1526 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 2 GPA evaluated the two buildings on the property under the six Santa Monica Landmark criteria as well as the Structure of Merit criteria. As a result of this analysis, GPA concludes that the property does not appear to be significant under any local criteria, and therefore does not appear to be eligible for designation as a Santa Monica Landmark. The subject property also does not appear to merit recognition as a Structure of Merit. Although the property was identified in the 2018 HRI, further analysis has revealed that the property does not retain integrity or rise to the level of significance to be eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark or Structure of Merit.

Introduction
The purpose of this report is to evaluate the property located at 631 Colorado Avenue as a Santa Monica Landmark as part of the interim demolition permit review process. The property is located on a corner lot at Colorado Avenue and 7th Street in the City of Santa Monica (see Figure 2). This area is part of the Downtown neighborhood that includes the southern portion of the original township which was subdivided in 1875.1 The property comprises one legal parcel (Los Angeles County Assessor’s Parcel No. 4291-023-009).

Prior historical resource inventories and surveys of Santa Monica have not identified the property as individually eligible for Santa Monica Landmark listing, a Structure of Merit, or contributing to a potential historic district; however, the property was identified in the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) as appearing eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica and being one of one of relatively few extant industrial buildings in this area from the pre‐World War II period.

Emma Haggerty was responsible for the preparation of this report. She fulfills the qualifications of a historic preservation professional outlined in Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 61.

Her résumé is included as Attachment A.
1 Architectural Resources Group and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update Survey Report (Santa Monica: City of Santa Monica Planning and Community Development, August 9, 2019), 40.

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Packet Pg. 1527 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 3 Figure 2: 631 Colorado Avenue indicated with black outline. Base image courtesy of LA County GIS.

Methodology
In preparing this report, GPA performed the following tasks:

1. Reviewed existing information, including the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update and the Demolition Application.

2. Conducted a field inspection of the property on December 2, 2021. Digital photographs of the exterior of the buildings were taken during this field inspection.

3. Conducted research into the history of the property. Sources referenced included building permit records, city directories, newspaper archives, genealogical databases, and historic maps.

4. Reviewed and analyzed ordinances, statutes, regulations, bulletins, and technical materials relating to federal, state, and local historic preservation designations, and

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Packet Pg. 1528 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 4 assessment processes and programs to evaluate the property for significance as a Santa Monica Landmark.

5. Evaluated the property under the Santa Monica Landmark and Structure of Merit criteria.

Historic Context2
African American Community (c. 1900-1977)
Black settlement in Santa Monica generally followed Los Angeles County-wide trends, including the early establishment of community institutions, residential segregation based on discriminatory practices, and the impacts of the civil rights movement. In the past, African Americans have represented the largest of the ethnic minorities residing in Santa Monica, and the community has a rich history and deeply entrenched roots within the city. The construction of the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) and the development of the Civic Center all but decimated the postwar African American community, and therefore many resources relating to this theme are no longer extant. The majority of the extant resources related to this theme are found in the Pico or Ocean Park neighborhoods of the city.
… The first African Americans arrived in Santa Monica in the late 19th century, “seduced by the escapism of the sand-and-surf resort town…” They settled between 2nd and 6th Streets (present day Civic Center), in proximity to Phillips Chapel, home to the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (today the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church). The local congregation was founded in 1908 and presided over by Pastor J.A. Stout. It operated out of an old schoolhouse ultimately named Phillips Chapel, after Bishop Charles H. Phillips of the Colored Methodist Episcopal church’s Fifth Episcopal District. Following the establishment of the chapel, it was relocated to 2001 4th Street (City of Santa Monica Landmark #68), near the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica… Between 1910 and 1920, Santa Monica’s [Black] population increased from 191 to 282. In addition to the Phillip’s Chapel community, African Americans began settling in the working-class Pico neighborhood.

Though members of the [Black] community succeeded early on in creating a sense of place within Santa Monica, they never fully escaped [anti-Black] prejudice and racial intolerance, which only increased during the 1920s. African Americans faced residential discrimination and exclusion from most social and commercial enterprises, though blatant segregation and even racially-triggered violence was perhaps most experienced in the region’s public recreational spaces. During the 1920s, black residents in the City of Los Angeles were prohibited from using public swimming pools, except on the day before the pools were cleaned, and most 2 The following, unless otherwise noted, is excerpted from Architectural Resources Group and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update Survey Report (Santa Monica: City of Santa Monica Planning and Community Development, August 9, 2019).

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Packet Pg. 1529 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 5 beaches in Los Angeles County were considered off-limits to African Americans, whether by formal ordinance, informal signage, or an unspoken understanding. … African Americans, like other ethnic minorities in Santa Monica, experienced ongoing prejudice into the 1930s as segregation became implicit, and increased competition for jobs spurred by the Great Depression made white citizens even less hospitable to minorities. However, a critical need for labor during World War II, exacerbated by existing discriminatory hiring practices, prompted the issuance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 Executive Order 8802, which “forbade discrimination in wartime defense industries and created the Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) to investigate charges of racial discrimination.” The removal of such practices allowed [African Americans] to work in certain industries like aviation, from which they had previously been excluded. By 1942, the Douglas Aircraft plant in Santa Monica began hiring African American workers and by war’s end, over 2,000 worked at the plant.631 This turn of events drew more [Black residents] to Southern California, and Los Angeles gained an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 new arrivals each month by the summer of 1943; in Santa Monica, the [Black] population rose from approximately 500 before the war to more than 4,000 by 1960. Though African Americans were still discriminated against within the workforce, their contributions to war production facilitated better wages and a sense of liberation that lasted into the postwar period.

Prior to the construction of 631 Colorado Avenue, the subject property contained four residential cottages and two outbuildings.3 The City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Application for the subject property notes that Etta Moxley lived in one of the four cottages.4 Moxley was a prominent African American Santa Monica resident who was heavily involved in various organizations, clubs, and philanthropic endeavors for the betterment of the African American community throughout her lifetime.5
The displacement and removal of African American communities is not unique to Santa Monica and was a pervasive practice throughout the United States with long-lasting and devastating consequences. However, since the existing buildings were constructed after the demolition of the residential cottages, Moxley does not have any association with the subject property at this time.

Because the built environment only reflects certain aspects of the importance a community, space, or neighborhood may have, place-based historic designation programs do not fully or accurately capture history that may be intangible or lost. Historic preservation planning is just one of many tools for recognizing social, cultural, and historical value. Other strategies to employ may 3 Sanborn Map Company, Santa Monica, California, Sheet 38, 1918, accessed December 2021, www.proquest.com. 4 Nina Fresco, "City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Application - 631 Colorado Avenue," May 20, 2021, 1-73.
5 Ibid.

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Packet Pg. 1530 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 6 include historical markers, mapping programs, oral history projects, public art, events, walking tours, and close collaboration with advocacy groups.

Pre-World War II Industrial Development (1920-1941) (Overview) In the 1920s, Santa Monica’s population jumped from 15,000 to 37,000, the largest increase in the city’s history.

The aviation industry played a significant role in the growth and development of Santa Monica in the early 20th century. Santa Monica had been a distinctly nonindustrial city until the 1930s. A 1924 map of the Los Angeles area showed no industries in Santa Monica with more than twenty-five employees. However, beginning in the 1920s, aircraft companies established or relocated operations to Southern California, which offered expanses of open, undeveloped land, favorable climatic conditions, and adequate infrastructure, including water, power, and transportation systems to support development of factories, testing facilities, and new housing for a rapidly expanding workforce. Growth of aviation and aerospace industries in Los Angeles County can be attributed to civic boosterism, which promoted the region’s natural advantages, including weather conducive to year-round flying and outdoor construction of airplanes. …Though most resources from this period are no longer extant, Santa Monica’s industrial development during this period provided the foundation for rampant expansion during and after World War II.

In addition to industrial buildings associated with the aviation industry, other light industrial uses from the period can be found in the industrially zoned portions of the city. These buildings are typically vernacular in style, and early factory buildings may include daylight or controlled-condition factory buildings, warehouse buildings, and other types that support light industrial uses.

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Packet Pg. 1531 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 7 Industrial Vernacular
The term “Industrial Vernacular” is used to describe simple industrial buildings with little or no distinguishing decorative features. These buildings are characterized by their utilitarian design, prosaic materials, and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles. There are two sub-types of industrial vernacular factory buildings: daylight factories and controlled condition factories. Daylight factories were common prior to the widespread use of electric lighting, when controlling and capitalizing on daylight was a necessary component in the design of manufacturing buildings. Daylight was brought into the building using a variety of methods, including expansive industrial sash windows, orientation of intensive hand work next to the exterior walls of the building, skylights, and specialized roof forms to bring light into the interior.

With the development of better illumination from fluorescent bulbs, manufacturers changed their focus in design from capitalizing on available light to controlling lighting and ventilation through closed systems. Controlled conditions factories are distinguished by their minimal use of windows for light and ventilation. While some windows may be located on the front-facing façade or on an attached office, the building relies on internal systems for circulation and climate control.

Character-defining features include:
• Square or rectangular plan and simple massing
• One- or two-story height
• Flat, truss, or sawtooth roof, usually with parapet; roof monitors, skylights or clerestory windows
• Brick masonry construction, expressed or veneered in cement plaster • Divided-light, steel-sash awning, hopper, or double-hung windows • Loading docks and doors
• Oversized bays of continuous industrial steel sash on two or more façades (daylight factory)
• Lack of fenestration or sky-lighting (controlled conditions factory) • Architecturally notable entrance or overall design (controlled conditions factory)
Art Deco
Art Deco originated in France in the 1910s as an experimental movement in architecture and the decorative arts. It developed into a major style when it was first exhibited in Paris at the 1925 Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, from which it takes its name. The Exposition’s organizers had insisted on the creation of a new, modern aesthetic. The architecture of the Art Deco movement rejected the rigid organizational methods and classical ornamentation of the Beaux Arts style. It emphasized a soaring verticality through the use of stepped towers, spires, and fluted or reeded piers, and embraced highly stylized geometric, floral and

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Packet Pg. 1532 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 8 figurative motifs as decorative elements on both the exterior and interior. Ornate metalwork, especially aluminum, glazed terra cotta tiles, and bright colors were hallmarks of the style.

Art Deco was the first popular style in the United States that consciously rejected historical precedents. It was instead a product of the Machine Age and took its inspiration from industry and transportation. It was only briefly popular in Santa Monica, from the late 1920s until the late 1930s, and was employed primarily in commercial and institutional buildings, and occasionally in multi-family residential buildings. It was rarely used for single-family residences. By the mid-1930s, in the depths of the Great Depression, the highly decorated style was already viewed as garish and overwrought, and it was soon abandoned in favor of the cleaner, simpler Streamline Moderne style.

Character-defining features include:
• Vertical emphasis
• Smooth wall surfaces, usually of plaster
• Flat roofs with decorative parapets or towers
• Stylized decorative floral and figurative elements in cast stone, glazed terra cotta tiles, or aluminum
• Geometric decorative motifs such as zigzags and chevrons • Stepped towers, piers, and other vertical elements
• Metal windows, usually fixed or casement
Streamline Moderne/PWA Moderne
The constraints of the Great Depression cut short the development of Art Deco architecture, but replaced it with a purer expression of modernity, the Streamline Moderne. Characterized by smooth surfaces, curved corners, and sweeping horizontal lines, Streamline Moderne is considered to be the first thoroughly Modern architectural style to achieve wide acceptance among the American public.

Inspired by the industrial designs of the period, the style was popular throughout the United States in the late 1930s. Unlike the equally modern but highly ornamental Art Deco style of the late 1920s, Streamline Moderne was perceived as expressing an austerity more appropriate for Depression-era architecture. The prime movers behind the Streamline Moderne style such as Raymond Loewy, Walter Dorwin Teague, Gilbert Rohde, and Norman Bel Geddes all disliked Art Deco, seeing it as falsely modern.

The origins of the Streamline Moderne are rooted in transportation design, which took the curved form of the teardrop, because it was the most efficient shape in lowering the wind resistance of an object. Product designers and architects who wanted to express efficiency borrowed the streamlined shape of cars, planes, trains, and ocean liners. Streamline Moderne architecture looked efficient in its clean lines. It was in fact relatively inexpensive to build because there was little labor-intensive ornament like terra cotta; exteriors tended to be concrete or

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Packet Pg. 1533 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 9 plaster. The Streamline Moderne’s finest hour was the New York World’s Fair of 1939-

40. Here, the “World of Tomorrow” showcased the cars and cities of the future, a robot, a microwave oven, and a television, all in streamlined pavilions. While the style was popular throughout Southern California during the 1930s, there are relatively few examples simply because there was so little construction activity during the Depression.

Art Deco and Streamline Moderne were not necessarily opposites. A Streamline Moderne building incorporating some Art Deco elements was not uncommon, particularly in the Federally-funded projects of the Works Progress Administration.

The buildings executed under those programs are often referred to as PWA Moderne. They incorporate the clean lines of Streamline Moderne with simplified decorative elements of Art Deco to create an appropriately monumental but restrained architectural language for post offices, courthouses, schools, libraries, city halls, bridges, and other institutional and infrastructure projects across the country.

Character-defining features include:
• Horizontal emphasis
• Asymmetrical façade
• Flat roof with coping
• Smooth plaster wall surfaces
• Curved end walls and corners
• Glass block and porthole windows
• Flat canopy over entrances
• Fluted or reeded moldings or stringcourses
• Pipe railings along exterior staircases and balconies • Steel sash windows
Reinforced Brick Masonry
Reinforced brick masonry (RBM) refers to brick masonry construction reinforced with steel to improve the brick’s tensile strength. Different RBM techniques have been utilized for hundreds of years, but some of the most significant advancements in the United States occurred after the Long Beach Earthquake in 1933. Safer and more resilient construction techniques were researched, developed, and later codified in response to the dangers of unreinforced masonry buildings.6 6 National Research Council, Modern Masonry: Natural Stone and Clay Products (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1956), 32-45, accessed December 2, 2021, https://doi.org/10.17226/9551; The Brick Industry Association, “Technical Notes 17 – Reinforced Brick Masonry,” October 1996, accessed December 2, 2021, https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-researchdocuments/technicalnotes/17-reinforced-brick-masonry---introduction.pdf?sfvrsn=0.

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Packet Pg. 1534 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 10 As a part of this research and experimentation, masonry units with new, specialized shapes were developed and used for construction. Two of those shapes included Groutlock and Port Costa Key bricks. Groutlock bricks were irregularly shaped with beveled edges on one side which, when stacked, would allow space for both horizontal and vertical reinforcements (see Figure 3). Port Costa Key bricks featured two centralized notches along the stretcher (see Figure 4). Both types of brick were advertised and used throughout Southern California for institutional and commercial construction following the 1933 earthquake.7
Figure 3: Illustration of Groutlock brick, circled.

National Research Council, 35.

Figure 4: Illustration of Porta Costa Key brick,
circled. National Research Council, 35.
7 National Research Council, 32.

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Packet Pg. 1535 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 11 Figure 5: Detail view of brick on south elevation.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Figure 6: Detail view of brick on west elevation.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Research indicates that the use of these brick shapes fell out of favor in the 1950s when research demonstrated that a structurally sound building depended not only the brick, but the type of mortar used, and proper workmanship and construction techniques. That is, there was no need for these special shaped bricks so long as a skilled bricklayer completed the construction.8 While the 1937 building permit identifies the Main Building as being built with Groutlock bricks, no visible Groutlock bricks were observed during a physical assessment of the property; however, a few examples of what appear to be notched Port Costa Key bricks were observed (see Figure 5 and Figure 6).

Property History
The property located at 631 Colorado Avenue is currently occupied by the main, industrial warehouse (Main Building, for the purposes of this report) on the eastern portion of the parcel and an auxiliary building (Auxiliary Building, for the purposes of this report) to the west which were built in 1937 and 1941, respectively. The property originally featured a Wine Storage Building, a wood framed platform, and a wooden addition to the Main Building’s west elevation, forming a Ushaped configuration with open space along Colorado Avenue (see Figure 7). 8 Ibid., 36.

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Packet Pg. 1536 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 12 Figure 7: 1950 Sanborn Map, 631 Colorado Avenue.

The building permit for the Main Building was issued to the “A.B.C Distribution Co.” (Aztec Brewing Company) in 1937 for the construction of a 50 by 100-foot brick building with composition roofing.

Research did not reveal an architect, engineer, or builder. In 1941, the building permit for what is now the Auxiliary Building, located on the corner of Colorado Avenue and a rear alleyway, was issued for the construction of a 25 by 42-foot loading canopy with composition roofing. The exterior materials were not noted on the building permit application but the architect, Frederic Barienbrock, was listed. However, Sanborn Maps from 1950 indicate the canopy was also made of brick with a composite roof supported by steel beams. The maps also indicate that a small wooden platform with composite roofing was present on the fifth bay of the west elevation of the Main Building. In 1947, the canopy that is now the Auxiliary Building was altered to include an interior loading platform and exterior doors.

From 1955-1956, the Aerophysics Development Corporation owned the property and during their ownership, they sandblasted both buildings and made minor interior tenant improvements that did not alter the exterior of either building or the parcel. The following owner, Keystone Body Works, owned the property from 1957-1994. During their ownership, the company added a rear one-story addition to the Main Building along the alleyway in 1957, a free-standing canopy and signage in 1958, a new privacy wall made of concrete block along the west elevation of the property against

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Packet Pg. 1537 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 13 the alleyway in 1959 and removed the small wooden platform from the fifth bay of the Main Building sometime between 1950-1963. After 1963, a one-story, scored-stucco clad addition with fenestration consisting of large divided lite windows was added to the rear of the west elevation of the Auxiliary Building.

The addition and canopy on the Main Building were removed in 1996 during a tenant improvement project by new owners, Bandit Films. In 1997, both buildings were sandblasted and in 1998, a 730-square foot, second-story addition was completed along the entire north elevation of the Main Building as well as a contemporary privacy fence along Colorado Avenue and the rear alleyway. In 2002, the current owner of the property, Bay Films, added landscaping to the north of the main entrance on the Main Building’s west elevation and along both sides of the fence along Colorado Avenue.

Property Description
The property at 631 Colorado Avenue is located on a corner parcel bound by Colorado Avenue to the south, 7th Street to the east, a separate parcel to the north, and an alleyway to the west.

The parcel contains two buildings, the Main Building located on the eastern side of the parcel and the Auxiliary Building located in the western corner. The property features limited landscaped areas with mature trees and hedges planted directly along the Colorado Avenue property line and around the main entrance of the Main Building and Auxiliary Building for added privacy. The remainder of the parcel is covered in asphalt paving that has been divided into parking spaces which are not visible from the public-right-of way due the mature landscaping and modern fence with Art Deco-inspired piers and wrought iron posts that runs along Colorado Avenue.

Main Building
The Main Building was built in 1937 on the corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street as an industrial vernacular warehouse with Art Deco and Streamline Moderne influences. It is rectangular in plan with its shorter elevation facing Colorado Avenue. The building is one story in height with a twostory addition and barrel truss roof partially obscured by a raised parapet. The top of the barrel truss extends above the parapet, revealing eight evenly spaced skylights and three HVAC systems surrounded by corrugated screening.

The southern-facing façade along Colorado Street is of masonry construction and separated into three bays by reinforced concrete piers with four vertical score lines and a three-tiered square cap that extends above the parapet. The three bays feature 12-over-4 divided lite steel windows with operable sashes. The concrete cladding above the windows is embossed with horizontal speed lines and displays the signage for the current tenants.

The east elevation facing 7th Street lies directly on the property line and features an exposed brick façade separated into six distinct bays divided by vertical reinforced concrete columns that are flush with the wall and intersect a horizontal beam that runs along the entire elevation. Within the first bay, on the corner of the 7th Street, is a large 6-over-4 divided lite steel window followed by a rectangular 2-over-2 divided lite steel window to the north, both with operable sashes. The remaining five bays feature a continuation of the masonry, a flat parapet, and a centralized 4-

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Packet Pg. 1538 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 14 over-2 divided lite steel windows with operable sashes. The last bay features a second story addition that includes two 3-over-3 divided lite steel windows with operable sashes and brick cladding with a simple parapet, similar to the original construction. At the northeast corner, there is a concrete column.

The north elevation lies directly on the adjacent property line and is clad in a continuation of brick.

The second-story addition runs the entire length of the north elevation and is clad in smooth concrete with four evenly separated horizontal score lines. The north elevation abuts the neighboring property and is not fully visible. The west elevation of the Main Building facing the interior of the property is divided into six separate bays like the east elevation, with the two bays closest to Colorado Avenue featuring a centralized 4-over-2 and 3-over-3 divided lite steel window with operable sashes. The middle bay features an inset contemporary entryway with a solid singular door surrounded by sidelights and a transom with fourteen divided lights and opaque glazing. The fourth bay matches bays one and two, while the fifth bay features a large divided lite window. The sixth bay features a projecting one-story addition that was completed c. 1980. The addition consists of full height divided light windows between concrete columns. The top of the addition is a flat roof deck surrounded by a metal railing. The second-story addition opens onto the roof deck. The sixth bay also gives visibility to the second story addition which runs flush with the original building footprint and is clad in brick. Overall, the building appears to be in good condition.

Auxiliary Building
The Auxiliary Building was originally constructed in 1941 as a loading canopy for the Aztec Brewing Company’s operations. It is a one-story building that is rectangular in plan with a flat, composition roof. The south elevation facing Colorado Avenue features a brick façade with a horizontal, reinforced concrete beam flush with the wall surface flanked by two vertical smooth concrete columns with three-tiered caps. The concrete columns are likely replacements or later additions as they are not identified on Sanborn Maps, and do not match the design of the columns on the Main Building. The south elevation does not feature any exterior doors, windows, or additional decorative elements.

The east elevation facing the interior of the property features a smooth concrete façade with five bays. The three bays closest to Colorado Avenue feature large, square divided lite steel sash windows and the fourth bay features a deeply inset contemporary entrance door. The last bay on the east elevation features another square window.

The north elevation is limited in its exterior details but features a smooth concrete wall with a singular horizontal score line running across the upper portion of the wall, indicating the lower portion of the wall may have been infilled at one point. At the east edge of the roofline there is a metal ladder. The corners of the north elevation are also flanked by concrete columns matching those found on the south elevation.

The rear, west elevation facing the alley matches the north elevation in design, materials, and horizontal score line which runs the entire length of the elevation. Overall, this modified Auxiliary Building appears to also be in good condition.

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Packet Pg. 1539 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 15 Evaluation for Local Landmark Designation
Per §9.56.100(A) of the Santa Monica Landmarks and Historic Districts Ordinance (adopted in 1976 and later amended in 1987, 1991, and most recently 2015), a property merits consideration as a Landmark if it satisfies one or more of six statutory criteria. The following discussion considers the significance of 631 Colorado Avenue under each criterion.

Criterion 1: It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history.

The property does not exemplify, symbolize, or manifest elements of the cultural, social, economic, political, or architectural history or development of Santa Monica.

The existing buildings were constructed in what was once an African American residential neighborhood, replacing four residential cottages and two outbuildings.9 As such, the residential and outbuildings related to the cultural and social history of this area are no longer extant, and the existing buildings do not share the same association.

The subject property is one of the first industrial buildings built in this specific southeast area of downtown but does not appear to be a significant aspect of the larger trend of industrial development in Downtown or Santa Monica as a whole. Industrial buildings were being built throughout the City in the pre-war era, particularly in the nearby Pico neighborhood, in large groupings around and adjacent to transportation outlets.10 Furthermore, the property’s original use as a distributor for the Aztec Brewing Company does not exemplify the economic development patterns Santa Monica was experiencing at this time. As mentioned above, Santa Monica’s aviation industry was the primary source of industrial development prior to World War II.

The City of Santa Monica was not known for its alcohol distribution nor is this building the headquarters or a notable location for the Aztec Brewing Company’s operations, which included various distribution warehouses throughout the Southwest. Additionally, the two existing buildings on the parcel were built as part of a collection of three buildings with a wood-framed platform that all served a specific purpose in the distribution of alcoholic beverages. As a result of the loss of the third building and rear platform, as well as the infill of the Auxiliary Building that was originally a loading canopy and addition of fencing along Colorado Avenue, the site no longer reads as an alcohol distribution center.

Constructed in the industrial vernacular style, the Main Building lacks the primary character defining features that would qualify it as a light industrial building, such as loading docks and doors, and oversized bays of continuous industrial steel sash on two or more façades. Neither building on the site is a notable example of the Art Deco or Streamline Moderne styles, and there is no evidence to suggest this building was influential to the architectural development of the city.

Therefore, neither building at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be significant under Criterion 1. 9 Sanborn Map Company, Santa Monica, California, Sheet 38, 1918, accessed December 2021, www.proquest.com. 10 Architectural Resources Group and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update Survey Report, 52.

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Packet Pg. 1540 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 16 Criterion 2: It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

Both buildings located at 631 Colorado Avenue were constructed for industrial, utilitarian purposes. Thousands of industrial buildings were constructed throughout Southern California during pre- and post-World War II building booms. As such, the buildings do not possess special aesthetic or artistic interest or value, and do not appear to be significant under Criterion 2.

Criterion 3: It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history.

The existing buildings were constructed in what was once an African American neighborhood, replacing four residential cottages and two outbuildings. The City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Application for the subject property notes that Etta Moxley, a prominent figure in the African American community, lived in one of the four residential cottages.11 Since the residential and outbuildings related to this cultural and social history are no longer extant, the existing buildings on the property do not share the same association.

The Aztec Brewing Company obtained the permits for both buildings currently on site. Following the end of Prohibition, the Aztec Brewing Company had various distribution warehouses throughout the Southwest. Research did not reveal any evidence to suggest that the Aztec Brewing Company was owned or operated by any historic personages.

Research did not reveal any evidence to suggest that the remaining businesses associated with the site were owned or operated by historically significant individuals. Research also did not reveal any evidence of association with an important historic event.

Therefore, neither building at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be significant under Criterion 3.

Criterion 4: It embodies the distinguishing characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

Both buildings located at 631 Colorado Avenue are examples of industrial vernacular construction in the years prior and during World War II. Industrial buildings constructed during this time featured limited exterior details as they were not intended to attract pedestrians for commercial use and were utilitarian by nature. While the modest use of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne elements is visible on both buildings, the few features alone do not make these buildings notable examples of the Art Deco or Streamline Moderne styles. They lack the more distinguishing characteristics of Art Deco, such as smooth cladding, stylized or geometric decorative elements, ornate metalwork, material such as colorful glazed terra cotta, or an emphasis on verticality. Similarly, the buildings do not possess the distinguishing characteristics of the Streamline Moderne style, which would include features such as curved surfaces, glass block and porthole windows, asymmetrical arrangement of features, and accents such as pipe railings and flat canopies. The construction and features of both structures are not notable in any way, and have been modified over time. 11 Fresco, 1-73.

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Packet Pg. 1541 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 17 Lastly, as indicated on 1950 Sanborn Maps around Santa Monica’s industrial cores, such as along rail lines or present-day freeways, brick industrial buildings were not a rarity for the City.

On the original permit for the Main Building, the construction material is indicated as Groutlock brick, a building material produced by the Simons Brick Company. However, a physical assessment of the site indicates that the brick is not an example of Groutlock, but rather another type of grouted masonry, described as Port Costa Key (see Figure 3 through Figure 6). A few scattered examples of what appear to be the Port Costa Key bricks are visible and have stepped notching at the top of the brick. Although this building material is visible, it was not used for the entire building, or if it was, only a few examples of this type of brick are visible from the exterior. As discussed above, many solutions for increasing the earthquake resistance of masonry buildings were explored in the aftermath of the Long Beach Earthquake, including experimentation with new masonry shapes. These shapes included the Groutlock brick, which had a diagonal or beveled edge, and the Port Costa Key brick, which had interlocking “notches.” However, subsequent engineering studies in the decades after World War II revealed that a special masonry shape was not necessary when good workmanship and an appropriate mortar mix was employed, and the new masonry shapes ostensibly fell out of use. The Groutlock and Port Costa Key bricks were a short-lived experiment in construction technology following the Long Beach earthquake. Research did not indicate that they were ever widely used or influential to later developments in construction technology. As such, it does not appear that the use of these brick shapes was an important building technique.

Therefore, neither building at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be significant under Criterion 4.

Criterion 5: It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer, or architect.

Research into the construction history of 631 Colorado Avenue did not reveal the name of the architect or the builder for the Main Building. The architect for the Auxiliary Building was identified on the 1941 building permit as Frederic Barienbrock. Frederick Barienbrock was a local architect that worked in Santa Monica for 50 years.12 Barienbrock was responsible for the designs of 1725 Main Street, 827 6th Street, 829 6th Street, and the 1951 addition to the Santa Monica Courthouse and County Building wing of the Santa Monica Civic Center.13 While Barienbrock appears to have been a successful local architect, the utilitarian canopy would not be a notable example of his work, and it no longer conveys its original design intent due to modifications on all elevations.

Therefore, neither building at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be significant under Criterion 5. 12 Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940" California Arts and Architecture list, 1932; City Directory; Death record. 13 Architectural Resources Group and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update Survey Report, Appendix B: Individual Resources, 33-56; Wuellner, Margarita J.

Tech. Character Defining Features Analysis Santa Monica City Hall Landscape and Grounds - 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, California, 2011.

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Packet Pg. 1542 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 18 Criterion 6: It has a unique location, a singular visual characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City.

The property located at 631 Colorado Avenue is located in a portion of Santa Monica’s original township that is now referred to as the Downtown neighborhood. The property is surrounded by residential, commercial, and industrial properties ranging from one to four stories in height. The subject property is an unremarkable infill site that, although part of the original township, does not appear to be an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood or City.

Therefore, neither building at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be significant under Criterion 6.

Summary
Neither building located at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be eligible for listing under any of the Santa Monica Landmark Criteria. The buildings are further evaluated for listing as a Structure of Merit below.

Evaluation for Structure of Merit Designation
Per §9.56.080 of the Santa Monica Landmarks and Historic Districts Ordinance, an improvement may be designated a Structure of Merit if the Landmarks Commission determines that it merits official recognition for possessing at least one of two characteristics. The following discussion considers whether the property at 631 Colorado Avenue possesses these characteristics.

A: The structure has been identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory.

The property at 631 Colorado Avenue was individually identified in the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Update and assigned a status code of 5S3, indicating that the property appeared to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica and being one of one of relatively few extant industrial buildings in this area from the pre‐World War II period.

However, based on further analysis, the property does not appear to merit designation.

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Packet Pg. 1543 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 19 B: The structure is a minimum of 50 years of age and meets one of the following criteria:

B1. The structure is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type.

The property at 631 Colorado Avenue is over fifty years of age, but it is not a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail, or historical type. As discussed above, the buildings are industrial vernacular buildings with utilitarian purposes that are ubiquitous throughout Santa Monica’s industrial areas, such as the Pico neighborhood, and Southern California as a whole.

B2. The structure is representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent.

The subject property represents the industrial vernacular style which is still represented in the City in large numbers. While the resource is one of the few remaining industrial buildings in the southeastern portion of the Downtown, it is not rare when considered with the larger inventory of buildings in the industrial areas of Santa Monica. Industrial development in this area was not as historically prevalent in Downtown as other areas in the city, such as the Pico neighborhood. Further north on Colorado Avenue there are numerous extant examples of similarly scaled industrial development (see Appendix F).

B3. The structure contributes to a potential Historic District.

The subject property is not located within any previously identified potential historic district, and a historic district is unlikely to exist in the area surrounding 631 Colorado Avenue. The subject property is surrounded by commercial, industrial, and multi-family buildings of various styles, sizes, and construction dates. They are not visually or historically unified and do not form a significant or cohesive grouping.

Summary
Neither building located at 631 Colorado Avenue appears to be eligible for listing as a Structure of Merit.

Integrity Analysis
It is standard practice to assess a property’s integrity as part of a historic evaluation. Integrity is a property’s ability to convey its historic significance through its physical features. National Register Bulletin #15 defines seven aspects of integrity: Location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. In order to convey significance, a property must retain some combination of these aspects of integrity from its period of significance. The aspects of integrity that are essential vary depending on the significance of the resource.

Location: The place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred.

The property retains integrity of location as the existing buildings have not been moved.

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Packet Pg. 1544 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 20 Design: The combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of the property.

The property does not retain integrity of design. The Main Building’s integrity of design has been lost as a result of modifications over time, including a second story addition, construction of a modified, contemporary styled recessed entryway, and a new one-story addition on the west elevation. The Main Building no longer reflects an industrial alcohol distribution center and currently conveys the feeling of an office space. The Auxiliary Building also does not retain integrity of design, as it has been essentially reconstructed over time and is now a fully enclosed building that no longer reflects its original function as an industrial loading canopy. The property as a whole no longer retains integrity of design as the rear wine storage building and raised wooden platform noted on the 1950 Sanborn Map related to the site’s use as an alcohol distribution center have been removed, access to the site from Colorado Avenue has been fenced off, and the remainder of the parcel has been paved and divided into parking spaces with added landscaping.

Therefore, 631 Colorado Boulevard no longer retains integrity of design.

Setting: The physical environment of a historic property.

The integrity of the property’s immediate setting has been diminished, as original buildings on the parcel, such as the rear raised platform and wine storage noted on the 1950 Sanborn Map, have been removed, and the site surrounding the buildings has been converted into surface parking with contemporary landscaping. Additionally, the original access point from Colorado Avenue has been enclosed with a contemporary fence and the curb cut has been removed, forcing access to the site to the rear alleyway. The surrounding setting neighborhood has also changed through the continued development of the surrounding area throughout the twentieth century, including infill construction and redevelopment with a combination of new and old residential, commercial, and industrial buildings as well as the recently constructed Expo Line. Therefore, 631 Colorado Avenue no longer retains integrity of setting.

Materials: The physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property.

The property does not retain integrity of materials. The Main Building retains key elements such as reinforced concrete, steel windows, and masonry walls, but the integrity of materials has been diminished by the introduction of new features, including a contemporary entryway. The Auxiliary Building does not retain integrity of materials as its original materials were removed when three out of its four elevations were infilled. Therefore, 631 Colorado Avenue no longer retains integrity of materials.

Workmanship: The physical evidence or the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory.

The property does not retain integrity of workmanship. The integrity of workmanship for the Main Building has been diminished by modifications to the exterior over time, including sandblasting of all façades. The Auxiliary Building does not retain integrity of workmanship as it has been largely reconstructed over time. Therefore, the property as a whole no longer retains integrity of workmanship.

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Packet Pg. 1545 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 21 Feeling: A property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time.

The property no longer retains integrity of feeling. As a result of the modifications to the property, it no longer evokes the sense of a prewar industrial warehouse and distribution center.

Association: The direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property.

The integrity of association does not apply to either building, as there are no historic associations for the physical integrity to convey.

Summary
While the Main Building retains some aspects of physical integrity, its overall integrity has been diminished through exterior modifications, including two additions, sandblasting, and the introduction of contemporary new elements. The Auxiliary Building does not retain integrity as it has been largely reconstructed, and the integrity of the site overall has been lost through the demolition of buildings and structures associated with the alcohol distribution operation, reconfiguration of its street access, enclosure with a privacy fence, and contemporary paving and landscaping for the surface parking lot. As a result, the property no longer retains sufficient physical integrity to reflect its original use.

Conclusions
The property at 631 Colorado Avenue does not appear to be eligible under any of the Santa Monica Landmark Criteria, nor does it appear to merit recognition as a Structure of Merit. The property was identified as individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica.

However, during the additional analysis conducted for this report, it was revealed that the grouping of industrial buildings at 631 Colorado Avenue has been modified and does not have an important association with a significant aspect of Santa Monica’s industrial history. In the event the property had retained its original design and configuration, the property as a whole would still be an example of a ubiquitous, industrial property type in Santa Monica and Southern California that does not possess the distinctive characteristics of a specific style or property type. Research did not reveal any other potential significant associations with important persons or events, or the cultural, social, economic, political, or architectural history of Santa Monica, and the property does not appear likely to contribute to a potential historic district.

Therefore, GPA concludes that neither building on the property appears to warrant designation as a Landmark or Structure of Merit.

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Packet Pg. 1546 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 22 Sources
Ancestry.com. Various digital collections.

Architectural Resources Group and Historic Resources Group. City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update Survey Report. Santa Monica: City of Santa Monica Planning and Community Development, August 9, 2019.

The Brick Industry Association. “Technical Notes 17 – Reinforced Brick Masonry.” October 1996.

Accessed December 2, 2021, https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/readresearch-documents/technicalnotes/17-reinforced-brick-masonry--- introduction.pdf?sfvrsn=0.

Fresco, Nina. "City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Application - 631 Colorado Avenue." May 20, 2021, 1-73.

Hughes, Edan. Artists in California, 1786-1940. California Arts and Architecture list, 1932; City Directory; Death record.

National Research Council. Modern Masonry: Natural Stone and Clay Product. Washington, DC:

The National Academies Press, 1956. Accessed December 2, 2021. https://doi.org/10.17226/9551.

Sanborn Map Company. Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, 1918. Accessed December 2021. www.proquest.com.

Wuellner, Margarita J. Tech. Character Defining Features Analysis Santa Monica City Hall Landscape and Grounds - 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, California, 2011.

Attachments
Attachment A: Résumé
Attachment B: Photographs
Attachment C: City Directory Listings
Attachment D: Sanborn Maps
Attachment E: Building Permits
Attachment F: Low-Rise Industrial Development

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Packet Pg. 1547 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment A Attachment A: Résumé
Emma Haggerty is an Associate Architectural Historian at GPA and has been involved in the field of historic preservation since 2016. Emma graduated from the University of Vermont with a Master of Science in Historic Preservation. She has since worked in the public sector in both New Jersey and California on a variety of projects. Emma joined GPA in 2021 and her
experience has included review of environmental compliance documents in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA); design review for consistency with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (SOIS); and municipal code compliance. Additionally, Emma has experience reviewing Mills Act Applications, preparing Mills Act Contracts, and performing site inspections for properties under and interested in the Mills Act.

Educational Background:
▪ M.S., Historic Preservation, University of
Vermont, 2018
▪ B.A., Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers
University, 2016
Professional Experience:
▪ GPA Consulting, Associate Architectural
Historian, 2021-Present
▪ City of San Diego, Historical Resources
Senior Planner & Mills Act Coordinator,
2018-2021
▪ New Jersey Historic Preservation Office,
Program Associate, 2018
▪ National Trust for Historic Preservation –
Lyndhurst Mansion, Historic Preservation
Intern, 2017
Qualifications:
▪ Meets the Secretary of the Interior’s
Professional Qualifications Standards for
architectural history pursuant to the
Code of Federal Regulations, 36 CFR
Part 61, Appendix A.

Selected Projects:
▪ Mills Act Application Review, Mills Act
Coordinator, City of San Diego,
February 2020-November 2021
▪ Mills Act Research and Contract Preparation,
Mills Act Coordinator,
City of San Diego, February 2020-November
2021
▪ Mills Act Inspection and Contract
Recordation, Mills Act Coordinator,
City of San Diego, February 2020-November
2021
▪ Quieter Homes Program – Section 106
Compliance Review, Planner, City of San
Diego,
January 2019-January 2020
▪ Preliminary Design Assistance for Historic
District Design Guideline Compliance,
Senior Planner, City of San Diego, December
2020- November 2021
▪ CEQA Significance Report Evaluation,
Planner, City of San Diego,
July 2018- November 2021
▪ Prepared and presented formal presentations
for over 50 different properties
at Historical Resources Board Meetings and
City Council, City of San Diego,
July 2018- November 2021

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Packet Pg. 1548 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Attachment B: Photographs
Photo 1: South elevation of Main Building, view looking north.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 2: West elevation of Main Building, view looking east.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1549 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 3: West elevation of Main Building and projecting addition, view looking northeast.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 4: East elevation of Main Building, view looking west.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1550 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 5: North and east elevation of Main Building, including second-story addition, view looking southwest.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 6: West elevation of Main Building, entrance detail, view looking east.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1551 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 7: Main Building, typical window.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 8: Main Building, north elevation, typical brick.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1552 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 9: Main Building, west elevation, “key shape” brick detail.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 10: Main Building, south elevation, “key shape” brick detail.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1553 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 11: Main Building, south elevation, speed line detail.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 12: Auxiliary Building, west and south elevations, view looking NE.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1554 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 13: Auxiliary Building, west and north elevations, view looking SE.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 14: Auxiliary Building, east elevation, view looking west.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1555 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment B Photo 15: Auxiliary Building, east elevation, typical windows.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

Photo 16: Auxiliary Building, east elevation, entrance detail.

GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.

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Packet Pg. 1556 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment C Attachment C: City Directory Listings
1938 (Ancestry.com): ABC Distributing Company - Glen Moyer, General Manager

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Packet Pg. 1557 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment C 1940 (Ancestry.com): ABC Distributing Company - Glen Moyer, General Manager

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Packet Pg. 1558 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment C 1952 (Ancestry.com): ABC Distributing Company – Sam Hecht, General Manager

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Packet Pg. 1559 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment C 1958 (Ancestry.com): Keystone Body Shop – Jack Hammer, Owner

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Packet Pg. 1560 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment D Attachment D: Sanborn Maps
Sanborn Map, 1950

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Packet Pg. 1561 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment D Sanborn Map, 1950 – Close up of 631 Colorado Avenue

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Packet Pg. 1562 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment D Sanborn Map, 1963

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Packet Pg. 1563 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment D Sanborn Map, 1963 – Close up of 631 Colorado Avenue

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Packet Pg. 1564 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment E Attachment E: Building Permits
1937 Building Permit – Main Building

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Packet Pg. 1565 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment E 1941 Building Permit – Auxiliary Building

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Packet Pg. 1566 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Landmark Assessment Report – 631 Colorado Avenue, Santa Monica, CA Attachment F Attachment F: Low-Rise Industrial Development
GPA Consulting, December 2, 2021.
1501 and 1517 Colorado Avenue 1531 Colorado Avenue
1547 and 1551 16th Street, 1601 Colorado Avenue 1547 14th Street 1805 Colorado Avenue 1831 Colorado Avenue

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Packet Pg. 1567 Attachment: GPA Landmark Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

www.coxcastle.com Los Angeles | Orange County | San Francisco Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP
2029 Century Park East, Suite 2100
Los Angeles, California 90067-3284
P: 310.284.2200 F: 310.284.2100
Alexander M. DeGood
310.284.2205
[email protected]
December 29, 2021
VIA E-MAIL TO [email protected]
Landmarks Commission
City of Santa Monica
1685 Main Street, Suite 212
Santa Monica, CA 90401
c/o Ms. Stephanie Reich
Design and Historic Preservation Planner
Re: Landmark Designation Application for 631 Colorado Avenue (Application No. 21ENT-0125)
Honorable Chair Genser and Members of the Landmarks Commission:

This office represents 500 Pounds of Dog, Inc., the owner (“Owner”) of the property located at 621-631 Colorado Avenue (the “Property”) in the City of Santa Monica (the “City”).

The Property is currently improved with two buildings separated by a surface parking lot—with the eastern building (“Building A”)1 constructed in 1937 and expanded between 1998 and 2002 and the western building (“Building B”) constructed in 1941 and expanded in 1958. Building A and Building B are collectively referred to herein as the “Improvements.” On May 20, 2021, the City received a Landmark Designation Application (the “Application”) from the Santa Monica Conservancy (the “Applicant”) requesting the City’s Landmarks Commission (the “Commission”) designate the Improvements as a City Landmark.

Environmental Science Associates’ (“ESA”) Cultural Resources Director Margarita Jerabek, PhD, prepared a comprehensive City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report for the Property (the “Landmark Report”), which is attached hereto for your review as Exhibit A. The Landmark Report concludes that the Property does not meet the City’s criteria for designation, is not of a level of particular historical significance, and lacks integrity to be eligible for listing as a City Landmark. This letter details the Landmark Report’s conclusions to facilitate the Commission’s review of the Landmark Report.
1 The defined terms “Building A” and “Building B” mirror those used in the Landmark Report (as defined further herein).

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Packet Pg. 1568 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Landmarks Commission
December 29, 2021

A. The Landmark Report Concludes that the Improvements Do Not Meet Any of the Factors Required for Landmark Designation as Set Forth in SMMC §

9.56.100.A
The factors for a City Landmark designation are set forth in Santa Monica Municipal Code (“SMMC”) § 9.56.100.A and are as follows:

1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

2. It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

3. It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.

4. It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

5. It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

6. It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The Landmark Report concludes that the Improvements meet none of the six SMMC enumerated factors, as summarized below.

1. The Improvements do not exemplify, symbolize, or manifest elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

The Landmark Report concludes that the Improvements do not exemplify, symbolize, or manifest elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

See Landmark Report, pp. 81-82. The Landmark Report establishes the Improvements are not nearly the first of a commercial or industrial nature within the area of the Property (contrary to the Application’s assertions) and in turn are not representative of pioneering a significant pattern of development in the City’s history. Id. Furthermore, the Landmark Report establishes the Improvements when built were not industrial in nature, as the Improvements were used as a distribution warehouse of alcoholic beverages and not for an industrial use—such as the manufacturing or bottling of alcoholic beverages. See Landmark Report, p. 3.

Rather, the Improvements operated as a distribution warehouse of alcoholic beverages for a non-local corporation (which distribution lasted for less than one-fourth of the Improvements’ existence2), did not materially contribute to the history of the City as the Improvements 2 The Improvements operated as a distribution warehouse of alcoholic beverages for approximately 18 years, as a defense research office for approximately four years, as an auto body shop for approximately 36 years, and as film production office(s) for approximately 24 years. See Landmark Report, pp. 51-53.

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Packet Pg. 1569 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Landmarks Commission
December 29, 2021

supported alcohol distribution to the larger Los Angeles region, and did not in any material way contribute to the reemergence of alcohol in the City following the end of prohibition3. See Landmark Report, pp. 81-82.

In sum, the Landmark Report (accounting for the facts disclosed in the Application) concludes that the Improvements do not meet this factor, as the Improvements’ use as an alcohol distribution warehouse are not unique or notable.

2. The Improvements do not have aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

The Landmark Report, as well as the Application, conclude that the Improvements do not have aesthetic or artistic interest or value or other noteworthy interest or value. See Landmark Report, p. 82; Application, pp. 23-24. The Landmark Report states “the [Improvements] are considered modest in comparison to other buildings in the [Commercial/Industrial Vernacular architecture] style [as t]hey have limited decorative features [and have] been substantially altered from [their] original appearance.” See Landmark Report, p. 82. As such, the Improvements do not meet this factor.

3. The Improvements are not identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history.

The Landmark Report concludes that the Improvements are not identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history. See Landmark Report, p

82. The Application focuses on Ms. Etta Moxley’s4 ownership of the Property. However, the Landmark Report establishes the Improvements were constructed after Ms. Moxley (or her husband) sold the Property5 for use as an alcohol distribution warehouse. “There is no remaining historic significance for the former structures that were once occupied and owned by [] Etta Moxley, as all previous improvements associated with [Ms. Moxley’s] life and [the Property] were demolished prior to the construction of the [Improvements].” See Landmark Report, p. 87 (emphasis added).
3 The Application admits that not only were the Improvements not the first distribution warehouse of alcoholic beverages in the City (see Application, p. 18 [documenting M&B Distributing’s existence in the City prior to the development of the Improvements]) but, the Improvements were also not the A.B.C. Distributing Company’s first buildings in and/or near the City (see Application, pp. 18, 22 [documenting other A.B.C. Distributing Company locations in and/or near the City prior to re-location to the Improvements].) 4 While Ms. Moxley, based on the information provided in the Application, lived an admirable life, there is no evidence to support consideration of her as a historic personage. 5 According to the Application, it was Ms. Moxley’s husband John Walter Moxley who sold the Property in 1937.

See Application, p. 16.

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Packet Pg. 1570 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Landmarks Commission
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In sum, the Landmark Report (accounting for the facts disclosed in the Application) concludes that the Improvements do not meet this factor, as the Application’s assertions relate to structures long demolished and to a person who is not of historical significance.

4. The Improvements do not embody distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, and are not a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The Landmark Report concludes that the Improvements do not embody distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, and are not a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study. See Landmark Report, pp. 82-84. The Landmark Report sets forth that both expansions and modifications of Building A and Building B have materially altered their original construction, design, workmanship, and materials. Id. Further, the improvements are not rare, but rather modest and altered examples of the Commercial/Industrial Vernacular architecture style. Id.; see also p. 80 and Table 4 of the Landmark Report (documenting several better examples of the architecture style within the City and identifying a potential Main Street Commercial District for this style).

As for construction methods, the Landmark Report establishes that groutlock brick (a type of reinforced brick masonry) neither became a highly utilized, important construction method6 in the City or elsewhere as a result of its application on the Property (as it was already a ubiquitous construction method in southern California and the United States), nor was it a novel construction method, as the use of reinforced brick masonry has been recorded internationally for over 175 years, and has been adapted to a wide variety of applications throughout its history. See Landmark Report, pp. 82-84.

In addition, other examples of reinforced brick masonry exist throughout the City and the Improvements’ original brick masonry has been sandblasted at least twice (according to City building permits), which has destroyed the original finishing and mortar pointing. Id. In sum, the Landmark Report (accounting for the facts disclosed in the Application) concludes that the Improvements do not meet this factor.
6 The Landmark Report provides “[t]he [construction of Building A] was not published in any architectural or engineering journals, nor was its construction method mentioned in any local or regional newspapers.” See Landmark Report, pp. 83-84.

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Packet Pg. 1571 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Landmarks Commission
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5. The Improvements are not a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

The Landmark Report, as well as the Application, conclude that the Improvements are not a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer, or architect. See Landmark Report, p. 84; Application, p. 26. The Landmark Report provides that while established architect Fredric C. Barienbrock is listed as the architect for Building B (which as originally constructed was a commercial loading canopy), this commercial building is neither significant nor representative of Mr. Barienbrock’s larger, notable body of work of residential and large-scale civic and institutional buildings (e.g., the Modern style Santa Monica Courthouse) and has been significantly modified and expanded over time to further establish a lack of integrity necessary to meet this factor. See Landmark Report, p. 84. As such, the Improvements do not meet this factor.

6. The Improvements do not have a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The Landmark Report, as well as the Application, conclude that the Improvements do not have a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City. See Landmark Report, p. 84; Application, p.

26. As such, the Improvements do not meet this factor.
* * *
In short, as detailed above, the Landmark Report establishes that the Property and Improvements do not meet any of the factors for designation as defined in SMMC § 9.56.100.A.

Should you have questions regarding any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me. In the meantime, we look forward to the Commission’s review and thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Alexander M. DeGood
AMD:ejc
cc: Amanda Duane, GPA Consulting
Heidi von Tongeln, Deputy City Attorney
086482\14234771v5

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Packet Pg. 1572 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

EXHIBIT A

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Packet Pg. 1573 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Final
631 COLORADO AVENUE

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
Prepared for December 2021
Mr. Michael Bay
500 Pounds of Dog, Inc.
9100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA

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Packet Pg. 1574 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

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Packet Pg. 1575 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Final
631 COLORADO AVENUE

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
Prepared for December 2021
Mr. Michael Bay
500 Pounds of Dog, Inc.
9100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA

233 Wilshire Boulevard
Suite 150
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.451.4488
esassoc.com
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Destin
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Packet Pg. 1576 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

OUR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY | ESA helps a variety of public and private sector clients plan and prepare for climate change and emerging regulations that limit GHG emissions. ESA is a registered assessor with the California Climate Action Registry, a Climate Leader, and founding reporter for the Climate Registry. ESA is also a corporate member of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3). Internally, ESA has adopted a Sustainability Vision and Policy Statement and a plan to reduce waste and energy within our operations. This document was produced using recycled paper.

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Packet Pg. 1577 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue i ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS
631 Colorado Avenue Santa Monica, California
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation
Report
Page
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. 1 Environmental Setting .......................................................................................................... 3 Regulatory Setting ................................................................................................................ 3 Architectural Description ..................................................................................................... 6 Site 6
Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue .................................................................................. 6 Building B, 621 Colorado Avenue ................................................................................ 18 Research Results ................................................................................................................ 25 Settlement and Development of Santa Monica ............................................................ 25 Subject Tract and Neighborhood Development ........................................................... 27 Subject Parcel Development ........................................................................................ 34 Construction History ..................................................................................................... 38 Ownership/Occupancy History ..................................................................................... 52 Historic Contexts ................................................................................................................ 60 Santa Monica Commercial Development (1875-1977) ................................................ 60 Theme: Pre-World War II Commercial Development (1920-1944) ............................... 60 Early 20th Century Commercial Vernacular (1900-1950) ............................................. 66 Evaluation of Significance ................................................................................................. 81 Landmark Criteria ........................................................................................................ 82 Structure of Merit ......................................................................................................... 86 Historic Integrity ........................................................................................................... 86 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 88 References ........................................................................................................................... 89 Attachments
A. Professional Qualifications
B. Building Permits
C. Sanborn Maps
D. Table 5. Summary of Research on Reinforced Brick Buildings in Santa Monica E. DPR Forms

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Packet Pg. 1578 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Table of Contents
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 List of Figures
Figure 1 Regional and Property Vicinity .............................................................................. 4 Figure 2 Aerial Photograph and Project Site ....................................................................... 5 Figure 3 Building A east facade along Colorado Avenue, view to west .............................. 9 Figure 4 Building A south facade, view north ...................................................................... 9 Figure 5 Building A south facade with scored parapet and pylons .................................... 10 Figure 6 Building A south facade with detail of brick bulkhead (altered) and scored pylons and parapet, and new industrial type windows in the former storefront opening, view west ............................................................................. 10 Figure 7 Building A east elevation along 7th Street, view west .......................................... 11 Figure 8 Building A east elevation, with non-original window in original opening, view north ........................................................................................................... 11 Figure 9 Building A east elevation with second-story addition, view north ........................ 12 Figure 10 Building A north elevation with second-story addition, view south ...................... 12 Figure 11 Building A west corner with original brick wall (sandblasted) and concrete pylon, and non-original metal gate, view north ................................................... 13 Figure 12 Building A west elevation with contemporary building entrance at center and ground-floor projecting wing addition at left, view east ................................ 13 Figure 13 Detail of Building A contemporary recessed entrance, within altered former garage door opening, view east. Evidence of parapet repairs is visible above the concrete horizontal beam, where the brick changes color from above the fifth course to the top of the parapet. Seismic tie bars are also evident on the concrete horizontal beams and on the east and west parapets. ............................................................................................. 14 Figure 14 Detail of ground-floor addition at Building A north corner of west elevation, at left, with contemporary non-original window assembly at right in location of former garage door (lower portion of door under window has been bricked in), view east .............................................................. 14 Figure 15 Interior view with open arched ceiling, and exposed wood trusses and rafters at Building A, view to west. Altered garage bays have been altered and reused for main entrance (left) and large window (right). ................. 15 Figure 16 Detail of original brickwork (sandblasted) and concrete beams (altered for seismic improvements) with contemporary infill window assemblies in original storefront openings at Building A, south corner facing east. .................. 15 Figure 17 Detail of water damage and efflorescence to brick at Building A interior wall ..................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 18 Incompatible and irregular mortar patching at infill area at Building A interior wall ......................................................................................................... 16 Figure 19 Building A interior with contemporary second story staircase ............................. 17 Figure 20 Second-floor addition at Building A facing rooftop patio over ground floor wing addition ....................................................................................................... 17 Figure 21 Detail of contemporary partition walls at juncture with historic brick and concrete column and beam ................................................................................ 18 Figure 22 Building B south facade along Colorado Avenue, view north ............................. 20 Figure 23 Detail of brick parapet and pylons with stepped pyramidal capitals at Building B south facade ...................................................................................... 20 Figure 24 Building B west elevation along 6th Court alleyway, view east. Evidence of graffiti removal on wall. ................................................................................... 21 Figure 25 Building B, perspective view of west and north elevations with corner pylon, smooth stucco cladding, and mechanized gate, view south ..................... 21

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Packet Pg. 1579 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Table of Contents
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Figure 26 Building B north elevation with smooth stucco cladding and flanking corner pylons, and contemporary signage, view west ........................................ 22 Figure 27 Building B contemporary recessed entrance along eastern elevation, facing west .......................................................................................................... 22 Figure 28 Building B eastern elevation (altered) which has been infilled since original construction and clad in stucco siding with new windows, view north ................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 29 Detail of Building B contemporary steel 4:3 lite windows with non-original smooth stucco siding, view west ......................................................................... 23 Figure 30 Interior view of original brickwork (sandblasted) at southern outer wall .............. 24 Figure 31 View of Building B interior brickwork of original wall that was formerly at the exterior northern extent of the building, prior to new north addition, view to east ......................................................................................................... 24 Figure 32 Detail of Town of Santa Monica Tract with subject property outlined in red, 1875 ............................................................................................................ 29 Figure 33 Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1895 ................................... 30 Figure 34 Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1902 ................................... 30 Figure 35 Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1909 ................................... 31 Figure 36 Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1918 ................................... 31 Figure 37 Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1950 ......................................................... 32 Figure 38 Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A (green arrow) and B (Blue arrow) and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1965 ............... 32 Figure 39 Aerial photograph depicting subject property and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1994 ................................... 33 Figure 40 Aerial photograph depicting subject property and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 2021 ................................... 33 Figure 41 Detail of aerial photograph depicting future site of Buildings A and B with property outlined in red, 1928 ............................................................................. 35 Figure 42 Detail of aerial photograph depicting Building A with subject property outlined in red, 1938 ........................................................................................... 35 Figure 43 Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1950 ......................................................................................................... 36 Figure 44 Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1952 ............................................................................. 36 Figure 45 Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1964 ............................................................................. 37 Figure 46 Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1965 ......................................................................................................... 37 Figure 47 Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 2002 ............................................................................. 38 Figure 48 Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 2005 ............................................................................. 38 Figure 49 Building A with original storefront configuration along Colorado Avenue, 1945 .................................................................................................................... 43 Figure 50 Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B and surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1986 ......................................................... 43

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Packet Pg. 1580 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Table of Contents
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Figure 51 Site plan for property including Buildings A, B, and parking lot as included on building permit, 1995 ..................................................................................... 44 Figure 52 Building B when used as a loading canopy for truck storage, 1945 .................... 46 Figure 53 Sketch plan as included with building permit to modify Building B with doors, 1947 ......................................................................................................... 47 Figure 54 Sketch plan as included with building to construct addition to Building B, 1958 .................................................................................................................... 47 Figure 55 Advertisement promoting the “earthquake proof” reinforced groutlock brick masonry as used on a residence ........................................................................ 51 Figure 56 Newspaper article discussing new groutlock method of construction, 1933.......... 51 Figure 57 Aztec Brewing Company in San Diego, c. 1933 showing the state-of-theart production capability of the newly renovated brewery in the early postProhibition period. ............................................................................................... 56 Figure 58 Aztec Brewing Company, c. 1933, advertised its Famous A. B. C. Beer as “Class in a Glass.” .............................................................................................. 57 Figure 59 Aztec Brewing Company, 1933, listing A. B. C. Distributing Co. franchises in the Los Angeles area. The Santa Monica location was not listed, as it was not yet constructed by this time. .................................................................. 57 Figure 60 Corner brick commercial building in Winters, California, built circa 1906 ............ 67 Figure 61 1631 10th Street, a light manufacturing building constructed in 1947 ................. 80 Figure 62 2920 Nebraska Avenue, a utilitarian industrial building constructed in 1946 .................................................................................................................... 80 List of Tables
Table 1 631 Colorado Avenue, Building A City of Santa Monica Building Permits .......... 41 Table 2 621 Colorado Avenue, Building B City of Santa Monica Building Permits .......... 46 Table 3 621 and 631 Colorado Avenue Ownership and Occupancy ............................... 53 Table 4 Other Commercial Vernacular buildings identified in Santa Monica ................... 68

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Packet Pg. 1581 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 631 Colorado Avenue 1 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 COLORADO AVENUE

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation
Report
Executive Summary
Environmental Science Associates (ESA) was retained by Michael Bay (Client) to prepare this Santa Monica Landmark Assessment Report (Report) to identify and evaluate the two buildings located at 621 and 631 Colorado Avenue (subject property). The properties are located in the downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica (City), California, on one assessor parcel (APN) 4291- 023-009. This Report was prepared to assess the property for potential eligibility as a Santa Monica Landmark or as a Structure of Merit. This Report includes a discussion of the survey methods used, a brief historic context of the Project site and surrounding area, and the identification and evaluation of the existing improvements on the subject property.

The subject property is developed with a one-story brick building with a rear second story addition at the east extent constructed in 1937 (Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue), and a onestory stucco-clad brick building at the western extent constructed in 1941 (Building B, 621 Colorado Avenue). Both buildings were designed in the Commercial Vernacular style.

ESA conducted research on the construction and occupancy history of each of the buildings within the Project site and reviewed the history of the project site within the development of the Town of Santa Monica Tract. For the current evaluation, each building at the Project site was evaluated by ESA under the following architectural and historical contexts and sub-themes: Santa Monica Commercial Development (1875-1977); Pre-World War II Commercial Development (1920-1944), Industrial Development Along Colorado Avenue (1890s-1960s); and Early 20th Century Commercial Vernacular (1900-1950). As discussed in greater detail below, the subject property was assessed during the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update in 2018, at which time classified as an “Industrial Vernacular” in style building and it was given a National Register Status Code of 5S3 that identified the subject property as “appears to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation.” 1 The subject property is a small, commercial improvement that is not representative of a significant pattern of commercial or industrial development in the City. The subject property, an 1 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update- Individual Resources, 2018, https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/PCD/Programs/HistoricPreservation/Appendix%20B_Individual%20Resources%20090418_rt.pdf, accessed 10/14/2021.

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Packet Pg. 1582 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 2 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 altered, adaptively reused Commercial/Industrial Vernacular building, does not retain integrity to manifest the cultural and economic history of Santa Monica, nor is it exemplary of a type, style or method of construction in the architectural history of the City.

The subject property appears to have been substantially altered since its original construction and ESA found that it does not retain sufficient integrity to convey significance as a representative example of a Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style building in the architectural history of the City. Commercial/Industrial Vernacular architecture is modest and utilitarian in character in comparison to other building types. Substantial alterations of the warehouse door openings, reconfiguration and replacement of the original storefronts, reconfiguration of the site plan, and sandblasting of the brick all materially detract from the integrity of the property as an example of commercial/industrial vernacular architecture or as an example of a pattern of commercial development. Consequently, the subject property lacks sufficient aesthetic or architectural value and historic integrity necessary for designation under any of the applicable Landmark or Structure of Merit criteria. Research findings do not indicate that the existing improvements are identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history. Both Buildings A and B are substantially altered examples of buildings originally designed in the Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style, and therefore, the subject buildings are not eligible as a rare, extant example of a Commercial/Industrial Vernacular historical property type. Buildings A and B also do not appear to be eligible as examples of a method of construction. Building A was constructed with groutlock brick, a form of reinforced brick masonry, as indicated on the original building permit. However, the use of reinforced brick masonry has been recorded internationally for nearly two centuries and has been adapted to a wide variety of applications throughout its history, and as such groutlock brick was just one reinforced brick masonry system of many that have been implemented over time. While ESA did not identify other examples of the same exact type of groutlock brick found in Building A elsewhere in Santa Monica, we discovered that there are other examples of reinforced brick masonry as this was a ubiquitous construction method in southern California during the early 20th century period due to the prevalence of earthquakes in the region. Furthermore, our research data indicates that the specific form of groutlock brick utilized in Building A never became a common method of construction and that other methods of reinforced brick masonry construction were more widely utilized in the City. Even if we would assume it was a rare significant construction method, the building has been extensively sandblasted throughout the exterior and interior and no longer has integrity to convey significance as a representative example of a method of construction. ESA found no evidence that the subject property is a significant or representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect, as discussed in detail in this report. Finally, the subject property does not appear to have a unique location, singular physical characteristic, nor is an established visual feature of a neighborhood or of the City. Therefore, the subject property appears ineligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark.

While the subject property has been identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory, and the building is more than 50 years of age, the property is not a unique, rare, or representative example of an architectural design, detail or historic type. Additionally, the subject property does not contribute to a potential Historic District. Therefore, the subject property appears ineligible for listing as a Santa Monica Structure of Merit.

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Packet Pg. 1583 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 In conclusion, ESA finds the existing improvements on the subject property to lack integrity to be eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark or as a Santa Monica Structure of Merit.

Environmental Setting
The subject property, located at 621-631 Colorado Avenue (APN 4291-023-009), is situated on the north corner of Colorado Avenue, between 7th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, 6th Street on the south, and Colorado Avenue to the west (Figures 1 and 2). Located at the edge of the Santa Monica Downtown Neighborhood, lots K and L of Block 193 includes two brick vernacular multi-purpose commercial/industrial buildings, identified for the purposes of this study as Buildings A and B. This evaluation will assess the converted wholesale liquor and beer warehouse “A. B. C. Distributing Co.” and store “Wine Beer Liquors” (Building A), constructed in 1937, and converted truck storage garage (Building B), constructed in 1941 for historical significance under the City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Criteria (SMMC 9.56.100) and Structure of Merit Designation Criteria (SMMC 9.56.080). The subject property is bordered by mixed development: multi-family housing to the north and east, and both large- and small-scale commercial developments and some multi-family housing to the south, and west. A low-rise brick commercial building is located on the lot immediately to the east of the subject property on the east corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street. To the west of the subject property, across the alley, is a block of low-rise commercial buildings on Colorado Avenue that extends to the corner of Colorado Avenue and 6th Street.

Regulatory Setting
The subject property has been identified and assessed under the City of Santa Monica’s ongoing survey process. The subject property was assessed during the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update in 2018.2 It was given a National Register Status Code of 5S3 that identified the subject property as “appears to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation.” The property was classified as “Industrial Vernacular” in style with a construction date of 1937. The statement of potential significance for the property included in the inventory was as follows: “631 Broadway appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is significant for conveying patterns of industrial development in the Downtown neighborhood of Santa Monica. Constructed in 1937, it is one of relatively few extant industrial buildings in the area from the pre‐World War II period.”3 However, as demonstrated in this report, the subject property was not used for manufacturing and did not have an industrial use. It was built as a multi-purpose commercial/industrial wholesale warehouse for the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages, and originally had two commercial storefronts facing south toward Colorado Avenue, one for a liquor store “Wine Beer Liquors”, and the other for a wholesale warehouse distributing office “A. B. C. Distributing Co.” 2 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update- Individual Resources, 2018, https://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/PCD/Programs/HistoricPreservation/Appendix%20B_Individual%20Resources%20090418_rt.pdf, accessed 10/14/2021. 3 Ibid., p. 46.

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Packet Pg. 1584 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) To p a n g a
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Regional and Property Vicinity
631 Colorado Ave Landmark Assessment
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Packet Pg. 1585 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 6th St
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Packet Pg. 1586 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 No alcoholic beverages were manufactured at the subject property. As such, the subject property had a primarily commercial rather than industrial function, and therefore it can be properly classified primarily as a Commercial Vernacular Style property. The warehouse attached to the commercial storefronts was used for the distribution of alcoholic beverages and had large garage bays, on-site parking, and a truck storage building, and can be properly classified secondarily as a Vernacular Industrial Style property. The stylistic classification of the building as commercial and/or industrial vernacular is explored and documented in this report.

Architectural Description
Site
The subject property is located on a rectilinear lot on the north corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street in the Downtown area of Santa Monica. The property contains two brick, single-story, Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style buildings: Building A constructed in 1937 and Building B constructed in 1941. Building A faces south toward Colorado Boulevard and encompasses the full south-to-north depth of the lot; its east side elevation sits on the east property line, and its west side elevation faces an on-site parking lot; the rear north elevation sits on the north property line. Building B is located at the west corner of the lot and is oriented to the east toward the parking area and Building A; its south side elevation sits on the south property line and its west rear elevation sits on the west property line. There is an alley named 6th Court that runs north to south along the west side of the subject property. A driveway from 6th Court provides access to the subject property at its north corner. Building B is located adjacent to the driveway on the south. The subject property is enclosed by a metal security fence with concrete pylons that runs along Colorado Avenue between Building A and Building B. To the north side of Building B, an automated gate allows access to the site off 6th Court. There is additional access to the site through a pedestrian gate immediately to the west of Building A facing Colorado Avenue.

Originally, site access was directly off Colorado Avenue and not off of 6th Court. There is mature landscaping including bushes and trees within the property line at the parking lot, with bushes lining Colorado Avenue, and palm trees lining 7th Street.

Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue
Building A is a brick one-story Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style building that was constructed in 1937 with later additions including a second-story addition at its rear north end and a one-story addition that projects westward at its north corner. Located on the western corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street, Building A is oriented facing Colorado Avenue and extends northward along 7th Street (Figure 3). Building A is largely rectangular in plan and includes a second-story addition at its north end and a small one-story projection at the north corner elevation. Building A is constructed of brick with a reinforced concrete frame and sits on a concrete slab foundation. Building permits and physical evidence indicate that the original brick finish has been removed by two sandblasting campaigns that have damaged the original brick and mortar joints and pointing. The original one-story rectangular portion of the building has an arched wood truss roof and a horizontal brick parapet. There are skylights and mechanical equipment on the roof. Originally constructed as a one-story building, a second-story addition at the north end, and a ground floor wing addition at the north corner were completed between 1998

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Packet Pg. 1587 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 7 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 and 2002. The second-story addition has a flat roof and is accessed via an interior staircase from the main ground floor space. The second-story addition has an exterior door opening at its west end that opens onto a rooftop patio above the ground floor one-story wing addition. All windows in the original section of Building A have been replaced with new metal industrial-style multi-lite windows (fixed and hopper assemblies), and there is evidence of brick infill at the location of former window and door openings that have been closed.

Building A’s south elevation facing Colorado Avenue is comprised of three structural bays (original) which are divided by vertical fluted concrete pylons incised with vertical groove lines (Figure 4). The pylons each terminate in a stepped pyramidal capital that rises just above the fascia and parapet (Figure 5). There is an attached sign on the center bay of the parapet comprised of individual metal channel letters that reads “Bay Films”. Three large non-original multi-lite industrial type metal window assemblies sit within each bay, atop a brick bulkhead.

Concrete fascia and a parapet span between the three structural bays and includes horizontal score lines above and below which correspond with the vertically fluted pylons (Figure 6).

Originally, Building A’s primary facade was located along Colorado Avenue at the south elevation and included two storefronts within the two outer structural bays that each had a singleleaf wood and glass entrance door and paired fixed wood windows adjacent to the door. There was a row of four rectangular transom windows above the doors and windows. The transoms over the doors were openable hopper windows. There were similar paired fixed wood windows surmounted by four transoms within the center structural bay. Originally, attached wall signs were located on the parapet that read from left-to-right, “ABC”, “ABC Distributing Co.” and “Wine Beer Liquors”. The bulkhead walls below the windows appear to have been stuccoed. A comparison of a historic photo of the building from 1945 with existing conditions indicates that the original storefronts have been removed and openings altered. The current windows along Colorado Avenue sit within original storefront openings, and the lower portion of the two door openings have been filled in (previously referenced Figure 6). There is evidence of water damage and graffiti removal on the bulkhead walls on this elevation.

The eastern elevation along 7th Street extends the depth of the lot and includes a non-original metal-frame 5:4 multi-lite industrial-type window assembly at the south corner of the elevation (Figures 7 and 8). This elevation is comprised of six regularly spaced structural bays delineated by its reinforced concrete frame, with brick walls (sandblast damage evident) and a brick parapet (sandblasted) at the roofline. There is evidence of parapet repair at this elevation, along with seismic structural reinforcement. Evidence of graffiti removal is apparent. All of the original windows have been replaced with metal industrial type multi-lite new windows within the original window openings. A contemporary second-floor addition rises from the final bay at the northern extent of the elevation, which was constructed with similar red brick and reinforced concrete framing and has similar multi-lite industrial type metal windows. The northernmost portion (rear wall) of Building A’s addition consists of a horizontally scored concrete wall at the second floor, which surmounts a blank brick wall with concrete framing (Figures 9 and 10).

Accessible through a pedestrian gate in the metal fence along Colorado Avenue (Figure 11), or through a vehicular gate along 6th Court, the asphalt surface parking area for the subject property

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Packet Pg. 1588 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 8 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 occupies the majority of the lot. There is a paved walkway from the pedestrian gate on the south side of the lot to the current building entrance on the west elevation of Building A. Building A’s west elevation (Figure 12) faces the parking lot and has a similar in organization to the east elevation along 7th Street. The west elevation includes six regularly spaced structural bays delineated by a reinforced-concrete frame, with brick walls and a horizontal brick parapet. The entire west elevation has been sandblasted as has the exterior and interior of the whole building.

Smaller 4:2 and 3:2 multi-lite metal frame industrial type windows punctuate three of the bays, while a contemporary recessed entrance sits roughly centered in the elevation. The main entrance includes a contemporary glass door with sidelites and transom windows (Figure 13).

Comparison of existing conditions with Sanborn maps and aerial photos indicates that the existing building entrance is in the location of a former garage bay, and that the large fixed multilite industrial window to the north is situated within a second former garage bay. There is also evidence of an enclosed (bricked) former single door opening that has been converted to a 3:2 window, at the south end of this elevation. Projecting from the final northern bay along the west elevation sits a new “sunroom” addition constructed of reinforced concrete that features large multi-lite floor-to-ceiling window assemblies at its visible south and west elevations (Figure 14).

Atop this “sunroom” addition sits a rooftop patio. This addition forms an L-shape at the rear north corner of the building. The area along the addition and west side of the building is planted with grass and other decorative landscaping.

The interior includes main floor area with an arched wood ceiling with exposed wood trusses and rafters (Figure 15). Original brickwork and concrete framing (sandblasted) are exposed throughout the interior (Figure 16). Some damage/deterioration is evident on the interior including water intrusion/leaks, efflorescence, sandblasting, and disintegration of the brick and mortar, and spalling of the concrete (Figure 17). Incompatible mortar patching is also visible at areas with later brick infill/alteration (Figure 18). The interior includes concrete slab flooring, contemporary partitions, and a contemporary second story mezzanine addition at the northern part of the building (Figure 19). The addition includes a metal staircase that leads from the main floor to a second story mezzanine and offices (Figure 20). The mezzanine level opens to a rooftop patio above the concrete ground-floor addition. Contemporary drywall and wood framing s abuts the historic brick and concrete walls, and metal seismic armature tying the structural system can be seen at the interior (Figure 21).

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Packet Pg. 1589 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 9 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 3
Building A east facade along Colorado Avenue, view to
west
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 4
Building A south facade, view north

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Packet Pg. 1590 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 10 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 5
Building A south facade with scored parapet and pylons
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 6
Building A south facade with detail of brick bulkhead
(altered) and scored pylons and parapet, and new industrial type windows in the former storefront opening, view west

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Packet Pg. 1591 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 11 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 7
Building A east elevation along 7th Street, view west
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 8
Building A east elevation, with non-original window in
original opening, view north

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Packet Pg. 1592 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 12 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 9
Building A east elevation with second-story addition, view north
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 10
Building A north elevation with second-story addition, view south

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Packet Pg. 1593 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 13 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 11
Building A west corner with original brick wall (sandblasted) and concrete pylon, and non-original metal gate, view north 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 12
Building A west elevation with contemporary building
entrance at center and ground-floor projecting wing addition at left, view east

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Packet Pg. 1594 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 14 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 13
Detail of Building A contemporary recessed entrance, within altered former garage door opening, view east. Evidence of parapet repairs is visible above the concrete horizontal beam, where the brick changes color from above the fifth course to the top of the parapet. Seismic tie bars are also evident on the concrete horizontal beams and on the east and west parapets. 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 14
Detail of ground-floor addition at Building A north corner of west elevation, at left, with contemporary non-original window assembly at right in location of former garage door (lower portion of door under window has been bricked in), view east

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Packet Pg. 1595 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 15 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 15
Interior view with open arched ceiling, and exposed wood trusses and rafters at Building A, view to west. Altered garage bays have been altered and reused for main
entrance (left) and large window (right).
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 16
Detail of original brickwork (sandblasted) and concrete beams (altered for seismic improvements) with
contemporary infill window assemblies in original storefront openings at Building A, south corner facing east.

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Packet Pg. 1596 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 16 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 17
Detail of water damage and efflorescence to brick at
Building A interior wall
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 18
Incompatible and irregular mortar patching at infill area at Building A interior wall

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Packet Pg. 1597 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 17 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 19
Building A interior with contemporary second story
staircase
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 20
Second-floor addition at Building A facing rooftop patio over ground floor wing addition

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Packet Pg. 1598 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 18 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 21
Detail of contemporary partition walls at juncture with historic brick and concrete column and beam
Building B, 621 Colorado Avenue
Building B is a brick one-story Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style building clad in smoothly finished stucco that was originally constructed in 1941. Located on the western extent of the subject property, the building extends along 6th Court south to the property line at Colorado Avenue (Figure 22). A driveway from 6th Court runs along the north end of Building B to the parking area on the subject property. Building B faces east toward the parking area. The brick masonry building has a rectangular footprint and a flat roof with a built up exposed brick parapet (Figure 23). The building’s southern elevation is comprised of a single bay with a concrete horizontal beam, flanked by concrete pylons with stepped pyramidal capitals.

Building B was originally used for truck storage and loading, and its north elevation formerly included open bays for truck parking; the openings have been filled in and new windows installed for offices. A present-day comparison with a historic photo from 1945 indicates that the east elevation along Colorado Avenue originally included painted advertisements on the east brick wall for “A. B. C. Beer” and “Budweiser”, and a painted sign on the parapet for “A. B. C.

Distributing Co.”, showing that this south elevation never included openings; it is still a blank brick wall today and has been sandblasted.

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Packet Pg. 1599 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 19 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 The building’s west elevation abuts 6th Court, an alley way that runs between Colorado Avenue and Broadway (Figure 24). This elevation has been covered with smooth stucco and has a single scored line toward the parapet, and no fenestration. A metal automated vehicular gate abuts the building’s north corner and extents north to the north property line (Figure 25). The north elevation similarly has no fenestration and is covered with smooth stucco with a single scored line at the parapet (Figure 26). Metal signage toward the parapet reads: “BAY FILMS PLATINUM DUNES,” which sits to the right of a short metal ladder that provides access to the roof.

The eastern elevation facing the parking area, which formerly included multiple open bays for trucks, was enclosed in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The elevation is clad in smooth stucco and includes a score line toward the parapet. A centralized contemporary recessed entrance includes a single lite door with sidelites and transom windows (Figure 27). This configuration mirrors the contemporary entrance at Building A (Figure 28). A series of three 4:3 multi-lite steel window assemblies flank either side of the recessed entrance (Figure 29).

A metal security fence extends from the eastern corner of Building B and continues along Colorado Avenue to the western corner of Building A. The metal security fence is attached to the pylon and sits above a new concrete wall. New matching pylons similar to the pylons on Buildings A and B serve as fence posts for the security fence.

At the interior of Building B, original brickwork is visible in several of the studio offices located in the southern extent and along the western wall of the building (Figure 30). The brick appears to have once been painted, and has since been sandblasted. The original brick building received an addition to its north end in 1958, and the original exterior brick wall at the former north elevation is still present within the building near the building entrance lobby (Figure 31). The brick here appears to be deteriorating due to water damage. The entire interior has been remodeled with contemporary materials including drywall at the walls and ceilings (except at the areas with exposed original brick), cement and rolled carpet flooring, and contemporary doors.

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Packet Pg. 1600 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 20 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 22
Building B south facade along Colorado Avenue, view north 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 23
Detail of brick parapet and pylons with stepped pyramidal capitals at Building B south facade

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Packet Pg. 1601 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 21 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 24
Building B west elevation along 6th Court alleyway, view east. Evidence of graffiti removal on wall.
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 25
Building B, perspective view of west and north elevations with corner pylon, smooth stucco cladding, and mechanized gate, view south

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Packet Pg. 1602 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 22 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 26
Building B north elevation with smooth stucco cladding and flanking corner pylons, and contemporary signage, view
west
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 27
Building B contemporary recessed entrance along eastern elevation, facing west

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Packet Pg. 1603 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 23 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 28
Building B eastern elevation (altered) which has been
infilled since original construction and clad in stucco siding with new windows, view north
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 29
Detail of Building B contemporary steel 4:3 lite windows with non-original smooth stucco siding, view west

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Packet Pg. 1604 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 24 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 30
Interior view of original brickwork (sandblasted) at southern outer wall
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment/ D202100734.00
SOURCE: ESA, 2021 Figure 31
View of Building B interior brickwork of original wall that was formerly at the exterior northern extent of the building, prior to new north addition, view to east

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Packet Pg. 1605 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Research Results
Settlement and Development of Santa Monica4
The original Santa Monica township was bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, present-day Montana Avenue on the north, present-day Colorado Avenue on the south, and 17th Street on the east. Over time, the City annexed additional acreage to extend its borders beyond the original plat map. The result was the creation of a series of distinct neighborhoods around the city. During the city’s early development, land sales and building construction did not go hand in hand. As a result, most Santa Monica neighborhoods were constructed in a patchwork manner, using a variety of era-appropriate styles, up through World War II. This was followed by an intense period of infill development and re-subdivision after the war.

Colonel Robert S. Baker, a cattleman from Rhode Island via San Francisco, established a sheep ranch on the bluffs at the northern end of present-day Santa Monica. He subsequently purchased the land that would comprise Santa Monica’s original townsite. In 1874, Colonel Baker formed a partnership with Senator John Percival Jones to develop the land that would later become Santa Monica.5 Jones and Baker organized the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad to link the mines of Colorado and Nevada to the ocean. They secured rights-of-way and commenced the construction of a 4,700-footlong wharf (the Long Wharf).6 In 1875, the original townsite of Santa Monica was surveyed. North-south streets were numbered; east-west streets were named for states in the Union.

Santa Monica’s promoters encouraged the development of parks, a plaza, and a university as well as providing ample home sites. The first sale of lots took place on July 15, 1875. Several of Los Angeles’ prominent citizens built places of business in the town. One brick commercial building, erected by William Rapp on 2nd Street, is still extant (Rapp Saloon, 1438 2nd Street, 1875; City of Santa Monica Landmark #1). By November 1875, the railroad had been completed to Santa Monica, two hotels were attracting patrons, a variety of businesses had opened, and 615 lots had been sold.

However, the auspicious beginning began to crumble as rival rail lines resolved to destroy the viability of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad as a shipping and transportation line. By the late 1870s, Santa Monica the boomtown became a bust. In 1877, Jones sold his Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, and in 1878 the last ship departed Jones’s Long Wharf, and it was dismantled. This ushered in a collapse of land values in Santa Monica. By the mid-1880s, tents that had dotted the beach had given way to makeshift shanties in what became known as “the beach shack era.”7
4 Historic Resources Group, and Architectural Resources Group, “City of Santa Monica: Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement,” Prepared for City of Santa Monica Planning & Community Development Department, March 2018.
5 Discussion of Santa Monica’s early settlement largely adapted from PCR Services and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Historic Preservation Element, September 2002, 7-11; and Paula A. Scott, Santa Monica: A History on the Edge (San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004), 9-35. 6 When it opened in 1894, the Long Wharf was the longest wharf in the world. 7 Fred E. Basten, Santa Monica Bay: Paradise by the Sea: A Pictorial History of Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Topanga (Santa Monica, California: Hennessey + Ingalls, 2001),19.

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Packet Pg. 1606 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Real estate entrepreneur Abbott Kinney and business partner Francis Ryan owned a large stretch of coastline – some of which would become present-day Venice. In 1892, they acquired a large piece of waterfront property for development as a seaside resort, which became known as Ocean Park. One of Kinney's first improvements to the site was the construction of a large bathhouse.

The bathhouse remained a popular local attraction throughout the first quarter of the 20th century, drawing thousands of vacationers “to what had been sand dunes and marshland.”8 In 1898, Kinney constructed the 1,250-foot-long Ocean Park Pier. Other attractions soon followed, including a racetrack, auditorium, and casino. The amusement industry drove both the local economy and the area’s physical development.

Similarly, the bath houses, and later, the Santa Monica Pier provided a hub for Santa Monica’s early development. It was originally constructed as two adjacent, separately owned piers known as the Municipal Pier and the Pleasure Pier. The first Municipal Pier was constructed in 1908- 1909 of an experimental concrete and steel construction process. It was advertised as the “largest concrete pier in the world.”9 In 1921, the pier was reconstructed using a traditional timber structure, widened, and extended to nearly 1,600 feet.10 Looff’s Pleasure Pier was added in 1916 by Charles and Arthur Looff, a father and son team specializing in the building and operation of carousels, roller coasters, and amusement parks. The Pier extended over the Santa Monica Bay, immediately adjacent to the Municipal Pier. The Looffs also constructed the Hippodrome, the Carousel, and the pier’s first roller coaster.

Despite Santa Monica’s significance as an early recreational destination, residential development was essentially dormant until the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1887, which spurred the initial residential building in “South Santa Monica” (a.k.a. Ocean Park). Although 1887 represented a building boom, by 1892, the full-time population of Santa Monica was only 2,000 people.11
The arrival of the first electric streetcar on April 1, 1896, and the later establishment of the “Balloon Route” from downtown Los Angeles, spurred further investment in Santa Monica real estate. A number of new subdivisions were opened during the first five years of the 20th century, and between 1900 and 1903 the resident population jumped from 3,057 to 7,208. By 1911, five electrical railway lines served Santa Monica with travel times of 30 to 50 minutes from downtown Los Angeles.12 The completion of major roadways to the area only increased its popularity as the automobile became a factor in Southern California growth.

During the 1920s, Santa Monica witnessed a substantial population and building boom. By 1923, it was estimated that 1,500 people per month were moving to Santa Monica.13 Between 1921 and 8 Leonard Pitt and Dale Pitt, Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County (Berkeley, California:

University of California Press, 1997), 363.
9 James H. Charleston, “Looff’s Hippodrome,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, November 1984.
10 Charleston, “Looff’s Hippodrome.”
11 According to newspaper accounts in the Santa Monica Daily Outlook of 1910, Ingersoll’s “great boom” did not extend to South Santa Monica, where land in the subdivisions of the late 1880s did not sell, and often the property returned to its original ownership.
12 “Santa Monica Bay New Scene of Great Activity,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1911, IV11. 13 “Beach City Growing at Rapid Rate,” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1923, V7.

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Packet Pg. 1607 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 1925, over 40,000 people moved to the city. Although previously known as a recreational destination, the subdivision of tracts away from the amusement zones were changing the city from a “summer cottage” environment to one where” homes of foreign and domestic architecture give the community a decidedly residential atmosphere.”14 Boulevard and infrastructure improvements along Wilshire, Santa Monica, Pico, and Beverly (Sunset) supported these changes.

Even after the stock market crash of 1929, residential construction in Santa Monica continued, and in 1931 a shortage of homes was reported. One of the key drivers of this shortage was growing enrollment at the nearby University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The shortage continued well into the late 1930s, this time driven by the expansion and influx of workers for the Douglas Aircraft plant. However, during World War II the cessation of building and shortage of building materials experienced around the country was felt in Santa Monica as well.15 Since much of Santa Monica had been built out prior to the war, single-family residential development during the post-World War II period was largely confined to some unimproved parcels in the Sunset Park area, along with infill development throughout the city, which often replaced existing buildings. However, since the period after the war also brought a new steady demand for housing, multi-family housing became the popular choice. Between 1967 and 1968, only ten out of 1,414 residential building permits were single-family homes. The completion of the Santa Monica Freeway in 1966 additionally cemented the city’s new role as a commuter suburb for other parts of Los Angeles.16
Subject Tract and Neighborhood Development
The subject property is located in the downtown area of the original township, which was subdivided in 1875 and initially contained 150 blocks. The downtown area is predominantly flat and is bounded by Wilshire Boulevard on the north, Lincoln Boulevard on the east, the Santa Monica Freeway on the south and Ocean Avenue on the west and contains approximately 512 parcels of mixed-use commercial properties. Colorado Avenue is a primary west-east commercial corridor along with Wilshire Boulevard, Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Broadway, and Olympic Boulevard. Lincoln Boulevard and Ocean Avenue are the primary south-north commercial corridors along with 2nd, 4th and 5th Streets, and the 3rd Street Promenade.

As the area grew, residential development clustered within the blocks north of Wilshire Boulevard, which now lay outside of the Downtown neighborhood boundaries. The area south of Santa Monica Boulevard assumed a commercial character, while a small “downtown” developed along 3rd Street. Today, Downtown is predominantly commercial in nature, and its boundaries exclude areas of the original township where substantial residential development occurred. Only a few residential properties remain, and of those, many have been rezoned for commercial uses.

Commercial, institutional, and mixed-use buildings comprise the majority of the neighborhood.17 14 “Beautiful Bay District Grows,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1925, F10. 15 Scott, A History on the Edge, 122.
16 Ibid., 131.
17 Architectural Resources Group, “Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement,” prepared for the City of Santa Monica, March 2018, 15-16.

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Packet Pg. 1608 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 28 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 The 1875 map of the City of Santa Monica shows the original city layout and lot division in the Downtown neighborhood (Figure 32). The land was surveyed and divided into home sites with additional blocks dedicated to commercial purposes such as hotels to the north, a university to the east, and a lumber and coal yard along Railroad Avenue to the south. The map shows the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad route running east-west to the south of the neighborhood.

Once known as Railroad Avenue, present-day Colorado Avenue formed the southernmost extent of the original tract and which sits as the edge of the industrial area adjacent to the railroad. The earliest available Sanborn map from 1895 that includes subject parcel depicts the earliest development on the subject property (which has since been demolished). The map illustrates that Block 193 was beginning to become developed, with only a few constructed residences (Figure 33). In comparison, Block 192 to the west appears to be about 50% developed. To the east along Railroad Avenue at 8th Street, the lot on the north corner contained the Santa Monica Electric Light and Power Company and another commercial-industrial operation occupied the lot to the east. Adjacent and to the north, the lots were being developed with residences.

By 1902, two more residences had been added on the east side of Block 193 (Figure 34).

Commercial-industrial businesses were beginning to appear with more frequency. Across the street and to the south, the Bassett and Nebeker Lumber Yard occupied an entire city block fronting Railroad Avenue and extending into the block on consecutive lots. On the east corner of Railroad Avenue and 7th Street was the Santa Monica Steam Laundry, with an electric gas and power plant located on the north side of Railroad Avenue and 8th Street. The 1909 Sanborn illustrates more residences north of Colorado Avenue (formerly Railroad Avenue), with the lumberyard still to the south, having expanded its land holdings significantly (Figure 35). The slightly expanded Santa Monica Steam Laundry remained, and the gas and power plant had become the Edison Electric Company. By the 1919 Sanborn map, residential development patterns north of Colorado continued, as did commercial-industrial development along and to the south of Colorado Avenue (Figure 36). The evident change is the construction of multiple structures on single lots. The laundry, and various other commercial-industrial businesses, including the Union Oil Company of California, a feed and fuel yard, and a business with “distillate tanks,” and a Southern California Edison Company warehouse were located near the subject property.

According to building permits, the existing improvements on the subject property at 631 Colorado Avenue were developed by A. B. C. Distribution Company beginning in 1937 with the construction of Building A as a warehouse and offices located on the eastern extent of the property. Building B was later constructed in 1941 in the southwestern portion of the property as a truck storage canopy and used for the loading and unloading of inventory. The subject property was constructed by A. B. C. Distribution Company. The rear of the property, along the northern and western lot lines, were smaller auxiliary structures likely used for storage. The next Sanborn map dates from 1950 and documents further changes in the pattern of residential development to the north of the project site and the commercial-industrial development along Colorado Avenue (Figure 37). By this time, multi-family residences instead of single-family residences were becoming more prominent. A printing business, Patten-Blinn Lumber Company, dry cleaners, a storage business, wood yard, coal and hay storage, tires and battery business, the Southern California Edison Company warehouse, and an electrical substation remained present still

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1609 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 29 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 remained present in the neighborhood. Newer commercial-industrial businesses included a blacksmith, machine shop, and an auto and electrical repair, with several surrounding parking lots, indicating the shift from rail to automobile transportation.

On the 1965 Sanborn map, the neighborhood appears consistent with the previous development of commercial-industrial businesses to the east along Colorado Avenue and to the south of the thoroughfare (Figure 38). One block to the north of the project site, many of the lots previously developed with residences had become redeveloped with offices, parking lots, and apartment buildings. Along Colorado Avenue, the map shows an increasingly industrial development reinforced by the nearly completed Santa Monica Freeway – Interstate Highway 10 – just to the south. Union Oil Company was still in operation at the same location, and new nearby operations included a telephone company warehouse, bus yard, Santa Monica Schools Maintenance Department, dog kennels, storage, and auto repair. The lumber yard became Lane Industries Corporation/metal fabricators, and Santa Monica Transportation System Offices and Service Departments occupied nearby lots. Just to the east are two trailer park developments that border the Santa Monica Freeway at Olympic Boulevard. Notably, there are many parking lots to accommodate the daily influx of customers and workers by car.

A 1994 aerial photograph indicates that a few of the smaller buildings in the neighborhood had been replaced with larger structures by this time (Figure 39). By the 2021 aerial photograph, the surrounding neighborhood included several large-scale apartment buildings, which had replaced smaller apartment buildings and commercial structures, indicating a pattern of redevelopment in the area (Figure 40)
SOURCE: Santa Monica Conservancy
smconservancy.org/historic-places/history-of-santamonica/ 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 32
Detail of Town of Santa Monica Tract with subject
property outlined in red, 1875

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Packet Pg. 1610 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 30 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 33
Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B
and surrounding neighborhood with subject property
outlined in red, 1895
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 34
Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B
and surrounding neighborhood with subject property
outlined in red, 1902

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Packet Pg. 1611 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 31 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 35
Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B
and surrounding neighborhood with subject property
outlined in red, 1909
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 36
Sanborn Map depicting future site of Buildings A and B
and surrounding neighborhood with subject property
outlined in red, 1918

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Packet Pg. 1612 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 32 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 37
Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B and
surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1950
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 38
Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A (green arrow) and B
(Blue arrow) and surrounding neighborhood with subject
property outlined in red, 1965

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Packet Pg. 1613 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 33 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 39
Aerial photograph depicting subject property and
surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1994
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 40
Aerial photograph depicting subject property
and surrounding neighborhood with subject property
outlined in red, 2021

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Packet Pg. 1614 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 34 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Subject Parcel Development
The first available aerial photo is from 1928 and confirms the subject property was located at the edge of a residential neighborhood on an established east-west thoroughfare (Figure 41). The visible structures on the lot were nearly obscured by the trees.

The original residential improvements were replaced with the existing commercial/industrial improvements in 1937 when Building A was constructed in the eastern extent of the subject property, along the length of 7th Street, fronting Colorado Avenue (Figure 42). Constructed by the A. B. C. Distributing Company, Building A appears on a 1938 aerial photograph with several adjacent auxiliary canopy-type structures along the northern extent of the property, which may have been used for loading merchandise onto trucks. Building B at 621 Colorado Avenue was constructed in 1941 at the southern extent of the property, also along Colorado Avenue, and first appears on the 1950 Sanborn Map (Figure 43) and 1952 aerial photograph (Figure 44).

Constructed to serve the A. B. C. Distributing Company as truck storage, Building B anchored the parcel, completing an L-shape of ancillary canopy-type structures which extended south and west from Building A, enclosing a surface parking lot directly accessible off of Colorado Avenue.

Photographs taken in 1945 indicate that a chain link fence delineated the parking lot from Colorado Avenue.

The 1950 Sanborn map depicted the auxiliary canopy-type structures, which included areas for wine storage, general storage, and other covered areas which are illegible on the map. The 1952 aerial photograph depicted Building A, Building B, and the series of auxiliary canopy-type structures interspersed between the two (previously referenced Figures 43 and 44). Several parked trucks appear in the photograph.

A. B. C. Distribution Company closed in 1953, and likely ceased operation at the subject property shortly thereafter. By 1955, Aerophysics Development Corporation occupied the subject property for roughly two years as offices, during which time no visible or documented changes were made to the site or buildings.

In 1958, the canopy structure to the immediate north of brick Building B was enlarged to accommodate a space to polish cars, indicating a change in the subject property’s use from an aerospace office building into an automobile body and paint shop, Keystone Body Shop. The next aerial photo in 1964 depicted the permitted enlarged canopy structure north of Building B, and the removal of the auxiliary canopy-type structures along the northern extent of the property (Figure 45). A Sanborn map published in 1965 further illustrates the removal of the auxiliary canopy-type structures at the north property line, in addition to the permitted enlarged canopy structure attached to Building B, which was then being used as a metal spray booth (Figure 46).

Building A was then used as an auto body repair shop, as indicated on the Sanborn map of 1965, a use which continued at the subject property until the mid-1990s, when both Buildings A and B were converted into commercial office use after a change in ownership following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The remaining auxiliary-canopy type structures along 6th Court were demolished shortly after the change in ownership, and a 2nd story addition was constructed at the northern extent of Building

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Packet Pg. 1615 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 35 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 A, all of which is visible in a 2002 aerial photograph (Figure 47). The subject property began its new use as creative offices for movie production companies, a use which continues today. A new metal fence with concrete walls and pylons was erected along Colorado Avenue during this period. In the absence of the auxiliary-canopy type structures in the western extent of the property, a new gated driveway along 6th Court was established, also visible in the 2002 aerial photograph. By the 2005 aerial photograph, planted trees appear to be growing in the parking lot between Buildings A and B, and an additional 1-story addition constructed on to Building A extended from the west elevation (Figure 48).

SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 41
Detail of aerial photograph depicting future site of
Buildings A and B with property outlined in red, 1928
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 42
Detail of aerial photograph depicting Building A with
subject property outlined in red, 1938

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Packet Pg. 1616 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 36 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 43
Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B with subject
property outlined in red, 1950
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 44
Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1952

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Packet Pg. 1617 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 37 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 45
Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 1964
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 46
Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B with subject
property outlined in red, 1965

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Packet Pg. 1618 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 38 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 47
Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 2002
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 48
Detail of aerial photograph depicting Buildings A and B with subject property outlined in red, 2005
Construction History
Located at 631 Colorado Avenue, the subject property is located on the north corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street in the Downtown Neighborhood in the City of Santa Monica.18 The property is bound by 7th Street to the east, Colorado Avenue to the south, and 6th Court, an alleyway, to the west. Situated on Block 193, on Lots K and L, the property contains two 18 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory.

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Packet Pg. 1619 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 39 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 buildings: a one-story brick building with a rear second story addition at the east extent (Building A), and a one-story stucco-clad brick building at the western extent (Building B). A surface parking lot separates the two buildings from one another and is accessed from along Colorado Avenue at the southern extent of the site and from 7th Street at the northern extent of the site. The property is oriented along Colorado Avenue. A metal security fence with cement walls and pylons extends along Colorado Avenue between Buildings A and B. The fence includes a metal pedestrian gate located immediately west of Building A. A vehicular gated entrance to the property is accessed from 6th Court alleyway.

Building A
According to Los Angeles County Assessor’s records and the original City of Santa Monica building permit, the existing Building A was constructed in 1937.19 All building permits for Building A are included in Table 1, below. The original building permit was issued to A. B. C.

Distributing Company for a single-story brick building for office and warehouse purposes. The address on this permit was listed as 625 Colorado for Block 193 and Lots K and L. The building was to measure 50’ x 100’ and was constructed on a 100’ x 150’ lot which indicates that Building A was constructed to the extent of the lot line along 7th Street. The property then included a garage or cottage according to the building permit, which was demolished for redevelopment of the lot. According to the building permit, the specified building material to be used was “groutlock brick” and the structure would be finished with a composition roof. The building would be a single story and reach a maximum height of 20 feet. There was no architect or contractor listed on the permit. One year after construction, an aerial photograph taken in 1938 depicts Building A on the subject parcel (previously referenced Figure 42). The lot at the time appeared to include several auxiliary buildings and a fence surrounding the perimeter. A photograph taken in 1945 illustrates Building A roughly 8 years after construction (Figure 49).

Originally, there were two storefront entrances to Building A along the Colorado Avenue elevation. The south elevation included three bays delineated by fluted concrete pylons. Each bay included wood frame fixed windows with transom windows above, and bulkheads below. Two single lite doors sat recessed within the first and third structural bays. The horizontal parapet between the structural bays was scored along the lower and upper fascia and the rectangular panels on the parapet spanning the structural bays had painted signage on each of the three panels that read, right to left, “A. B. C.;” “A. B. C. DISTRIBUTING CO.;” AND “WINE BEER LIQUORS.” The east elevation, which fronts 7th Street included one wood fixed window with transom window assembly, and at least two other windows that are difficult to discern due to the low quality of the image. The east elevation appeared to have exposed brick, with adjacent mature palm trees lining the sidewalk.

A Sanborn map created in 1950 depicts the building’s continued use for wholesale liquor and beer, shows that the building construction included reinforced concrete pylons, concrete floors and beams and a wood truss roof (previously referenced Figure 43). There were two adjacent 1- story canopy structures located along the western elevation of Building A by 1950. By this time, Building B was constructed and was used for truck storage for the A. B. C. Distributing 19 Building Permit, 1937— City of Santa Monica, City Clerk.

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Packet Pg. 1620 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 40 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Company. An aerial photograph taken in 1952 depicts these 1-story canopy structures, which included parked trucks adjacent to Building A (previously referenced Figure 44).

At some point the building must have been painted. Roughly 18 years after original construction, in 1955, a building permit was issued to sandblast the brick building when Aerophysics Development Corporation occupied the building. Additional electrical and gas improvements were made in 1955 according to building permits.

Building A appeared to have been used as a body shop from about 1957 to about 1994. In 1957, a permit for electrical work was issued to new building owner Jack Hammer when the property was converted into an auto body shop. It does not appear that any structural changes were made at this time. A subsequent 1958 building permit indicates that a large, projecting metal sign reading “Keystone Auto Body” was installed to advertise the business to passers-by along Colorado Avenue. The sign permit indicates that Building B was then used as a paint shop for the auto body business. Subsequent building permits show electrical and plumbing improvements were completed for the property between 1958 and 1993. A 1964 aerial indicates that the adjacent 1- story canopy structures along the northern property extent had been demolished (previously referenced Figure 45). The 1965 Sanborn map (previously referenced Figure 46) indicates Building A’s continued usage as an auto body repair shop, which is also illustrated in the 1986 Sanborn map (Figure 50). The Northridge earthquake in 1994 caused damage to the building, as indicated by the building safety assessment which indicated “fallen bricks and a rear wall down,” yet no structural damage was sustained.20 This indicates some unspecified loss of brick from the building.

With a change in ownership the in following year, 1995, a permit was issued to include 17 parking stalls on the site at the central parking lot between Buildings A and B. Subsequent permits issued between 1995 and 1996 included extensive tenant improvements to both buildings and the site. Modifications to Building A indicated a new office use, which was illustrated in a sketch plan accompanying a 1995 building permit (Figure 51). The plan included new interior walls throughout, delineating office spaces, conference areas, storage, and restrooms, in addition to a new main entrance along the west elevation, where there were formerly 1-story canopies. In addition, the plan detailed landscaping along the west elevation and the parking lot. Extensive permits were issued in 1997, including: electrical work; sandblasting at both the exterior and interior; the raising of a section of 33’ x 50’ of floor; and the reconstruction of 49 linear feet of parapet wall, which may have been to repair damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

In 1998, a new building permit application was submitted for a second-floor addition and renovation work, with total valuation of improvements estimated at $100,000. A subsequent 1998 permit was issued to construct a metal fence with concrete pylons. In 2002, an application to reinstate the previous expired permit to complete the second-floor addition was submitted. The permit was for a second story addition (50’ x 100’, located at the north extent of the building) and a one-story addition at the ground floor (25’ x 42’, located to the south of the second story 20 Rapid Evaluation Safety Assessment, Keystone Body Shop, January 17, 1994 [Handwritten ref, no.: DA0239].

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Packet Pg. 1621 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 41 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 addition) for office production use. By the 2005 aerial photograph, it appears that both the oneand two-story additions had been constructed (previously referenced Figure 48).

TABLE 1
631 COLORADO AVENUE, BUILDING A
CITY OF SANTA MONICA BUILDING PERMITS21
Issued
Permit/
Assessor
Record Owner/ Occupant
Contractor (C),
Architect (A), or
Engineer (E)
Valuation
($) Description
5/8/1937 B9772 A. B. C.

Distributing Co.

N/A $7,000 One-story groutlock brick
building for office and
warehouse use. 50x100
building on a 100x150 lot
6/29/1937 3127 A. B. C.

Distributing Co.

Smith Brothers (c) Electricity
6/7/1955 B17842 Aerophysics
Development
Corporation
N/A Permit for sandblasting a onestory brick warehouse building 30’ x 60’
8/15/1955 E23172 Aerophysics
Development
Corporation
N/A Gas Piping
9/16/1955 D15369 Aerophysics
Development
Corporation
N/A Electrical
11/18/1955 D15686 Aerophysics
Development
Corporation
N/A Electrical
11/25/1955 D15714 Aerophysics
Development
Corporation
N/A Electrical
9/19/1957 E33179 Jack Hammer
(Keystone Body
Shop)
N/A Plumbing
9/30/1957 D19882 Jack Hammer
(Keystone Body
Shop)
N/A Electrical
3/24/1958 B23440 Keystone Body
Shop
Owner (C) Metal Projecting Sign, total sign
area 18 sq. ft. Note: two
buildings listed on the site 1.

Paint shop 2. Body shop
3/25/1958 E35922 Keystone Body
Shop
N/A Plumbing
3/31/1958 D20702 Jack Hammer
(Keystone Body
Shop)
N/A Electrical
6/27/1961 D27575 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Electrical
8/23/1989 P14508 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Plumbing
9/6/1989 E18105 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Electrical
21 Documentation exists for all permits and certificates of occupancy listed in this table.

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Packet Pg. 1622 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 42 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Issued
Permit/
Assessor
Record Owner/ Occupant
Contractor (C),
Architect (A), or
Engineer (E)
Valuation
($) Description
9/6/1989 P14542 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Plumbing
10/28/1993 E22138 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Electrical
1/17/1994 DA0239 Keystone Auto
Body
N/A Rapid Evaluation Safety
Assessment Form – Structural
“Fallen bricks, rear wall down”
12/18/1995 B63795 Hershey
Associates
SBLM Architects (A) Permit for 17 parking stalls on
site
3/18/1996 B63795 Sign
Off
Hershey
Associates
N/A Permit for tenant improvements
to both bldgs. Site map and
plans attached incl. landscaping
and parking.
7/21/1997 E24805 Steve Perry Andy Gump Inc. Electrical – temporary power pole
8/26/1997 97513-066 Bandit Films Desert Blasters Wet sandblast on two buildings – interior and exterior brick
8/27/1997 B64581 Steve Perry,
Prinzavalli Films /
Colorado-Seven
LLC
N/A $5,000 Repairs – 49 linear feet of
parapet wall on building and
raise floor 33’x 50’
9/18/1997 P20494 Steve Perry Bob Haus (C), ATK
Builders
Plumbing
9/29/1997 E24959 Steve Perry Bob Haus (C) Electrical – 28 under floor boxes and conduits only
10/7/1997 E24959 Steve Perry Bob Haus, ATK
Builders (C)
New Electrical – supplemental
to permit 9/29/1997
1/7/1998 B64908 Steve Perry Boto Design (A)
Bob Haus (C)
$100,000 Building permit for 2nd floor
addition and renovation
7/29/1998 B65428 Steve Perry Boto Design (A)
Bob Haus (C)
Concrete pylons, wrought iron
fence
6/13/2002 Continuation
of permits –
see note
Bay Films
Feb 2002 Colorado
Seven LLC sells to
500 Pounds of
Dog, Inc.

Boto Design (A) Reinstate expired 1998 permit
to complete work per B64908
and B64581—for a 2-story 50’ x
100’ and a 25’ x 42’ one-story
office production buildings
(plumbing/electrical included).

Change of use: auto repair to
office production 22
6/27/2002 E27611 Michael Bay N/A Temporary power pole
N/D N/A Water piping and gas piping
22 Additionally, the City of Santa Monica Architectural Review Board approved minor changes to the building exterior and the addition of a fence along Colorado Boulevard on October 20, 1997. The prior property owner began construction work on the building, with the majority of the improvements completed. However, a final certificate of inspection was never obtained for the work and upon expiration of those permits, the City required issuance of a new Administrative Approval and Building Permits. 22 Administrative approval to change the use from auto repair to film production and to add 730 square feet to the second story of the larger of the two buildings was approved March 24, 2002.

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Packet Pg. 1623 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 43 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: Santa Monica History Museum, Bill Beebe
Collection, photographer: Emerson Gaze. Catalog
Number 3.2.4225.
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 49
Building A with original storefront configuration along Colorado Avenue, 1945
SOURCE: EDR 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 50
Sanborn Map depicting Buildings A and B and
surrounding neighborhood with subject property outlined in red, 1986

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Packet Pg. 1624 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 44 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: City of Santa Monica Building Permit 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 51
Site plan for property including Buildings A, B, and
parking lot as included on building permit, 1995
Building B
In 1941, four years after the construction of Building A, a building permit was issued for the construction of a loading canopy at the western extent of the subject property at 621 Colorado Avenue. All building available permits are presented in Table 2. The loading canopy was constructed for use by the A. B. C. Distributing Company, and it likely served as a shelter when loading trucks with product prior to regional distribution. The canopy was rectangular measuring 16’ x 38’ in plan, 16’ tall, and included a composition roof. Noted Santa Monica architect Frederic C. Barienbrock, AIA, was listed as the architect for the canopy. Barienbrock had achieved notoriety by the 1940s period and his knowledge of reinforced groutlock brick masonry, which was used in Building A, is documented in a Los Angeles Times article from 1934. A photograph taken in 1945 illustrates Building B’s configuration four years after construction, and likely reflects its original configuration (Figure 52). The structure was oriented east toward the central parking lot that was shared with Building A and included five bays for cars or trucks. It appears that the south elevation, west wall, and the bulkhead at the north elevation were comprised of brick. A metal chain-link fence once lined Colorado Avenue between Buildings A and B.

In 1947, a building permit was issued to A. B. C. Distributing Company owner, Glen Moyer, to enclose the canopy with five pairs of sliding doors, which were to be installed within the five bays at the eastern elevation. This modification transformed the canopy into a storage building, and also included the installation of a 3’ platform at the interior for a total valuation of $800. The

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Packet Pg. 1625 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 45 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 sketch accompanying the building permit illustrated the existing brick canopy walls, the new sliding doors, and then new platform (Figure 53). A Sanborn map issued in 1950 indicates several additional auxiliary storage buildings abutting Building B to the north and continuing along the northern extent of the property line leading to Building A (previously referenced Figure 43). These structures were likely similarly canopies in-type, as indicated by the dashed line on the Sanborn map, yet they were not comprised of brick, as Building B was, as indicated by the structural symbols on the map. These auxiliary storage structures are also visible in a 1952 aerial photograph (previously referenced Figure 44). Building B was sandblasted in 1955, according to a building permit.

Several building permits were issued in 1958 which included: the enlargement of Building B to be used to polish cars; a large sign for “Keystone Auto Body;” plumbing; and for cinder block walls, which were either part of Building B or retaining walls at the site. A sketch accompanying the permit to enlarge the Building illustrated a “proposed shelter” as a standalone structure measuring 24’ x 30’ in plan, in the area that is presently used as the property’s driveway along 6th Court (Figure 54). This canopy is no longer extant today. By the time of a 1964 aerial photograph, some of the auxiliary storage along the northern property line had been demolished (previously referenced Figure 45). A 1965 Sanborn map notes Building B’s use as an auto painting building, with the newly erected canopy addition serving as a metal spray booth (previously referenced Figure 46).

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the property’s ownership changed, and many building permits were issued between 1994 and 1995 for neighboring Building A. Some of these permits illustrate work done to Building B as well. A sketch plan accompanying a 1995 building permit illustrates a new entrance to Building B located at the east elevation, and a new restroom in the southern portion of the building (previously referenced Figure 51). Building B was transformed from a paint shop into a storage building for office use. The adjacent spray booth was removed during this time, and a concrete wall extension along 6th Court was illustrated on the site plan. In 1997, Building B’s exterior and interior were sandblasted. It is likely around this time that Building B was encased in a smooth concrete stucco finish. Evidence of Building B’s original brick walls remain today, visible at the interior of the building, at the location of the original structure. The canopy addition has since been enclosed, unifying the disparate structures.

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Packet Pg. 1626 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 46 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 TABLE 2
621 COLORADO AVENUE, BUILDING B
CITY OF SANTA MONICA BUILDING PERMITS23
Issued
Permit/
Assessor
Record Owner
Contractor (C),
Architect (A), or
Engineer (E)
Valuation
($) Description
12/11/1941 B5928 A. B. C. Distributing
Co.

Frederic
Barienbrock (A)
$500
(Day Labor)
Original building permit for a onestory structure 16’ wide by 38’ in length and 16’ tall at the highest point
with a composition roof. Use of
building listed as a loading canopy.
3/5/1947 B1401 Glen Moyer Glen Moyer (c) $800 Storage – addition of a loading platform and doors
10/1/1958 B24734 Keystone Body Shop Owner (C) $1,000 Permit for canopy enlargement – open walls with metal roof – 24’ x 30’
x 11’ at highest point, use specified
for “polishing cars”
11/28/1958 E38869 Keystone Body Shop Plumbing
8/26/1997 97513-066 Bandit Films Desert Blasters Wet sandblast on two buildings – interior and exterior brick
SOURCE: Santa Monica History Museum, Bill Beebe
Collection, photographer: Emerson Gaze. Catalog
Number 3.2.4225.
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 52
Building B when used as a loading canopy for truck
storage, 1945
23 Documentation exists for all permits and certificates of occupancy listed in this table.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: City of Santa Monica Building Permit 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 53
Sketch plan as included with building permit to modify
Building B with doors, 1947
SOURCE: City of Santa Monica Building Permit 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 54
Sketch plan as included with building to construct
addition to Building B, 1958
Method of Construction: Reinforced Groutlock Brick System by Simons Brick Company
Before brick kilns were established in California, the earliest sources of masonry were adobe, riverbeds, stone quarries, and constructed with ships’ wood ballasts. 24 The earliest buildings constructed entirely of brick in California were built in the 1830s and 1840s in the Monterey, San 24 Fred Turner, “Revisiting Earthquake Lessons –Unreinforced Masonry Buildings,” Structural Engineers Association of California, January 28, 2020, https://www.seaoc.org/news/486967/Revisiting-Earthquake-Lessons--- Unreinforced-Masonry-Buildings.htm

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Diego, and San Francisco regions.25 As early as 1854, Sacramento had 500 brick buildings. By the 1880s, there were 50 large brick manufacturers in the state producing 120 million bricks annually. By 1900, most small brick manufacturers were forced out of business by larger manufacturers, most likely due to market dominance. Older bricks may have been inconsistently fired by small manufacturers resulting in variable strengths and durability.26 This is one of the reasons that buildings constructed of older brick failed in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. As brick manufacturing became more industrialized and consistent, the quality most likely improved.

Simons Brick Company was among the early group of large brick manufacturers in late nineteenth-century Los Angeles and operated from approximately 1892 to 1952. The company was first mentioned in Los Angeles newspapers in 1892 in a reference to brick work completed in Pasadena.27 In 1895, the Simons Brick Company office was listed at South Fair Oaks Avenue, South Pasadena, and by 1902 the company had an additional brickyard in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. A newspaper article published in 1903 explains that Simons Brick Company, “…has a large force of men and teams at work skimming off the surface of the bluff, . . . the material thus removed will be used for bricks.”28 In 1904, with the purchase of 30 acres of land in Santa Monica, Simons Brick Company announced the upcoming establishment of a brick and tile factory in East Santa Monica.29 In 1906, Simons Brick Company constructed their main brick factory in Montebello as their other brick factory sites were smaller and becoming less productive as the material to make the brick was slowly depleted.

In 1925, and at its peak of operation, Simons Brick Company was advertised as the largest brick manufacturing plant in the world.30 The company associated itself with successful architects and builders, listing completed projects in their advertising. The Edwards & Wildey Building at 6th and Grand Avenue in Los Angles, which was designed by the prestigious firm of Walker and Eisen was constructed with Simons Brick.

One year prior to the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, Simons Brick Company introduced an innovative new product called groutlock brick. Used to build reinforced brick masonry walls, the groutlock bricks were hollowed at the inner angles to allow space for reinforcing steel rods sealed in grout. Reinforced brick is a term that is used to generally describe steel reinforced brick masonry, while groutlock brick is a specific type of reinforced brick. The use of reinforced brick masonry has been recorded internationally for over 175 years and has been adapted to a wide variety of applications throughout its history.31 In the aftermath of the 1933 fatally destructive 6.3 magnitude earthquake, brick sales dropped temporarily as municipalities responded to the threat 25 Ibid.
26 Ibid.
27 "The Pasadena News: Proceedings of the Council in Regular Session," Los Angeles Evening Express, February 22, 1892.
28 Newspaper Entry, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1903. 29 “More New Industries,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1904. 30 Newspaper Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1925. 31 Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 17 – Reinforced Brick Masonry – Introduction Reissued Oct. 1996 (https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-research-documents/technicalnotes/17-reinforced-brickmasonry---introduction.pdf?sfvrsn=0, accessed 10/15/2021).

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 of unreinforced masonry. Some cities, including Pasadena, banned the use of brick as a construction material altogether in an effort to make their communities “earthquake proof.”32 Immediately after the Long Beach earthquake, Simons Brick Company actively marketed this product. However, public perception of brick masonry was compromised by the mounds of toppled brick following the seismic event. As a result, reinforced groutlock brick was marketed as the successful solution to the failure of unreinforced brick masonry. Just nine days after the quake, Simons Brick Company ran an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times with the headline “Reinforced Groutlock Brick Masonry is Earthquake Proof!” (Figure 55).33 The advertisement also included the following:

A careful survey and inspection has been made of all the Reinforced Groutlock Masonry Walls and Chimneys completed to date and not a crack or any other defect whatsoever has been found. The Flexible Rigidity feature of these walls, designed by Mr. Paul E. Jeffers, Structural Engineer, to resist earthquakes is effective. We will gladly supply anyone interested with a complete list and location of all jobs completed before and under construction during the recent earthquake. We particularly invite inspection by all architects, engineers, building officials and owners. Every claim made for Reinforced Groutlock Brick Masonry has been verified. Nothing tests earthquake resistant construction better than a very severe earthquake.34
Following the destruction caused by the 1933 earthquake, the state legislature recognized the need for state level regulation to ensure uniform building requirements. To that end, the State of California passed new safety regulations including the Riley Act and the Field Act.35 Prior to 1933, only some larger cities had building departments. The 1933 Riley Act “required all local governments to review design, issue building permits, and inspect construction for other buildings.”36 In post-earthquake California, the Riley Act “effectively prohibited new bearing wall unreinforced masonry construction.”37 In writing about the impact of the Long Beach earthquake, John Parrish states, “In the affected area, “seventy schools were destroyed and 120 damaged, which represents about 75% of the schools in the area.”38 Further, due to this level of destruction, the “Field Act took the extraordinary step of revoking local authority for public schools of grades K-14 and assigning that new regulatory authority to the State Architect,” in an effort to ensure that school buildings would be safe in future earthquake events.39 32 “News Behind the News,” The Pasadena Post, March 22, 1934. 33 Newspaper Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1933. 34 Ibid.
35 Fred Turner, “Seventy Years of the Riley Act and its effect on California’s Building Stock,” 13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, (Vancouver, B.C., Canada. August 1-6, 2004), Paper No. 313. 36 Ibid.
37 Fred Turner, “Revisiting Earthquake Lessons –Unreinforced Masonry Buildings,” Structural Engineers Association of California, January 28, 2020, https://www.seaoc.org/news/486967/Revisiting-Earthquake-Lessons--- Unreinforced-Masonry-Buildings.htm
38 John Parrish, “The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake and The Field Act, Improving the Design and Building Standards for California Schools,” https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/earthquakes/long-beach (accessed October 12, 2021. 39 Ibid.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Three months after the 6.3 magnitude tremor, a 1933 Los Angeles Times article (Figure 56) published an interview with owner Walter Simons about the company’s unique method of reinforcing this type of masonry construction:
“The process,” Mr. Simons explained, “involves a combination of materials consisting of steel bars spaced both vertically and horizontally two feet on centers firmly imbedded in center diaphragm of rich concrete grout. The vertical steel bars tie the roof to the foundation. The outside of the wall is laid up with especially shaped bricks that lock with the concrete grout. All wall voids are completely filled, making a solid homogeneity. The combination develops enormous flexural or binding resistance. The concrete grout in the center space between the outer courses of brick is waterproofed. This is opposite to the old system of applying waterproof mixture to the exteriors.”40 Simons Brick Company excelled in advertising and its groutlock brick product and production increased by 250% in 90 days, and soon, the company was producing 150,000 bricks a day according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
41 In August of 1933, Walter Simons had a new
project for the V-O Food Mill in the East Side industrial area [of Los Angeles], and noted that “several hundred thousand of this new brick will be used in the warehouse buildings.” 42 To further entice architects and builders to use their product, in November of 1934 Simons Brick Company sponsored an architectural contest in which the company selected a winning architect and three honorable mentions who designed residences that could be constructed with reinforced groutlock masonry. Simons donated the groutlock brick building material to the homeowner, furthering its dominance in the southern California building industry.43 The physical legacy of Simons Brick Company is evident in the built environment of the greater Los Angeles area, in California, and beyond. The Simons Brick Company boasted that it was one of the largest brickyards in the world and shipped up to one million bricks each day before it closed in 1952. Residents in Los Angeles, San Francisco and the greater southern California region would continue to encounter this brick as it was widely used in commercial, industrial, and residential building.44 Due to the Riley and Field Acts, by law virtually any brick masonry building constructed in California between 1933 and 1952, was to be constructed with reinforced brick – in many cases, most likely Simons groutlock brick due to its market dominance. The Montebello site remained in business under owner Walter Simon’s direction until the company closed in 1952.
40 “Unique Brick Stirs Interest: Inventor Explains New Masonry Style,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1933. 41 “East Side Adds New Plant,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1933. 42 Ibid.
43 “Awards Made in Residential Design Contest,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1934. 44 Margarita López López, “Restoring History, Brick By Brick,” Latinx Talk, March 24, 2020 https://latinxtalk.org/2020/03/24/restoring-history-brick-by-brick/

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Packet Pg. 1631 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: Advertisement, The Los Angeles Times, March 9,
1933
631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment
Figure 55
Advertisement promoting the “earthquake proof”
reinforced groutlock brick masonry as used on a
residence
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1933 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 56
Newspaper article discussing new groutlock method of
construction, 1933

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Frederic C. Barienbrock, Architect of Building B
Frederic Charles (C.) Barienbrock was born in Massachusetts on October 16, 1904, and by 1925 he was living in southern California. Barienbrock received his license in 1934, and the same year won an honorable mention in an architectural design contest in which Simons Brick Company was to donate their groutlock brick product for the construction of the exterior walls of the winning design.45 At that time, Simons Brick Company was aggressively marketing their groutlock brick in the aftermath of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Barienbrock began his own practice in Santa Monica in 1936.46 The original 1937 building permit for Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue does not list an architect. However, the original 1941 building permit issued for the construction of Building B includes Santa Monica architect Frederic Charles (C.) Barienbrock as the architect. The original permit for Building B refers to the canopy as an unenclosed, onestory brick building constructed for the purpose of the loading and unloading of warehouse goods. The building permit did not d indicate groutlock brick. Barienbrock became an emeritus member of the American Institute of Architects in 1946, practicing architecture in Santa Monica as an independent architect and later as a partner in the firm Barienbrock and Murray for over 50 years. He is known for his civic and institutional projects for the Santa Monica Branch Courthouse and County Building with Robert Kliegman (1951) and on the post-World War II additions to Santa Monica High School (Science Building,1954-1956).47 In 1952, his work on a contemporary modular single-family home was published in Arts & Architecture magazine.48 Barienbrock died in 1978 in Santa Monica.49
Ownership/Occupancy History
The occupancy and ownership history of the subject property illustrates the overall pattern of economic development along Colorado Avenue from the pre-World War II to post-World War II periods, to the mid- to late-twentieth century, and through the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Both buildings on the subject property, Buildings A and B, appear to have been owned and occupied by the same owners/tenants throughout their history. From post-Prohibition initial construction as a wholesale liquor distribution office and warehouse, use of the property then briefly supported post-war classified missile development and atomic research. With the post-war resurgence of automobile production, the site reflected the dominance of American car culture in its use as an auto body paint and repair shop along a busy thoroughfare. With the changing economic focus and explosive growth of media and communications in the twenty-first century, 45 “Awards Made in Residential Design Contest,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1934. 46 Nelson White Architectural History + Preservation, “Villa Ruchello: A History, 609 E. Channel Road, Santa Monica, CA,” Prepared for The Agency, N.D., 7.
47 “Santa Monica Dedicates New County Building,” Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1951; and “$520,000 High School Building Completed,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1956.
48 “A Modular House by Frederic Barienbrock, Architect and Eugene Memmler, Designer,” Arts & Architecture, April 1952, Vol. 69, No. 4, 30-31
49 American Institute of Architects, Application for Membership, “Frederic Charles Barienbrock,” Application No. 4070, January 7, 1926. AIA Historical Directory website, https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/35823390/ahd1002119.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 the property has been home to a series of highly successful film production companies. An occupancy table with all known tenants and owners is provided in Table 3.

In 1937, during the first few years of the post-Prohibition era, Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue was constructed specifically for use by the A. B. C. Distributing Company. The A. B. C.

Distributing Company purchased the property from Etta Moxely, an African American woman who owned and occupied the property prior to the property sale.50 In 1941, 621 Colorado, Building B was constructed for use as a loading canopy to load and unload inventory. The A. B.

C. Distributing Co. owned and occupied subject Buildings A and B between 1937 and 1954.

Building permit history, city directories, newspaper advertisements, and a subsequent newspaper article confirm this occupancy.

In 1955, Aerophysics Development Corporation (Aerophysics) expanded its business to occupy the subject property likely for use as offices.51 The company was founded in Santa Monica in 1951 and by 1956 was experiencing explosive growth. The company had rapidly increased its staff in a few short years and needed additional space. This location was one of at least 4 other locations in Santa Monica. Aerophysics researched missile design for the U.S. military and for the Atomic Energy Commission. It appears that Aerophysics only occupied the parcel for one to two years before the company relocated to Santa Barbara52 The next owner of the property was the Keystone Body Shop who remained at the site for almost 36 years, from 1958 until 1994. The building permit history documents this occupancy beginning in 1958 with the addition of a large canopy erected for polishing cars underneath its shelter.

Building A was used as a body shop and Building B used as a paint shop.

In 1995, the city directory listed Hershey Associates as the owner and extensive tenant improvements were completed in 1996. In 1997, Colorado-Seven, LLC/Steve Perry was the listed owner and Prinzavalli Films was conducting business at the site. In 2000, Bandit Films appears in the Haines & Company directory. The ownership remained consistent for the following five years until the property was sold in 2002 and ownership was transferred from Colorado-Seven, LLC to 500 Pounds of Dog, Inc. From 2002 until the present day, the property has been owned by 500 Pounds of Dog, Inc., and the property has been occupied by film production companies: Bay Films and Platinum Dunes.

TABLE 3
621 AND 631 COLORADO AVENUE OWNERSHIP AND OCCUPANCY
Year Source Owner/Occupant Notes
1937-
c. 1953
Original Building Permit; Los
Angeles Directory Co.; Building
Permits; San Bernardino County
Sun; Evening Vanguard (Venice)
A. B. C. Distributing Co.;
Glen Moyer [owner and
occupant]
Wholesale Liquor, and
Distributor for Aztec Brewing
Company (1937-1948); Altes
Brewing Company (1948-53)
50 For further information about Etta Moxely, see Nina Fresco’s 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Designation Application report (2021).
51 “Aerophysics Development Corporation. A Studebaker-Packard Subsidiary: Santa Monica, Calif.” Jet Propulsion Archive, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1956, Part 2, p7-S., https://doi.org/10.2514/8.6995 52 Ibid.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Year Source Owner/Occupant Notes
1955 Building Permits Aerophysics Development
Corporation
[owner/occupant or tenant
– unconfirmed]
1958-1994 Pacific Telephone; Pacific Bell;
Building Permits; Santa Monica
Rapid Evaluation Safety
Assessment; Cole Information
Services
Keystone Body Shop Inc.;
Jack Hammer
[owner and occupant]
Keystone Body Shop and
Jack Hammer are both listed
on permits as business and
owner throughout occupancy
c. 1995-1996 Building Permits Hershey Associates
[owner and occupant]
Communications design firm
c. 1997-2000 Building Permits; Cole Information
Services; Haines & Company
Colorado-Seven, LLC;
Prinzavalli Films; Steve
Perry; Bandit Films
[owner and occupant]
c. 2002-Present Building Permits; Haines Co., Inc.;
Cole Information Systems
Michael Bay; Bay Films;
Platinum Dunes; 500
Pounds of Dog, Inc.
[owner and occupant]
Film production companies
occupied both Buildings A
and B
A. B. C. Distributing Company
The A. B. C. Distributing Company was a distributing warehouse/depot for the Aztec Brewing Company (A. B. C. Brewing Company). The Aztec Brewing Company, or Cerveceria Azteca, S.A., was a brewery founded in Mexicali, Mexico in 1921 by San Diego businessmen Edward P.

Baker and Herbert Jaffe, and brewing engineer William H. Strouse.53 The American businessmen established the brewery in Mexico to avoid the constraints imposed by the 1919 federal passage of the 18th Amendment, the National Prohibition Act, which did not allow for manufacture, sale or transport of alcohol in the United States.54 Alcohol was still legal in Mexico during Prohibition, and American crowds travelled to the border-adjacent cities of Mexicali and Tijuana.

In 1920, Tijuana’s population was just over 1,000 people and by 1930, the population had grown to over 11,000 people.55 The growth in population paralleled the growth of the brewery business as Aztec Brewing Company and Cerveceria Mexicali, another popular Mexican brewery, competed and their businesses quadrupled during this period.56 In the Journal of San Diego History, Ernie Liwag asserts that “before Prohibition, San Diego had approximately 112,000 people, seven breweries and fifty-five saloons.”57 Some of these San Diegans would visit various parts of Mexico, including Baja, in order to drink alcohol openly. In 1928, the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel opened in Tijuana, and with an associated horse racing track opening soon after. Some of the beer for the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel was supplied 53 Ryan Hand, “Aztec Brewing Company,” Chicano Park Museum website, https://www.chicanoparkmuseum.org/logan-heights-archival-project/aztec-brewery/. 54 Ernie Liwag and Matthew Schiff, “San Diego’s Craft Brew Culture,” The Journal of San Diego History 59, nos. 1 and 2 (Winter/Spring 2013): 11. http://sandiegohistory.org/journal/v59-1/v59-1.pdf. 55 Ibid.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 by the Aztec Brewing Company, known as Cerveceria Azteca, S.A. in Mexico, which won a gold medal at the International Exposition in Seville, Spain in 1929.58 In 1933, with the repeal of the 18th amendment, Prohibition came to an end. The success of the breweries established in Mexicali and Tijuana during the previous decade dropped dramatically with the loss of their target market of American tourists, as alcohol was once again legal in the United States.59 As a result, Aztec Brewing Company founders and entrepreneurs Baker and Jaffe shifted their equipment and operations back into the United States to establish their company in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood. Very quickly, the brewery became the largest of three breweries in San Diego, brewing A. B. C.–branded beer (Figure 57).60 The company redeveloped the former site of the Savage Tire Company, invested approximately $450.000 and renovated the property into a state-of-the-art brewery that could brew up to 100,000 barrels a year initially.61 The company’s production was operating at a high capacity, and product distribution expanded to Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon.62 The company’s sales went from 17th place to 3rd place in sales west of the Rocky Mountains in only three months after re-opening.63 To handle the demand and distribution of A. B. C. beer, the company designated local distributors in the west region as soon as the company was relocated in San Diego (Figure 58). A 1933 newspaper advertisement listed six A. B. C. Distributing Company locations serving different cities in the greater Los Angeles region (Figure 59).64 During the same year, the company advertised selected days as “A. B. C. Day” featuring A. B. C. beer, claiming “the full pint bottle brings you value in tune with the New Deal,” reflecting President Roosevelt’s economic New Deal for the country.65 In San Francisco, a newspaper article expressed how high the demand was for beer in the early post-Prohibition days.66 Bars were so busy in the years following the repeal of Prohibition that they were often packed with patrons trying to be served alcohol and proprietors feared running out of beer. The high demand for beer in the post-Prohibition years was evident in the number of A. B. C. Distributing Company franchises in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the entire west region.67 Building A was constructed in 1937 as a warehouse and offices. Building B was constructed in 1941 for truck storage for the loading and unloading of inventory.

In 1948, the Aztec Brewing Company was purchased by the Altes Brewing Company of Detroit.

Coincidentally, the Altes Beer was also referred to as “A. B. C. Beer.” Instead of continuing to brew the Aztec Brewing Company’s recipe, Altes Brewing Company halted its production after a 58 Sheldon Kaplan, “A Look Back: San Diego Beer History from 1868 to 1953,” West Coaster, September 13, 2018, https://westcoastersd.com/2018/09/13/a-look-back-san-diego-beer-history-from-1868-to-1953/. 59 Liwag and Schiff, “San Diego’s Craft Brew Culture.”
60 Ibid.
61 Sheldon Kaplan, “A Look Back: San Diego Beer History from 1868 to 1953” in West Coaster, San Diego Beer & Beverage News, September 13, 2018 (https://westcoastersd.com/2018/09/13/a-look-back-san-diego-beer-historyfrom-1868-to-1953/, accessed 10/18/2021) 62 Kaplan, “A Look Back: San Diego Beer History from 1868 to 1953.” 63 Ibid.
64 “A. B. C. Day Oct. 6th,” Newspaper advertisement, The Napa Valley Register, October 5, 1933. 65 Ibid.
66 “Nation Consumes Floods of Beer on ‘Opening Day,” Daily News, April 8, 1933. 67 “A. B. C. Day Oct. 6th,” Newspaper advertisement, The Napa Valley Register, October 5, 1933.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 few years and replaced it with its own Altes Brewing Company beer, which was more in line with east coast tradition.68 Historian Stanly Baron, in Brewed in America: The History of Beer and Ale in the United States, explains that from the onset of World War II and through the initial phase of the post-War period, national brewing companies “used their massive resources to buy out local breweries across the nation. The national breweries’ dominance in packaged beer, the increasing barrel taxes, grain rationing, the inability to adapt to stricter food and industrial laws, and the growing desire for imported beer led to the closure of all the local San Diego brewers by 1953.” 69 Altes Brewing Company was later bought by the National Brewing Company of Baltimore, Maryland and the San Diego brewery closed in 1953.70 SOURCE: The Journal of San Diego History 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 57
Aztec Brewing Company in San Diego, c. 1933 showing
the state-of-the-art production capability of the newly renovated brewery in the early post-Prohibition period. 68 Kaplan, “A Look Back: San Diego Beer History from 1868 to 1953.” 69 Ibid.
70 Liwag and Schiff, “San Diego’s Craft Brew Culture.”

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 SOURCE: The Journal of San Diego History 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 58
Aztec Brewing Company, c. 1933, advertised its
Famous A. B. C. Beer as “Class in a Glass.”
SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 59
Aztec Brewing Company, 1933, listing A. B. C.

Distributing Co. franchises in the Los Angeles area. The Santa Monica location was not listed, as it was not yet constructed by this time.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Glen Moyer, early owner
Glen A. Moyer operated at least one other A. B. C. Distributing business in Ocean Park, and there were at least four other distributing locations in the Southern California area. Born in Iowa in 1891, Glenn was living in Wyoming by 1917 and was working as a farmer.71 By 1930, Glen and his wife Gloria, also referred to as Zora, were living in San Diego where Glen worked as a machinist at a steel mill.72 It is possible that Glen became familiar with the Aztec Brewing Company, or the A. B. C. Distributing Company during his time in San Diego, where the headquarters was located. Eight years later, the 1938 Santa Monica City Directory indicated that Glen was a manager for A. B. C. Distributing Company and living in Santa Monica.73 Glen was listed as the owner of the subject property on a 1947 building permit for Building B. By the 1940 U. S. Federal Census, Glen, erroneously listed as “John A Moyer,” was working a distributor for a brewery.74 Two years later World War II draft registration cards indicate that Moyer was drafted in 1942, and was self-employed.75 An announcement for his funeral service in 1951 indicated that he was a “founder of a wholesale beverage distributing company.”76 Aerophysics Development Corporation
Aerophysics Development Corporation (Aerophysics) was organized in 1951 by Dr. William Bollay, a well-known scientist in the field of aeronautics and rocketry.77 The corporation focused on research and development of highly classified missile research projects for branches of the United States military, as well as the Atomic Energy Commission. Techniques that were researched for military purposes would later be applied to industrial and commercial applications.78
Founded in Santa Monica in 1951, the company experienced rapid expansion in its first five years and, according to a 1956 article in the Jet Propulsion Archive, “increased its staff from zero to over five hundred scientists, engineers, technicians, and supporting staff”.79 Building permits show that Aerophysics occupied 621 and 631 Colorado Avenue between 1954 and 1956. There is no indication of what specific activities were completed by Aerophysics at this address. During this period of rapid Post-War expansion, Aerophysics occupied at least four different locations in Santa Monica.80 The number of Aerophysics employees doubled each year following its establishment, offering training programs and becoming a source of employment for engineers and technicians in the area. The Jet Propulsion Archives article further explained, “Many of the present staff members have been among the leaders in developing the revolutionary advances 71 “Glen Alvin Moyer,” U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards,” 1917-1918. 72 “Glen Moyer,” U. S. Federal Census, 1930.
73 “Glenn A (Zora) mgr A B C Distributing Co.” Bay Cities Directory, Published by Los Angeles Directory Co., 1938, p. 375.
74 “John A. Moyer,” U. S. Federal Census, 1940.
75 “Glen Alvin Moyer,” U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, ancestry.com. 76 “Funeral Services Held for Glen A. Moyer,” Mirror News, January 17, 1951. 77 “Aerophysics Development Corporation. A Studebaker-Packard Subsidiary: Santa Monica, Calif.” Jet Propulsion Archive, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1956, Part 2, p7-S., https://doi.org/10.2514/8.6995 78 Ibid,
79 Ibid.
80 Newspapers.com research of ABC addresses, 1951-1956.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 made in the field of aeronautics during the past decade – in supersonic aerodynamics, in jet and rocket propulsion, and in guided missiles.”81
The corporation became a subsidiary of Studebaker-Packard and in 1956 the Aerophysics Development Corporation moved its headquarters to a new state-of-the-art plant in Santa Barbara stating that “the most modern principles of building design are being incorporated in the construction of Aerophysics Development Corporation headquarters plant to provide the ideal atmosphere for research.”82
Keystone Body Shop
Keystone Auto Body Shop operated a full-service automobile repair facility including body and fender repair as well as a paint shop at the subject property from 1958 to about 1994. Keystone Body Shop, Inc., a California corporation, was incorporated on 6 August 1957, and dissolved on October 27, 1997.83
Bay Films and Platinum Dunes
Michael Bay is an award-winning American film director and producer and owner of Bay Films, a film production company that has produced a series of successful high-concept action films including top-grossing Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers film series, among others.84 Bay formed the production company, Platinum Dunes, with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form in 2001 to produce films in the horror genre such as The Purge, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and A Quiet Place.85 According to building permits and city directory sources, Bay Films and Platinum Dunes have occupied 631 Colorado Avenue since 2002.

81 “Aerophysics Development Corporation. A Studebaker-Packard Subsidiary: Santa Monica, Calif.” Jet Propulsion Archive, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1956, Part 2, p7-S., https://doi.org/10.2514/8.6995 82 Ibid.
83 Certificate of Dissolution, Corporation Number D-0342151, Keystone Body Shop, Inc., signed by directors H.

George Nojima and Joanne Nojima on October 10, 1997, and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State of the State of California on October 27, 1997.

Additionally, the business is noted in the popular culture of southern California as frequented by Jan Berry of Jan and Dean musical fame, in the book The Jan and Dean Record: A Chronology of Studio Sessions, Live Performances and Chart Positions, which documents that Jan Berry had his 1958 Chevrolet Corvette repaired at Keystone Body Shop at 631 Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica. See: Mark A. Moore, “The Jan & Dean Record: A Chronology of Studio Sessions, Live Performances and Chart Positions, ” Appendix D: Jan Berry, Keystone Auto Body Shop, Inc. 2016.
84 IMDb, “Michael Bay: Biography,” IMDb website,
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000881/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm, accessed 10-13-21. 85 Ibid.

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Santa Monica Commercial Development (1875-1977)86
Introduction
The Santa Monica area’s first commercial endeavors were based in agriculture. Ranches specialized in sheep herding, cattle, or various crops, such as lima beans. However, when the first tourists pitched house tents at Santa Monica’s beaches, commercial ventures such as a general store and a large sleeping tent were launched, beginning Santa Monica’s long history as a resort destination. Hotels, bathhouses, and saloons reflecting Santa Monica’s early history as a recreational destination gave way over time to specialized stores and services as railway and automobile access made year-round living more feasible. A growing economic base at Douglas Aircraft created steady demand for commercial growth elsewhere in the city.

Economic engines in Santa Monica included ranching, agriculture, shipping, the entertainment industry, and the aviation industry. However, the most significant factor in Santa Monica’s economic development was arguably the city’s prime beachfront location, which has played a significant role in its development and identity. As a result, Santa Monica has resources associated specifically with beach tourism and recreation, including pleasure piers and grand beach-front hotels, in addition to a thriving commercial center that grew exponentially in the 1920s.

The Great Depression and World War II slowed commercial development almost to a halt in Santa Monica. Building activity declined dramatically beginning in the Great Depression, and Santa Monica’s tourist attractions struggled. Tourists and locals frequented local beaches, taking up free recreational activities such as surfing and beach volleyball. During World War II, the military presence in Santa Monica and the large workforce at Douglas Aircraft Company boosted business for local leisure activities such as pleasure piers, movie theaters, and restaurants.

After World War II, the population boom and rise in consumer culture spurred retail and commercial development in Santa Monica. Santa Monica continued to expand its resort- and tourist-oriented activities throughout the period and embraced its emerging role in the provision of healthcare and financial services for Los Angeles’ west side.

Theme: Pre-World War II Commercial Development (1920-
1944)87
This theme addresses commercial development between 1920 and 1945. It explores the continued growth of Santa Monica between the World Wars, when the downtown commercial core grew 86 Historic Resources Group, and Architectural Resources Group, “City of Santa Monica: Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement,” Prepared for City of Santa Monica Planning & Community Development Department, March 2018.
87 This theme primarily discusses commercial development in Santa Monica between the World Wars. The period of significance extends to 1944 to capture the few commercial businesses established in the 1940s; these are largely a reflection of prewar patterns and the ability of Santa Monica to maintain the tourism industry during the war, and do not merit a separate “during the war” theme as is warranted in the industrial development section.

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Santa Monica experienced continued growth and development following World War I. In the 1920s, Santa Monica’s population jumped from 15,000 to 37,000, the largest increase in the city’s history.309 Commercial activity increased apace, and buildings were constructed to accommodate Santa Monica’s new or expanding businesses and increased tourist activity.

Commercial trends that began in the early 20th century continued in the 1920s, with the establishment of numerous prominent commercial buildings downtown, including the city’s first skyscrapers, along with the continued development of resort- and tourist-related resources. The downtown commercial core continued to expand along with the growing population. However, the Great Depression and World War II slowed commercial development in Santa Monica.

Building activity declined, and new commercial construction was rare. Santa Monica’s tourist attractions struggled throughout the Great Depression.

This section begins with a brief examination of the continued growth of the downtown commercial core, followed by a discussion of tourism, recreation, and beach culture in Santa Monica following World War I through the end of World War II, and the effects of the Great Depression on Santa Monica. Santa Monica’s commercial development during this period provided the foundation for postwar economic expansion and contributed to the continued development of Santa Monica’s identity as a beach resort town.

Sub-Theme: Economic Development: Post Prohibition (1933-1940) Between 1875 and 1930, Santa Monica’s driving commercial force was “not agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, or the budding movie industry. Instead, due to its proximity to the ocean Santa Monica flourished as a leisure destination. Activities such as sea bathing, airplane flights, drinking, and car racing drew tourists from all over the country to Santa Monica.”88 Since the late nineteenth century Santa Monica debated the moral dilemma of prohibition as “alcohol took a firm hold in tourist centers” and “Hotels, restaurants, and entertainment options such as billiard rooms plied their customers with alcohol. By 1895, Santa Monica had seven saloons, six restaurants, and two beer gardens.”89 What some citizens viewed as an almost equally increasing number of churches as saloons, the opposing groups battled. By the late 1880s, a Santa Monica branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was established with the support of a wealthy Santa Monica landowner with a Puritan background, Frederick H. Rindge. In 1900, the first prohibition law in Santa Monica was enacted and by 1902 its success was evident by the fact that there were no saloons or beer gardens on Sanborn maps. Alcohol could still be sold, as 88 Architectural Resources Group, Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement, March 2018, 152.
89 Ibid, 163.

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In 1917, Santa Monica passed the full prohibition of alcohol sales two years before the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified making the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcohol illegal. Santa Monica moved its alcohol consumption behind closed doors in speakeasies all over town as well as in private rooms in the finest hotels. During Prohibition in the 1920s, Santa Monica experienced its largest population boom and commercial development expanded exponentially in the downtown area concentrated on 2nd and 3rd Streets between Santa Monica Boulevard and Colorado Avenue. There was an additional area of commercial activity on Main Street as early as 1918. Ocean Park developed its own commercial center as “shops, movie theaters, hotels lined the Promenade and Pier Avenue and piers such as Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier were home to shops, dance halls, saloons, restaurants, and movie theaters.”90 As the “small seaside resort town was transformed into a metropolitan shopping district,” commercial buildings of two and three stories rose along the downtown streets.91
At the end of the decade, the Great Depression slowed development: new commercial construction was rare and tourist attractions struggled. Businesses went bankrupt across the city and people could no longer afford the attractions of the amusement piers. “Building projects in Santa Monica declined dramatically during the Depression. Where the city had projects valued at $3 million begun in 1929, projects started in 1933 were valued at less than $500,000.”92 Since 1921, the Santa Monica pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue was a hub of development and the city continued to invest in and promote its seaside location to spur its economy. Hotels constructed during the 1920s and early 1930s included the Palisades Building at the Miramar Hotel (1924), the Breakers (1926), Sovereign Hotel (1928), Georgian Hotel (1931), Lido Hotel (1931), and the Shangri-La Hotel (1939). Many of these hotels established private beach clubs during these years and while tourism slowed, it never disappeared.

During the early 1930s, the Santa Monica Yacht Harbor was constructed with funds from a bond measure passed in 1931. In 1934, the Santa Monica City Council announced the completion of the breakwater. The newly completed harbor “boasted 99 yacht moorings, among them Charlie Chaplin’s yacht, Panacea.” [Context, p. 169.] The economy was revived, and new restaurants and businesses thrived.

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act, permitting the manufacture and sale of low-alcohol beer and wines (up to 3.2 percent alcohol by volume). In December of 1933, Prohibition was repealed at the federal level with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment. Notably, the repeal still allowed for prohibition to be maintained at the state and local levels.93 The economic profile of Santa Monica during the post-Prohibition era 90 Ibid, 163-164.
91 Ibid, 167.
92 Ibid, 171.
93 “Prohibition, United States History [1920-1933]: Repeal,” Encyclopedia Britannica website, https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933/Repeal.

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Tourism and alcohol consumption were mutually supportive endeavors in these post-Prohibition years leading up to the outbreak of World War II. The Santa Monica Context states:

Gambling ships moored in the Santa Monica Bay drew gamblers by the score, and the pastime, though illegal, quickly infiltrated even the most prestigious Santa Monica businesses. The Casa del Mar beach club ran illegal slot machines in the 1930s, and Santa Monica restaurants hosted illegal card games disguised as charity fundraisers. Bookmakers (“bookies”) met bettors in hotel rooms, and bingo parlors abounded in Ocean Park. An initiative was passed in 1933 banning gambling on Ocean Park’s piers, and Santa Monica residents petitioned to eradicate gambling from the city, only to be counteracted by a more popular petition, signed by local gamblers, to keep gambling in the area.94 During this period, the Downtown commercial core expanded beyond its previous boundaries of 2nd and 3rd Streets and several businesses were established in Santa Monica during the Depression. These included Merle Norman Cosmetics, which opened the first Merle Norman Studio in Santa Monica in 1931. In 1936 the successful company added an energized Streamline Moderne façade to a commercial building on Main Street and “brought hope to Depression-era Santa Monica.”95 Reinvention was the key to survival and other Santa Monica businesses adjusted to the environment. The Santa Monica Brick Company “turned to producing tile for furniture decoration under the name Taylor Tilery. W.I. Simonson took over Santa Monica’s Packard dealership” in 1937.96
With the outbreak of World War II, commercial development slowed again. However, because of the military presence in Santa Monica, the leisure industry was able to adapt once again in the early 1940s.97
Sub-Theme: Industrial Development Along Colorado Avenue (1890s1960s) The pattern of industrial development along Colorado Avenue was influenced by city founders Baker and Jones in the very early days of city planning when they brought the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad to the Long Wharf in Santa Monica Bay. The boundary on the southern edge of the downtown neighborhood was natural and manmade as the natural arroyo dropped down below grade, while the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad curved along Railroad Avenue (now Colorado Avenue). The design that would influence this southern end of the commercial-industrial side of town was laid out in the original Santa Monica city plan as the edge of the city extended to the south only as far as the natural arroyo. The original organization of the 94 Ibid.
95 Ibid, 172.
96 Ibid, 173.
97 Ibid.

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While the original downtown commercial core centered on 2nd and 3rd Streets between Santa Monica Boulevard to the north and Colorado Avenue to the south, the 1895 Sanborn map already showed the presence of some industrial development along Colorado Avenue. Early Sanborn fire insurance maps show that the southern-most lots along Railroad Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets were developed with the Santa Monica Light and Power Company and the adjacent Santa Monica Lumber Planing and Feed Mill. In subsequent years, Sanborn maps illustrate additional early development along Colorado Avenue would include Standard Oil Company, Southern California Edison, and smaller businesses through the 1940s.

Beginning in 1922, Donald Douglas established his own company, Douglas Aircraft, in Santa Monica. In 1929, after notable successes, he moved its operation to the Santa Monica Airport and reaped almost immediate rewards:

Douglas “won a competition for the design of the DC series of planes, which eventually would carry over 95 percent of air traffic. The first DC-1 took off from the Santa Monica Airport in 1933. The demand for commercial aircraft and the success of Douglas’ planes resulted in dramatic growth of the company in the 1930s, and it became one of the largest employers in Santa Monica.”98
In the 1930s, changes in the pattern of transportation would contribute to the development of the southern edge of the city. The 2018 Santa Monica Citywide Historic Resources Inventory explains that in 1935, “Olympic Boulevard was extended towards the beach through the wide arroyo next to the Pacific Electric tracks, which separated the original townsite from Ocean Park.99 In 1936, the expansion of Route 66 further connected Los Angeles and Santa Monica and access from the city to the beach was made easier with the construction of the Palisades Tunnel (now McClure Tunnel) which was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.100 The Santa Monica Context states that “Santa Monica had been a distinctly non-industrial city until the 1930s” – a city with residential development and commercial ventures, but no dedicated industry.101 The first phase of industrial development in Santa Monica centered around aviation in the pre-World War II years. This set the stage for the second phase of expanded industrial growth in the immediate post-war period in the fields of aviation, aerospace, and electronics beginning in 1946. Even later, major industries would include computers and laser technology.

With the outbreak of World War II, Douglas Aircraft expanded to become one of the largest defense contractors of the period. The company occupied a 124-acre site at the Santa Monica Airport and by the end of the war had developed forty distinct “units” that occupied the site with functions ranging from manufacturing, tooling, metal working, assembly, research and development, storage, shipping and receiving, auto repair, cafeteria, executive’s club, and 98 Ibid, 248.
99 “City of Santa Monica: Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement,” 2018, pages 246-247. 100 Ibid, 247.
101 Ibid, 246.

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“Douglas dominated the city’s economy for years, and its wartime expansion was responsible for the transformation of the City of Santa Monica from beach resort to bustling industrial center. Douglas brought a flood of residents, new businesses, social change, and a legacy of aviation and aerospace that would have ripple effects on the community for decades to come.”104
In the immediate post-war period, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce wanted to diversify the City’s industrial base. The areas of land along the east-west railroad tracks between Colorado Avenue and Olympic Boulevard were vacant and available for growth and development.105 The Santa Monica Historic Context Statement explains that “[h]istoric aerial photographs of the area, combined with Sanborn maps from the 1940s, indicate that industrial development present north and south of the railroad tracks grew significantly during the postwar period.”106 A resident of the City of Santa Monica since 1944, John Drescher recalled that “the present industrial corridor along the area generally bounded by Olympic and Colorado was a wasteland until after World War II. There were brick pits everywhere.”107 In addition, light industrial businesses operated alongside dwellings on Colorado and Broadway.108
The Santa Monica Context describes additional factors that promoted post-war industrial growth in Santa Monica:
the proposed Santa Monica Freeway extension [1966] (contributing to new transportation opportunities for goods), the continued presence of Douglas Aircraft Company and its related industries, the development of the former municipal yards along Colorado Avenue north of Lincoln Boulevard, and the rezoning of residential land for industrial use.109 In the post-World War II phase of development, a number of industrial businesses were established along the east-west thoroughfare of Colorado Avenue. In 1949, Tavco Inc. “made aircraft and missile parts as well as contributed to the atmospheric system on the Mercury capsule.”110 Alpha Engineering Corporation formed an electronics division in 1955. Waldo D.

Waterman returned to 5th Street and Colorado Avenue to continue developing and producing his Arrowbiles (a flying vehicle prototype). Other notable companies established in Santa Monica during this period include RAND (1948), Lear Inc. (1949), Aerophysics Development Corporation (1951), Paper Mate (1957), and the Korad Corporation (1962).111 102 Ibid, 251.
103 Ibid, 254.
104 Ibid, 250.
105 Ibid, 257- 258.
106 Ibid.
107 Ibid, 258.
108 Ibid.
109 Ibid.
110 Ibid, 263.
111 Ibid.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 In 1954, John M. Stahl, who was a leader in the development of industrial areas in southern California, acquired an irregularly shaped, thirty-five-acre tract of land near the railroad tracks, bounded by Olympic Boulevard to the south, Colorado Avenue to the north, 26th Street and Stewart Street to the east, and Cloverfield Boulevard to the west. This area would be developed as the Stahl Commercial Manufacturing District and would include a division of the RAND Corporation, Paper Mate, and the Burton Manufacturing Building.112 The City’s planned diversification of the area’s industrial uses was successful and by 1950, Santa Monica was home to 140 manufacturing plants of a variety of sizes. By 1962, 250 companies reflecting 60 different industries were present in Santa Monica.113
Early 20th Century Commercial Vernacular (1900-1950)
The advent of the 20th century saw a marked change in how commercial buildings were constructed. In the 19th century, commercial structures typically went up in small groups with related architectural elements employed across several buildings or were built as infill with designs that drew on architectural elements from existing buildings to create visual cohesion.

However, the new century brought with it a heightened sense of individualism, and the owners of commercial buildings now sought to have their buildings stand out from the surrounding built environment. The goal of this change was to draw in customers through the architecture of the building itself, and lead to several general design changes in commercial buildings (representative example in Winters, California visible in Figure 60). Storefront configurations were changed to maximize design space and interior light, and ornamentation and color were designed to attract the eye. These overarching changes in the philosophy of commercial architecture encouraged window shopping. The rise of plate glass, which allowed for larger, unobstructed display windows, facilitated the changes in storefront design. American vernacular commercial buildings took a variety of forms, including single-front, false-front, iron-front, and brick-front types. In some cases, elements from high-style architecture such as the Romanesque, Italianate, or Modern styles were incorporated into the design of the front façade. Brick-front was the most popular type of Commercial Vernacular architecture. These were typically one to three stories tall and tended to be narrow and deep, rarely more than four bays wide. Storage space or apartments usually occupied the upper floor or floors. A transom light typically extended over the door and display windows. This type usually employed one major cornice and other additional decorative elements to break up the brick front.114
112 Ibid, 269-270.
113 Ibid, 259.
114 Herbert Gottfried and Jan Jennings, American Vernacular Buildings and Interiors, 1870-1960 (New York: W.W.

Norton & Company, Inc., 2009), 233-264.

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SOURCE: Gottfried and Jennings, American Vernacular
Buildings and Interiors, 242 Figure 60
Corner brick commercial building in Winters, California, built circa 1906
According to the Santa Monica Historic Context, “Commercial Vernacular describes simple commercial structures with little decorative ornamentation, common in American cities and towns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are typically brick in construction, with minimal decorative detailing.”115 Character-defining features of the architectural style include a simple rectangular form, flat roof with a flat or stepped parapet, brix cladding on the primary façade, first story storefronts often with a continuous transom window above, double-hung sash windows on the second floor if there are more than one floors, segmental arched windows and door openings on the side and rear elevations, and minimal decorative details, including cornices, friezes, quoins, or stringcourses. 116
Commercial Vernacular Buildings in Santa Monica
There are several other examples of the Commercial Vernacular building type in Santa Monica which have previously been identified as potentially significant and significant resources by the City of Santa Monica. Table 4, below, includes 47 extant Commercial Vernacular buildings in Santa Monica that were constructed between 1911 and 1961. 115 “City of Santa Monica: Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement,” 2018, 333. 116 Ibid.

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OTHER COMMERCIAL VERNACULAR BUILDINGS IDENTIFIED IN SANTA MONICA117 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
1151 11th St. 1926 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of automobile-oriented development
that shaped Santa Monica's
commercial landscape prior to World
War II. Constructed as an auto sales
and service center in 1926, it is
associated with the proliferation of
auto-related services in the early
twentieth century as the automobile
became a dominant mode of
transportation. It is one of few extant
service centers from this formative
period of growth.
1304 12th St. 1910 5S3 Appears eligible for local listing as a Santa Monica Structure of Merit.

Constructed in 1910, the building
represents patterns of commercial
development that shaped Santa
Monica’s commercial landscape in
the early decades of the twentieth
century. It is one of relatively few
remaining examples of a mixed-use
commercial building of this era. The
building does not retain sufficient
integrity to be eligible as a
Landmark, but it appears eligible as
a Structure of Merit
1150 18th St. 1930 6L Previously identified as eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Structure
of Merit. The building was reevaluated as part of this 2017 Historic Resources Inventory Update
and does not appear to satisfy the
registration requirements for listing.
1452 2nd St. 1922 6L Previously identified as a contributor to the Central Business District
Historic District. However, this area
is no longer eligible as a historic
district. While the property
contributed to the scale, continuity,
and character of the former historic
district, it does not, on its own,
appear to satisfy the registration
requirements for local, state, or
federal listing.
117 Ibid.
118 All photographs are form Google Street View

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Historic
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1327 5th St. 1930 5S3 Appears eligible for local listing as a Santa Monica Structure of Merit.

Constructed in 1930, the building
represents patterns of commercial
development that shaped Santa
Monica’s central business district
prior to World War II. The building
does not retain sufficient integrity to
be eligible as a Landmark, but it
appears eligible as a Structure of
Merit.
510 Arizona
Ave.
1956 6L Previously identified as a contributor
to the Central Business Historic
District. However, this area is no
longer eligible as a historic district.

While the property contributed to the
scale, continuity, and character of
the former historic district, it does
not, on its own, appear to satisfy the
registration requirements for local,
state, or federal listing.
202 Bicknell
Ave.
1915 5S3 Previously identified as a contributor
to the Main Street Commercial
Historic District. The boundary for
this district has been revised and no
longer includes this property.

However, the property appears
individually eligible for listing as a
Santa Monica Structure of Merit. It is
a rare remaining example of a 1910s
vernacular mixed-use commercial
block, exhibiting distinctive
characteristics that are associated
with the property type as expressed
by its form, massing, composition,
and architectural details. It is also
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s commercial
landscape in the early decades of
the twentieth century. The building
does not retain sufficient integrity to
be eligible as a Landmark, but it
appears eligible as a Structure of
Merit.
127 Broadway
(Whitworth
Block)
1920 5S3 127-131 Broadway (Whitworth Block)
appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s central
business district in the early decades
of the twentieth century. Constructed
in 1920, it is one of relatively few
extant commercial buildings from this
formative period of neighborhood
growth.

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201 Broadway
or Carmel Hotel
1923 5D3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s central
business district prior to World War
II. Constructed in 1928, it is one of
relatively few extant commercial
buildings from this formative period
of growth. As one of few intact hotels
from this period, it also represents
patterns of economic development
associated with Santa Monica's early
tourism-driven economy
719 Broadway* 1923 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica's commercial
landscape prior to World War II.

Constructed in 1923, it is one of
relatively few extant commercial
buildings from this formative period
of growth.
1925 Broadway -- 7R Identified by the Quinn Research
Center for its possible association
with the African American community
that historically resided in the Pico
neighborhood of Santa Monica.

Additional research and analysis
regarding this association are
needed to make a determination of
eligibility, so the evaluation could not
be completed
2028 Broadway 1934 7R 2020-2028 Broadway was identified by the Quinn Research Center for its
possible association with the African
American community that historically
resided in the Pico neighborhood of
Santa Monica. Additional research
and analysis regarding this
association are needed to make a
determination of eligibility, so the
evaluation could not be completed.
2015 Main St
(Santa Monica
Farms)
1923 6L Previously identified as a contributor
to the Main Street Commercial
Historic District. However, the
boundary for this district has been
revised and no longer includes this
property. It does not, on its own,
appear to satisfy the registration
requirements for local, state, or
federal listing

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2403 Main St. 1921 6L Previously identified as a contributor to the Main Street Commercial
Historic District. However, the
boundary for this district has been
revised and no longer includes this
property. It does not, on its own,
appear to satisfy the registration
requirements for local, state, or
federal listing.
2503 Main St. 1924 6L Previously identified as a contributor to the Main Street Commercial
Historic District. However, the
boundary for this district has been
revised and no longer includes this
property. It does not, on its own,
appear to satisfy the registration
requirements for local, state, or
federal listing.
2821 Main St. 1923 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica's commercial
landscape prior to World War II.

Constructed in 1923, it is one of
relatively few extant commercial
buildings from this formative period
of growth. The property is also
significant for its association with
artists Sam Francis and Richard
Diebenkorn. Francis and Diebenkorn
were renowned painters who made
invaluable contributions to the
abstract expressionist movement.

They shared a studio in the building
in 1966, before Francis moved his
studio to 345 W. Channel Road.

Diebenkorn remained at the property
until moving to a new studio in 1976.

During this time he began his
celebrated Ocean Park series, a
collection of painting inspired by the
neighborhood. The property is also a
contributor to the Main Street
Commercial Historic District.

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Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
2924 Main St. 1913 5B Appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. It is an rare
remaining example of a 1910s
vernacular mixed-use commercial
block, exhibiting distinctive
characteristics that are associated
with the property type as expressed
by its form, massing, composition,
and architectural details. It is also
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s commercial
landscape in the early decades of
the twentieth century. Constructed in
1913, it is one of few extant
commercial buildings from this
formative period of growth. The
property is also a contributor to the
Main Street Commercial Historic
District.
3008 Main St. 1927 5B Appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. It is a rare
remaining example of a 1920s
vernacular mixed-use commercial
block, exhibiting distinctive
characteristics that are associated
with the property type as expressed
by its form, massing, composition,
and architectural details. It is also
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s commercial
landscape in the early decades of
the twentieth century. Constructed in
1927, it is one of few extant
commercial buildings from this
formative period of growth. The
property is also a contributor to the
Main Street Commercial Historic
District
672 Marine St
or Marine
Market
1928 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of neighborhood commercial
development that shaped Santa
Monica’s commercial landscape in
the early decades of the twentieth
century
1646 Ocean
Ave.
1924 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Structure of Merit.

Constructed in 1926, the property
represents patterns of commercial
development that shaped Santa
Monica's commercial landscape prior
to World War II. The building does
not retain sufficient integrity to be
eligible as a Landmark, but it
appears eligible as a Structure of
Merit

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1653 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 73 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
1633 Ocean
Front Walk (Hot
Dog on a Stick)
1946 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant as the founding location of
Hot Dog on a Stick. Hot Dog on a
Stick, a fast-food enterprise that
specializes in the sale of corndogs
and other casual dining fare, has
been in continuous operation at this
location since 1946 and is an
established element of Santa
Monica’s commercial landscape. It
has since grown into a national chain
with multiple locations and has
widespread brand recognition. In
addition to local listing, the property
appears eligible for listing in the
National Register and California
Register.
1700 Ocean
Park Blvd.
1945 6L Previously identified as eligible for
listing as a Santa Monica Structure
of Merit. The building was reevaluated as part of this 2017 Historic Resources Inventory Update
and does not appear to satisfy the
registration requirements for
individual listing. However, it is
located within the boundaries of the
Ocean Park Boulevard Commercial
Conservation District.
1722 Ocean
Park Blvd.
1941 5S3 Appears eligible for local listing as a
Santa Monica Structure of Merit.

Constructed in 1926, the property
represents broad patterns of
commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica's commercial
landscape prior to World War II. The
building does not rise to the level of
significance needed to be eligible as
a Landmark, but it appears eligible
as a Structure of Merit.
1727 Ocean
Park Blvd.
(Douglas
Airview Co.

Magazine)
1946 7R 1727 Ocean Park Boulevard was
identified through research and
reconnaissance survey work as part
of the 2017 Historic Resources
Inventory Update. Research
suggested that there may be an
important association between this
building and the Douglas Aircraft
Company, which played a significant
role in Santa Monica's aerospace
economy. Specifically, the building
was identified as the publishing
house of a periodical issued by the
company. However, additional
research and analysis regarding this
association are needed to make a
determination of eligibility

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1654 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 74 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
3015 Ocean
Park Blvd
(International
Association of
Machinists and
Aerospace
Workers
Aeronautical
Lodge No.
1578)
1941 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing broad
patterns of institutional history in
Santa Monica. As early as 1952, the
property was used as a lodge for the
International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers,
a trade union that represented
Douglas Aircraft Corporation
employees during and after World
War II. Prior to its use as a lodge, the
property was also used as a medical
office for Douglas Aircraft workers.

The property's association with the
aviation company reflects the
widespread effect Douglas Aircraft
had on industrial, commercial, and
residential development during and
after the war. Additional research is
needed to determine the period of
significance for this association.
302 Pico Blvd. 1925 5S3 1920s vernacular commercial retail block, exhibiting distinctive
characteristics that are associated
with the property type as expressed
by its form, massing, composition,
and architectural details. The
property does not retain sufficient
integrity to be eligible as a
Landmark, but it appears eligible as
a Structure of Merit.
3101 Pico Blvd.
(McCabe's
Guitar Shop)
1957 5S3 3101 Pico Boulevard (McCabe's
Guitar Shop) appears eligible for
listing as a Santa Monica Landmark.

The property is significant as the
long-term location of a local business
that is important to the commercial
identity of Santa Monica. McCabe's,
a musical instrument store and
concert venue, was established in
1958, and has been at its current
location since 1972. Today, it is an
established element of Santa
Monica’s commercial landscape.
401 Santa
Monica Blvd.
(Security
Building)
1925 5S3 Appears eligible for local listing as a
Santa Monica Structure of Merit. The
property represents patterns of
commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica’s central
business district prior to World War
II. Constructed in 1925, it is one of
relatively few extant commercial
buildings from this formative period
of growth. The building does not
retain sufficient integrity to be eligible
as a Landmark, but it appears
eligible as a Structure of Merit.

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1655 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 75 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
1521 Santa
Monica Blvd.
(Busy Bee
Hardware;
Haine &
Batterson
Grocery)
1921 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant as the long-term location
of a local business that is important
to the commercial identity of Santa
Monica. Busy Bee Hardware, a retail
store that specializes in the sale of
hardware, tools, and industrial
supplies, has been in continuous
operation at this location since 1947
and is an established element of
Santa Monica’s commercial
landscape. Constructed in 1921, the
building is also significant for
representing broad patterns of
commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica's commercial
landscape prior to World War II.
2301 Santa
Monica Blvd.
1923 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant for representing patterns
of commercial development that
shaped Santa Monica's commercial
landscape prior to World War II.

Constructed in 1923, it is one of
relatively few extant commercial
buildings from this formative period
of growth.
2030 Wilshire
Blvd. (The Gas
Lite)
1961 5S3 Appears eligible for local listing as a
Santa Monica Landmark. The
property is significant as the longterm location of a local business that is important to the commercial
identity of Santa Monica. The Gas
Lite, a themed restaurant, opened in
the 1960s and has been in
continuous operation ever since. The
business is an established element
of Santa Monica’s commercial
landscape.
2313 Wilshire
Blvd.
1926 5S3 2313 Wilshire Boulevard appears
eligible for listing as a Santa Monica
Landmark. The property is significant
for conveying patterns of commercial
development that shaped Santa
Monica's commercial landscape prior
to World War II. Constructed in 1926,
it is one of relatively few extant
commercial buildings from this
formative period of growth.

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1656 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 76 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
2323 Wilshire
Blvd.
1944 5S3 Long-term location of a local
business that is important to the
commercial identity of Santa Monica.

Snug Harbor, a neighborhood café,
opened in 1941 and appears to have
been in continuous operation at this
location since 1944. The business is
an established element of Santa
Monica’s commercial landscape.
2729 Wilshire
Blvd. (Tinder
Box)
1961 5S3 Appears eligible for listing as a Santa
Monica Landmark. The property is
significant as the long-term location
of a local business that is important
to the commercial identity of Santa
Monica. The Tinder Box, a retail
store that specializes in the sale of
pipes and cigars, has been in
continuous operation at this location
since 1951 and is an established
element of Santa Monica’s
commercial landscape.
2633 Main St. 1934 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2716 Main St.* 1927 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic District
2720 Main St. 1934 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District

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Packet Pg. 1657 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 77 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
2732 Main St. 1926 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2801 Main St. 1926 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2810 Main St. 1926 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2821 Main St. 1923 5B Main Street Commercial Historic
District

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Packet Pg. 1658 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 78 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
2919 Main St. 1912 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2929 Main St. 1922 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2937 Main St. 1922 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2941 Main St. 1911 5D3 Main Street Commercial Historic
District
2001-2011
Main St.
(Horizons West
Surf Shop)
-- Santa Monica City Landmark

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1659 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 79 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Address Year Built
Historic
Status Significance Photograph118
174 Kinney St.
(Famous
Enterprise Fish
Company)
1926 Santa Monica City Landmark. It was
originally owned by the Pacific
Electric Railway who constructed a
reinforced brick garage, stores and
offices in 1926.119
Summary of Research on Reinforced Brick Buildings in Santa Monica A targeted search of the industrial zones in the City of Santa Monica was completed in an effort to identify any extant commercial vernacular or commercial-industrial buildings constructed with groutlock brick. The industrial zones were identified using the 2012 Land Use Designation & Current Zoning Districts map, and then a search was completed using Google Earth Pro in each of the following areas:
 Area 1: between Colorado Avenue, Olympic Avenue, and the Santa Monica Freeway north of Lincoln Boulevard and south of Stewart Street to Bergamot Station  Area 2: between Ocean Park and McKinney on Neilson Way  Area 3: between Pico and Bay south of Lincoln Boulevard and north of 4th Street and Lincoln Boulevard and Broadway
A second targeted search of industrial buildings within the time period of 1932-1952 was completed in the Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory (SMHRI).

A total of 27 potential properties were identified in the targeted search (Table 5 in Appendix E).

This group of properties was then cross-referenced with a search of the Public Records at the City of Santa Monica to obtain the building permits in order to find any documented record of the specific use of groutlock brick.

Results: Of the 27 identified properties, the oldest comparable structure, located at 1631 10th Street, dates to 1946 (Figure 61). 1631 10th Street is a 1-story commercial, light manufacturing building. This building was constructed using the cement beam grid system as seen at Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue. None of the building permits documented the specific use of groutlock brick. Instead, the reference is general and denotes “reinforced brick” or “reinforced masonry.” These findings are in line with the overall historic pattern of brick masonry construction. A Technical Notes article published by the Brick Industry Association, explains that reinforced brick is a term that is used to generally describe steel reinforced brick masonry, while groutlock brick is a specific type of reinforced brick. The use of reinforced brick masonry has been recorded internationally for over 175 years, and has been adapted to a wide variety of applications 119 Architectural Resources Group, 174 Kinney Street, Santa Monica, Landmark Assessment Report, March 31, 2015, page 6.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 throughout its history.120 One other early reinforced brick commercial/industrial building in Santa Monica that is similar to the subject property, with decorative pylons delineating three structural bays on the primary façade and a warehouse space to the rear, is the designated City Landmark at 174 Kinney Street, depicted at the bottom of Table 4. In addition, the utilitarian industrial building at 2920 Nebraska Avenue appears to be another similar example that was constructed in 1946 (Figure 62).

SOURCE: Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 61
1631 10th Street, a light manufacturing building
constructed in 1947
SOURCE: Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory 631 Colorado Avenue Landmark Assessment Figure 62
2920 Nebraska Avenue, a utilitarian industrial
building constructed in 1946
120 Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 17 – Reinforced Brick Masonry – Introduction Reissued Oct. 1996 (https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-research-documents/technicalnotes/17-reinforced-brickmasonry---introduction.pdf?sfvrsn=0, accessed 10/15/2021).

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Packet Pg. 1661 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 81 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Evaluation of Significance
Person(s) of Historical Importance
The original building permit for Building A, 631 Colorado Avenue indicated A. B. C.

Distributing Co. as the original owner, while the original permit for Building B, 621 Colorado Avenue indicate that Glen Moyer was the original owner, and was constructed to designs by architect Frederic C. Barienbrock.

Glen Moyer was listed as the owner of the subject property on a 1947 building permit.

While an announcement for his funeral service in 2951 indicated that he was a “founder of a wholesale beverage distributing company,” there was no evidence identified to suggest that Moyer’s involvement with the distribution industry influenced the economic development of Santa Monica, nor that he was a person of historical importance.121 Frederic C. Barienbrock’s design for Building B, a loading canopy which was later modified into a garage for truck storage, does not appear to be a significant project in the larger body of his work. Building B was later modified to include doors in the 1950s, and later, completely enclosed and reconfigured at the end of the 20th century. Barientbrock was known for his residential architecture, and large-scale civic and education buildings, however, Building B is not a significant work within architect Barienbrock’s portfolio in Santa Monica.

Statement of other significance
Groutlock brick was a construction method that included reinforced metal rebar within specially designed interlocking masonry bricks, which promised to be earthquake proof due to increased strength provided by internal reinforcement. The groutlock brick method of construction was developed prior to the 1933 earthquake, after which Building A was constructed. As such, Building A was not a novel building for the incorporation of the groutlock reinforced brick construction method.

No other evidence was discovered in current research of the property to indicate other significance.

Is the structure representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent?
The subject property is an example of the Commercial/Industrial Vernacular architectural style, although it is not a rare example. The Commercial Vernacular style is no longer prevalent in the City, although several good examples remain. Based upon a review of the City’s Historic Resources Inventory and a windshield survey of the main corridors of Santa Monica, it appears that there are still several good examples of the Commercial Vernacular architectural style within the City of Santa Monica, as shown by Table 4.

Most examples of this style in Santa Monica are in the main commercial district of the city, of which the subject property is not a part. There is even a potential Main Street Commercial District of which there are many better examples of the architectural style.

Further, in comparison, the subject property appears to be a modest and altered example of the Commercial Vernacular style within the city in comparison with the many other buildings of the style previously identified by the city, as seen in the Santa Monica Historic resources Inventory and excerpted in Table 4. 174 Kinney St, commonly known as the former Famous Enterprise Fish Company, is a designated City Landmark that was 121 “Funeral Services Held for Glen A. Moyer,” Mirror News, January 17, 1951.

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1662 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 originally owned by the Pacific Electric Railway who constructed a reinforced brick garage, stores and offices in 1926, which has a similar 3-bay storefront divided by four vertical pylons.122
Does the structure contribute to a potential historic district? The structures do not contribute to a potential historic district.

Landmark Criteria

9.56.100(a) (1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

The subject property, a Commercial/Industrial Vernacular building, does not manifest the cultural and economic history of Santa Monica in its historical type and architecture. The subject property was not the first commercial or industrial building built along Colorado Avenue within the Town of Santa Monica Tract, as the original downtown commercial core was established in the late 1800s, with Colorado Avenue serving as the southern boundary. By the 1895 Sanborn map, commercial/industrial development was wellestablished along Colorado Avenue due to its close proximity to the railroad line. Most of the commercial development in downtown Santa Monica occurred during the 1920s, when the small seaside resort transformed into a metropolitan shopping district.

Development in the industrialized area where the subject property lies then included large-scale lumber, oil and power companies, in addition to smaller commercial/industrial businesses and aviation-related manufacturing which continued up through the 1940s. In the post-war period, later development along Colorado Avenue included prominent businesses associated with aerospace, aviation, and other industries such as Alpha Engineering Corporation’s electronics division, and Tavco Inc. that contributed to the atmospheric system on the Mercury capsule.

Building A was built in 1937, and Building B was built in 1941, after the commercial construction boom of the 1920s, yet prior to the post-war period of commercial/industrial development in the City. Its construction coincided with the Federal repeal of prohibition in the United States and the burgeoning beer and alcohol sales that ensued throughout Southern California and the nation. Its construction was not associated with the local patterns of commercial or industrial development in Santa Monica. The subject property has been used as a commercial alcohol beverage wholesale and distribution business, as an defense research office for Aerophysics, as an automobile body shop by Keystone Body Shop, and most recently as a film production office for Bay Films Platinum Dunes.

The subject property is a small, commercial improvement that is not representative of a significant pattern of commercial or industrial development in the City. It does not exemplify the cultural and economic history of the City of Santa Monica. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to satisfy this criterion.

While the subject property is tangentially associated with Santa Monica as a leisure/recreation destination, since the subject property distributed alcoholic beverages to local and regional restaurants and to individual buyers for consumption, those businesses/enterprises did not exist or develop further because of the distribution of alcoholic beverages from the subject property. Therefore, the subject property did not have a significant influence on economic or recreational patterns of development in Santa 122 Architectural Resources Group, 174 Kinney Street, Santa Monica, Landmark Assessment Report, March 31, 2015, page 6.

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Packet Pg. 1663 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Monica. Furthermore, with regard to the aftermath of prohibition, the subject property was developed in response to local, regional and national legal changes, and the subject property did not bring these changes about. The headquarters of the company was in San Diego and the subject property was one of several/many distributing warehouses in the southern California/Los Angeles region and did not in and of itself have any individual significance in the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to satisfy this criterion.

9.56.100(a) (2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

Buildings A and B do not appear to meet this criterion. As examples of Commercial/Industrial Vernacular architecture, the buildings are considered modest in comparison to other buildings in the style. They have limited decorative features except for the concrete scored pylons, parapet, and brickwork. Specifically, the property’s spatial arrangements, massing, fenestration, materials, and overall form, while functionally successful, do not reflect the deft aesthetic hand of a master designer.

Furthermore, the subject property has been substantially altered from its original appearance. The subject property lacks sufficient aesthetic or architectural value and historic integrity necessary for designation.

9.56.100(a) (3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. Etta Moxley was an early property owner and occupied the property when there were previous buildings on the parcel, which were demolished prior to the construction of the existing improvements. While it was unusual for African American women to own property in the early 20th century, the extant buildings are not associated with Moxley and the existing improvements do not have any material association with her life. Current research does not indicate that this resource is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history in local, state, or national history.

9.56.100(a) (4) It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The property does not appear to satisfy this criterion. Both Buildings A and B are simple examples of buildings designed in the Commercial/Industrial Vernacular style. Building B was originally constructed as a loading canopy which was later used as a garage for truck storage, and was later infilled to its current appearance. The buildings incorporate architectural features such as minimal decorative detailing, largely simple rectangular forms, horizontal parapets and concrete pylons. Modifications to both of the buildings have altered their original design, workmanship, and materials, as well as their function.

All of the original doors and windows have been removed, and contemporary metal industrial type windows have either been installed, many in the original openings, and one large new window in a former garage door opening on the west facade. Additionally, brick infill of door openings has occurred, at an original garage door opening (now the main entrance) at the two original door openings of the storefronts, and at a man door on the west elevation of Building A; and the original open bays of Building B have been entirely infilled. Furthermore, repairs were made to the brick parapet that are clearly visible on the west facade. These areas of Building A were repaired/infilled with

6.B.f
Packet Pg. 1664 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 salvaged brick to match, but exhibit differences in brick color, mortar application, and brickwork with lower quality craftsmanship than that of the original construction.

Furthermore, the brick infill and repairs were also sandblasted, so they must have been completed before the last sandblasting campaign in 1997. The building’s original brick masonry has been painted at least once and sandblasted at least twice according to building permits. This has destroyed all of the brick’s original hard-fired finish and mortar pointing which has resulted in brick-and-mortar deterioration. At least one pulverized brick was observed in the interior east corner office of the building. Later modifications include a second-story addition at the northern extent of Building A that has altered the scale and massing of Building A when viewed from the public right of way along 7th Street, and a one-story concrete wing on the west elevation at the north corner of Building A that has altered the original appearance of the west elevation of Building A when viewed from the public right of way on Colorado Avenue or 6th Court.

Two of the four elevations of Building B have been altered from their original appearance by an addition to the north end of the building, and by alteration and infill of the east façade to adapt the building’s use for offices. Furthermore, the two buildings are not rare examples of the commercial vernacular building type, as shown in Table 4 above. There are many such examples in the City of Santa Monica that have more architectural merit and retain higher integrity, such as 174 Kinney Street, a similar reinforced brick warehouse built in 1926. There are two examples of utilitarian industrial buildings in the Santa Monica inventory, 2920 and 2944 Nebraska Avenue; 2920 Nebraska Avenue appears to be a similar example to the subject property that was constructed in 1946.

Therefore, the subject building does not appear to satisfy this criterion as a rare, extant example of a Commercial/Industrial Vernacular historical property type.

Buildings A and B do not appear to be eligible as examples of a method of construction.

Building A was constructed with groutlock brick, as indicated on the original building permit. It is possible that Building B, which was originally constructed as a canopy and was later used as a garage for truck storage, was also constructed with groutlock brick based upon physical observation of the brickwork by ESA, and documentary evidence as the architect of record, Frederic C. Barienbrock was evidently familiar with the building system as evidenced by his participation in a groutlock brick competition as included in a 1934 newspaper article. Groutlock brick was a construction method that included reinforced metal rebar within specially designed interlocking masonry bricks, which promised to be earthquake proof due to increased strength provided by internal reinforcement.123 Simons Brick Company, the company that produced groutlock brick operated from 1906 to about 1952. While Building A of the subject property was documented on the original building permit as constructed of groutlock brick and concrete framing, our research does not indicate groutlock brick became a highly utilized, important construction material in Santa Monica as a result of its application at this building. Further, the use of reinforced brick masonry has been recorded internationally for over 175 years, and has been adapted to a wide variety of applications throughout its history, and as such groutlock brick was just one reinforced brick masonry system of many that have been implemented over time.124 The project was not published in any architectural or engineering journals, nor was its construction method mentioned in any 123 “Awards Made in Residential Design Contest,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1934. 124 Brick Industry Association, Technical Notes 17 – Reinforced Brick Masonry – Introduction Reissued Oct. 1996 (https://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-research-documents/technicalnotes/17-reinforced-brickmasonry---introduction.pdf?sfvrsn=0, accessed 10/15/2021).

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Packet Pg. 1665 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 local or regional newspapers.125 Although other examples of reinforced brick masonry walls with concrete framing are found in Santa Monica, this was a ubiquitous construction method in southern California and in the United States and the use of reinforced brick and concrete framing at the subject property did not have a significant influence on the local, regional or national building industry. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to satisfy this criterion.

9.56.100(a) (5) It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. Building A is not a significant or representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect, as there was no one listed for the design of the building on the original building permit.

Santa Monica architect Frederic C. Barienbrock was listed as the architect on the original 1941 building permit for Building B, which was originally permitted and constructed as a canopy structure, which was later converted into a garage for truck storage. While Barienbrock was an established architect by the 1940s, he was best known for his civic and institutional work, some of which still remains today including the Modern style Santa Monica County Courthouse, and the vernacular Modern apartment building at 827- 829 6th Street. As originally constructed, Building B included three brick exterior walls, with a fourth elevation comprised of open bay for truck parking. The building has been highly modified over time and is not a significant or representative example of the work of Frederic C. Barienbrock. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to satisfy this criterion.

9.56.100(a) (6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. At the time of construction, the subject property was built as a distribution center for alcoholic beverages, in the industrial part of the City, among several large plants and other commercial businesses and the building fell into a common pattern of early 20th century industrial development.

The brick structures are located on a corner of a commercial-industrial area, abut a busy thoroughfare and are both largely obscured by bushes. It is a simple, utilitarian property with few distinguishing features other than its concrete pylons. As such, the subject property does not appear to have a unique location, singular physical characteristic, nor is an established visual feature of a neighborhood or of the City. 125 A search of the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals for articles or publications about groutlock brick and 631 Colorado Avenue yielded no results. A search for “reinforced brick” more generally yielded two articles: “Products and Practice: R-B-M Reinforced Brick Masonry,” Architectural Forum, January 1939, 367–70 and “Reinforced Brick Walls for Surface Shelters: Home Security Bulletin,” Builder, January 1941, 243–45. Several other articles on the work of Modern architect Eladio Dieste in Uruguay also appeared in this search. None of these articles appear to be directly relevant to groutlock brick or the property at 631 Colorado Avenue.

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Packet Pg. 1666 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Structure of Merit

9.56.080 (a) The structure has been identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory The resource meets this criterion as it is identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory.

9.56.080 (b) The Structure is a minimum of 50- years of age and meets one of the following criteria.

The resource meets this criterion as Building A was constructed in 1937 making it 84 years of age, and Building B was constructed in 1941, making it 80 years of age.

9.56.080 (b)(1) The structure is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historic type.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. The structure is not a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historic type. The resource does not have any distinctive design details and ornamental details are limited to concrete scoring at Building A, and concrete stepped pyramidal capitals at both buildings. Furthermore, it is a common form for Commercial/Industrial Vernacular buildings built in the early 20th century, and is not a unique design or type, nor does it have any distinctive details. There are also many examples of Commercial Vernacular buildings in Santa Monica that are better-designed, as previously discussed above and included in Table 4 above.

9.56.080 (b)(2) The Structure is representative of a style in the City that is no longer prevalent.

The resource does not meet this criterion. As stated previously, the structure is not a rare example of the building type, as discussed above and illustrated in Table 4 above. There are many such examples in the City of Santa Monica, specifically in the Main Street Commercial District as well as 174 Kinney Street (1926), and 2920 Nebraska Avenue (1946).

9.56.080 (b)(3) The structure contributes to a potential Historic District.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion as it is not a contributor to a potential historic district.

Historic Integrity
As Buildings A and B have consistently been owned by the same owners, and both buildings have similarly undergone modifications at the same time. Alterations most notably occurred upon ownership changes when the buildings were modified to suit new uses. As originally constructed, Building A included two storefronts within three bays along Colorado Avenue, while Building B included multiple open bays in order to serve as a truck garage.

The subject property retains integrity of location, as the buildings have not moved over time. The historic setting has been altered as the original entrance to the subject property was formerly along Colorado Avenue; and as the early auxiliary buildings that were once a part of the A. B. C.

Distributing Company have since been demolished; and as a new entrance was created in the

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631 Colorado Avenue 87 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 western portion of the site, that also includes a new metal automated gate, whereas the original entrance to the subject property was off Colorado Avenue. An additional metal gate with new concrete pylons and a lower concrete wall stretches across the south side of the property from Building A to Building B, and mature plants cover the formerly exposed Colorado Avenue elevations of both buildings. Further, the surrounding setting has been altered with the demolition of smaller buildings, and the construction of large multi-family apartment buildings. The subject property is presently bordered by mixed development: multi-family housing to the north and east, and both large- and small-scale commercial developments and some multi-family housing to the south, and west. A low-rise brick commercial building is located on the lot immediately to the east of the subject property on the east corner of Colorado Avenue and 7th Street. To the west of the subject property, across the alley, is a block of low-rise commercial buildings on Colorado Avenue that extends to the corner of Colorado Avenue and 6th Street. As such, the subject property lacks integrity of property setting.

The original design of both buildings has been substantially altered as all of the fenestration has been either replaced or altered, the entrances have been reconfigured, and the exterior and interior surfaces sandblasted twice. All that remains intact is the brick, parapet (repaired), and arched wood truss roof. The original wood and glass storefronts on the south facade located along Colorado Avenue have been removed and infilled with industrial type metal windows that substantially detract from the original design intent of Building A, and a new recessed entrance in a former garage opening was constructed toward the center of Building A’s west elevation. A contemporary addition at the ground-floor and at the second floor has altered the foot print and massing of Building A’s design.

Building B was originally designed as an open-bay garage structure, and underwent later changes to include sliding doors, and later, to include an addition at the north end, expanding the building’s footprint. The east façade was reconfigured to adapt the building for office use, and a new entrance and windows were installed, and the entire building covered in smooth concrete stucco to create a uniform modern industrial look.

As a result of substantial alterations, the subject property lacks integrity of design from its original construction.

Furthermore, as originally constructed, Building A was built utilizing –the groutlock reinforced brick system. It is also possible that groutlock brick was also used at Building B. However, heavy sandblasting of the original bricks and mortar pointing (exterior and interior), infill former door and garage openings, and parapet repairs, have substantially detracted from the integrity of materials and workmanship of the subject property. Additionally, nearly the entire exterior of Building B has been covered in smooth stucco leaving only a portion of the brick surface visible at the south elevation. On the interior, the wood trusses and open-beam ceilings have also been sandblasted and no longer have their original sawn wood finish. Therefore, the subject property lacks integrity of materials and workmanship.

However, the subject property still retains its overall historic feeling and association with the 1930s commercial/industrial development along Colorado Avenue from the post-Depression, preWorld War II years, although as noted, the property is not a unique example of such development.

Overall, the subject property lacks historic integrity.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Further, there is no remaining historic significance for the former structures that were once occupied and owned by previous owner, Etta Moxley, as all previous improvements associated with her life and ownership of the subject property were demolished prior to the construction of the existing improvements.

Conclusion
In summary, based on current research and the above assessment, the property located at 631 Colorado Avenue does not appear to meet any of the City of Santa Monica Landmark Criteria

9.56.100(a)(1) through (a)(6) as discussed above. However, it does meet Structure of Merit criterion 9.56.080(a) as it was previously identified in the City’s Historic Inventory. It also meets the Structure of Merit 50-year age criterion 9.56.080(b) as Building A was constructed in 1937 making it 84 years of age, and Building B was constructed in 1941 making it 80 years of age.

However, the subject property does not meet criteria 9.56.080 (b)(1) through (3) as discussed above, and therefore is ineligible as a Structure of Merit.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 References
“A. B. C. Day Oct. 6th,” Newspaper advertisement, The Napa Valley Register, October 5, 1933. “A Modular House by Frederic Barienbrock, Architect and Eugene Memmier, Designer.” Arts & Architecture, April 1952, Vol. 69, No. 4, 30-31.
“Aerophysics Development Corporation. A Studebaker-Packard Subsidiary: Santa Monica, Calif.” Jet Propulsion Archive, Volume 26, Number 5, May 1956.

American Institute of Architects, Application for Membership, “Frederic Charles Barienbrock,” Application No. 4070, 1926. [AIA Historical Directory:
https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/].
“Awards Made in Residential Design Contest,” Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1934.

Basten, Fred E. Santa Monica Bay: Paradise by the Sea: A Pictorial History of Santa Monica, Venice, Marina del Rey, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Topanga. Santa Monica, California: Hennessey + Ingalls, 2001.
“Beach City Growing at Rapid Rate,” Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1923. “Beautiful Bay District Grows,” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1925.

Certificate of Dissolution, Corporation Number D-0342151, Keystone Body Shop, Inc., signed by directors H. George Nojima and Joanne Nojima on October 10, 1997, and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State of the State of California on October 27, 1997.

Charleston, James H. “Looff’s Hippodrome,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, November 1984.
“East Side Adds New Plant,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1933.

Encyclopedia Britannica. Online Version. https://www.britannica.com “Funeral Services Held for Glen A. Moyer,” Mirror News, January 17, 1951. “$520,000 High School Building Completed,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1956. “Glen Alvin Moyer.” U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards.” 1917-1918, Ancestry.com. “Glen Alvin Moyer,” U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, Ancestry.com. “Glenn A (Zora) mgr A B C Distributing Co.” Bay Cities Directory, Published by Los Angeles Directory Co. 1938.
“Glen Moyer.” U. S. Federal Census. 1930.

Gottfried, Herbert and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Buildings and Interiors, 1870-1960.

New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009.

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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 Hand, Ryan. “Aztec Brewing Company,” Chicano Park Museum website, https://www.chicanoparkmuseum.org/logan-heights-archival-project/aztec-brewery/, n.d.

Historic Resources Group and Architectural Resources Group. “City of Santa Monica: Historic Resources Inventory Update, Historic Context Statement.” Prepared for City of Santa Monica Planning & Community Development Department, 2018.

IMDb, “Michael Bay: Biography,” IMDb website,
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000881/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm, accessed 10-13-21. “John A. Moyer.” U. S. Federal Census, 1940.

Kaplan, Sheldon. “A Look Back: San Diego Beer History from 1868 to 1953,” West Coaster, September 13, 2018.

Liwag, Ernie and Matthew Schiff. “San Diego’s Craft Brew Culture.” The Journal of San Diego History, 59, nos. 1 and 2, Winter/Spring 2013.

López López, Margarita. “Restoring History, Brick By Brick,” Latinx Talk, 2020.

Moore, Mark A. The Jan & Dean Record: A Chronology of Studio Sessions, Live Performances and Chart Positions, 2016.
“More New Industries,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1904. “Nation Consumes Floods of Beer on ‘Opening Day,” Daily News, April 8, 1933.

Nelson White Architectural History + Preservation. “Villa Ruchello: A History, 609 E. Channel Road, Santa Monica, CA.” Prepared for the Agency, n.d.
“News Behind the News,” The Pasadena Post, March 22, 1934.

Newspaper Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1925.

Newspaper Advertisement, Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1933.

Newspaper Entry, Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1903.

Parrish, John, “The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake and The Field Act, Improving the Design and Building Standards for California Schools.” California Department of Conservation, n.d.

PCR Services and Historic Resources Group, City of Santa Monica Historic Preservation Element, 2002.

Pitt, Leonard and Dale Pitt. Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County.

Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1997. “Prohibition, United States History [1920-1933]: Repeal,” Encyclopedia Britannica website, https://www.britannica.com/event/Prohibition-United-States-history-1920-1933/Repeal. “Santa Monica Bay New Scene of Great Activity,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1911.

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Packet Pg. 1671 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
631 Colorado Avenue 91 ESA / D202100734.00
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report December 2021 “Santa Monica Dedicates New County Building,” Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1951.

Scott, Paul A. Santa Monica: A History on the Edge (San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004). "The Pasadena News: Proceedings of the Council in Regular Session," Los Angeles Evening Express, February 22, 1892.

Turner, Fred. “Revisiting Earthquake Lessons –Unreinforced Masonry Buildings.” Structural Engineers Association of California, 2020.

Turner, Fred. “Seventy Years of the Riley Act and its effect on California’s Building Stock.” 13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering. Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 2004. “Unique Brick Stirs Interest: Inventor Explains New Masonry Style,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 1933.

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Packet Pg. 1673 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Attachment A
Professional Qualifications

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Packet Pg. 1674 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min))

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Packet Pg. 1675 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Margarita Jerabek-Bray, Ph.D., has 32 years of professional practice in the United States with an extensive background in historic preservation, architectural history, and historical archaeology. She specializes in American Architecture, Modern and Contemporary Architecture, Urban History and Design, and Cultural Landscape, and is a regional expert on Southern California architecture. Her qualifications and experience meet and exceed the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in History, Architectural History, and Archaeology. Margarita assists clients with strategic advice and historic preservation consultation services to support project success. Highly experienced and solution oriented, she provides historic resources management and preservation consultation services for all stages of project development, from due diligence through planning and design, to preparation of required documentation for environmental review and permitting. She provides expert historic preservation services for environmental review and, when necessary, implements mitigation requirements and preservation treatment measures.

Margarita is a highly experienced and respected authority in the evaluation, management and treatment of historic properties, and is expert in the preparation of legally defensible documentation for compliance with Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and local ordinances and planning requirements. She has managed and conducted hundreds of projects for public and private clients throughout California and the United States, and as primary investigator she has authored numerous historic resources technical reports, plan reviews, HABS/HAER/HALS reports, salvage inventories, rehabilitation plans, relocation plans, construction monitoring reports, interpretive programs, as well as curated exhibits, provided input for interpretive websites and assisted in the development of content for documentary films.

Margarita Directs ESA’s Southern California Historic Resources Practice, leading a team of historians, architectural historians, and preservation specialists who are a part of ESA’s more than 30-member Cultural Resources Group. She has conducted a broad range of planning and technical studies for development projects throughout Los Angeles County. Her relevant on-call contracts with various municipalities and agencies throughout the Southland and her West Hollywood experience, including historic resource assessments for commercial, industrial, studio, and residential resources, is summarized below.

EDUCATION
Ph.D., Art History,
University of California,
Los Angeles
M.A., Architectural
History, School of
Architecture, University
of Virginia
Certificate of Historic
Preservation, School of
Architecture, University
of Virginia
B.A., Art History,
Oberlin College
32 YEARS

EXPERIENCE
AWARDS
2020 Gold Nugget Merit
Award, PCBC, Best
Rehabilitation Project
2018 Merit Award,
Environmental Analysis
Document, Association
of Environmental
Professionals
2016 Preservation
Design Award,
Interpretive Exhibit,
California Preservation
Foundation
2014 Preservation
Award, Los Angeles
Conservancy
2014 Westside Prize,
Westside Urban Forum
2014 Design Award:

Westside Urban Forum
2012 Preservation
Design Award,
California Preservation
Foundation

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Packet Pg. 1676 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Relevant Experience
Agency On-Call Preservation Contracts. Margarita currently manages ESA’s on‐ call preservation consulting contracts with the City of Santa Monica, City of Hermosa Beach, and serves as principal investigator for historic resources for our on-call contracts with the City of Los Angeles’s Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering, and Los Angeles Unified School District.

Policy Documents. Margarita has contributed her preservation planning expertise to several projects including Lincoln Specific Plan (Whittier), and CPA7 (Culver Studios). Her knowledge of preservation policy and law is also demonstrated in the Citywide Survey and General Plan Update completed by ESA for the City of Hermosa Beach, and the Culver City General Plan Update.

City of Santa Monica On-Call Historic Preservation Services, Santa Monica, CA.

Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian. Dr. Jerabek is the primary point of contact and contract administrator for ESA’s on-call contract for historic preservation services with the City of Santa Monica. Under her 12-year tenure, ESA’s historic division has prepared hundreds of studies including preliminary assessments, landmark assessments, structure of merit assessments, Secretary of the Interior’s Standards plan reviews and preservation recommendations, landscape assessments, character-defining features reports and CEQA impacts analyses.

Historic Resources and Preservation Consultation Service for Santa Monica City Hall, City of Santa Monica, CA. Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian. Prepared a Section 106 Effects Evaluation report and provided mitigation services pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement for Structural Seismic Upgrades, ADA Improvements, Relocation of Wood Paneling, and Adaptive Re-use of the Historic Jail under a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Dr. Jerabek was the primary point of contact, provided project management and agency coordination, and served as principal architectural historian for the project. ESA prepared a HABS report for the historic jail located in the northeast wing of City Hall; conducted Plan Reviews and provided preservation recommendations for the seismic upgrades; reviewed proposed ADA improvements and provided recommendations to avoid impacts; reviewed the wood paneling relocation plans and worked with the City to select a qualified master craftsman and conducted construction monitoring for the project; reviewed the jail rehabilitation project for conversion of the two-story jail into an IT Center and offices and provided design consultation for conformance with the Standards, including in-kind replacement of the historic windows; curated, designed and oversaw installation of an interpretive exhibit in the IT Center lobby. Follow-on services for the City included Preservation Consultation and Monitoring for restoration of the entrance to City Hall, and Paint Analysis and color recommendations for repainting City Hall. Dr. Jerabek also conducted a Landscape Analysis and provided Plan Reviews for the City’s Ken Genser Square and Tongva Park projects that received a 2014 Design Award from the Westside Urban Forum.

City of Hermosa Beach On-Call Historic Preservation Services. Project Director.

ESA has performed a number of surveys, Certificate of Appropriateness, and CEQA compliance reviews for historic structures while serving as a historic preservation consultant for the City of Hermosa Beach. Projects include historic resources surveys on three of the oldest commercial buildings in the downtown area of Hermosa Beach for the City of Hermosa Beach: Bank of America Building at 90 Pier Avenue, the Hermosa Hotel at 26 Pier Avenue, Art Deco-style Community Center, and the Neoclassical Revival-style Bijou Theatre located at

PROFESSIONAL

AFFILIATIONS
California Preservation
Foundation
Santa Monica
Conservancy
Society of Architectural
Historians, Life Member
American Institute of
Architects (AIA),
National Allied Member
Neutra Institute, Fellow

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Packet Pg. 1677 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) 1221-1227 Hermosa Avenue. ESA prepared a comprehensive assessment of each building, and reviewed all plans for compliance under the local preservation ordinance and CEQA, which stipulate the use of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation as mitigation. Upon implementation of rehabilitation work on the Bijou, ESA also monitored all construction work until final completion. ESA was later commissioned to undertake a Certificate of Appropriateness and CEQA compliance review of interior tenant improvements to the Bijou Theater for conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. ESA has carried out site reviews of the work to examine the scope and nature of selective demolition and new construction, provided guidance on technical preservation matters, and undertook a substantial completion review of the works. Most recently, ESA provided project review for tenant improvements, and conducting construction monitoring and oversight for restoration of ornamental plasterwork in the Bijou Building. Additionally, ESA provided paint analysis and restoration treatment recommendations for the Art Deco-style Hermosa Beach Community Center.

Hermosa Beach General Plan Update and EIR, City of Hermosa Beach, CA. Project Manager for Cultural Resources/Principal Architectural Historian. Managed ESA’s Cultural Resources scope of work and collaborated with Raimi & Associates and PMC to provide consulting services to the City of Hermosa Beach for preparation of a Comprehensive Integrated General Plan and Coastal Land Use Plan Update and EIR Focused on Sustainability and Low Carbon Future.

Directed city-wide reconnaissance survey to identify potentially eligible historical resources. Developed historic contexts and themes for the City’s historical resources. Reviewed and provided recommendations for revisions to the preservation ordinance. Provided input for preparation of historic preservation goals and policies for the General Plan update. Managed preparation of the cultural resources technical report, and oversaw preparation of the historic resources, archaeological and paleontological discussions and analyses for the EIR.

City of Long Beach, Environmental Consultation and HABS Documentation.

Margarita has assisted the City of Long Beach by preparing documentation for the City Hall and Library Complex HABS and associated landscape plaza; she provided historic resources support for the City’s EIR, and prepared documentation for the Atlantic Theater HABS and an Interpretive Exhibit for installation in the new North Long Beach Public Library.

City of Whittier, Preservation Consultation Services for the Public Library Rehabilitation Project. Margarita lead a Historical Resources Assessment and Impacts Analysis and provided design consultation for rehabilitation of the Modern-style Whittier Library. Constructed in 1958, the property is significant for its association with Mid-Century Modernism, postwar period institutional properties, and architect William Henry Harrison. ESA found that the library possesses sufficient historical significance and architectural merit to convey its significant as an individual resource under National Register Criteria A and C.

Margarita’s role on the project was to direct and manage the ESA project team, coordinate with the architect and City, provide review and internal quality assurance/quality control to the ESA team in the preparation of both the Historic Resources Assessment to evaluate the significance and integrity of the building, as well as for the plan review that was conducted to evaluate the proposed project’s conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, and hearing attendance. ESA is

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Packet Pg. 1678 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) currently completing a HABS report as baseline documentation for the rehabilitation project.

City of Burbank, Historic Preservation Consultation Services. Margarita directed preparation of ESA’s historic resources technical report and CEQA impacts analysis, and prepared the historic section of the IS/MND for the Burbank Reservoir No. 1 Replacement Project, which evaluated the eligibility of the Burbank Reservoir facility and analyzed the potential impacts of the Project for compliance with the CEQA. Margarita directed preparation of ESA’s historic resources technical report and historic resources EIR section for the Burbank Bob Hope Airport Replacement Terminal Project EIR, which evaluated the eligibility of the buildings and structures for eligibility as a potential historic district and as individual resources, and analyzed the potential impacts of the Project for compliance with the CEQA. While the Airport did not appear eligible as a historic district, ESA evaluated 11 hangars and buildings over 45 years in age as potential individual resources. The majority of the buildings and structures were found ineligible, however, Hangars 1 and 2, which are the earliest intact hangars, were recommended eligible for the National Register, California Register, and for local listing. Under contract with the City of Burbank, Margarita managed and conducted a historic resources impacts analysis and plan review for Rehabilitation of the Casting Building as a Fitness Center, by Marmol Radziner and Associates, AIA, located in the Disney Studio’s Historic District. The Project repurposed and expanded the existing 4,000 square feet Casting Building on the Studio Lot by about 8,700 square feet for an Employee Fitness Center adjacent to the historic Commissary. Margarita provided design consultation for conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards to rehabilitate the Casting Building as a fitness center. To reduce potential impacts, Margarita prepared a HABS report to record the Casting Building in professional large format HABS photographs and a narrative history and description of the building.

SoCal Historic Resource Surveys. Margarita has managed and conducted several large historic resources survey projects including three surveys for the Adelante‐Eastside (Boyle Heights), Wilshire Center/Koreatown, and Normandie 5 redevelopment areas that were among the earliest to utilize SurveyLA tools and methods and to employ the Multiple Property Documentation Approach, working in close collaboration with the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources.

These surveys have been incorporated into the Los Angeles Citywide Survey.

Other notable accomplishments include Hermosa Beach Citywide Survey, and Santa Monica North of Wilshire Survey for which she served as Project Director.

Mills Act Applications and Architectural Conservation. Margarita has assisted applicants in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood with the preparation of Mills Act Applications. Her expertise in the preservation of Modern architecture is represented by the Landmark nomination and Mills Act Application for Victor Gruen’s Rosenstiel Residence, 1210 Coldwater Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills. Her forward-looking landmark nomination for a Mills Act application for the Post-Modern Sun Tech Townhomes in Santa Monica, illustrates her broad ranging knowledge in resources of the recent past. Her conservation and interpretation skills are represented by the award-winning Montebello Home Savings and Loan project that involved cleaning and restoration of the historic bank building and art works designed by Millard Sheets Studio, and design and installation of a 5-panel interpretive exhibit and rediscovery of a lost tapestry originally designed for the building, for which she received a California Preservation Design Award, 2016. Her in-depth and award-winning preservation work includes the RMS Queen Mary Survey of Fine

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Packet Pg. 1679 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) and Decorative Art, the RMS Queen Mary Historic Structure Report, and the Queen Mary Conservation Management Plan (California Preservation Foundation Preservation Design Award, 2012).

Environmental Documentation and Compliance with CEQA. Margarita has prepared a full range of CEQA documentation for historic preservation projects throughout greater Los Angeles including Categorical Exemption Letters, assessments and plan reviews for Certificates of Appropriateness, Initial Studies/MNDs, Focused EIRs, and EIRs. A partial list of important environmental documents for projects in Los Angeles involving substantial historical analysis completed by Dr. Jerabek-Bray includes the LAX Specific Plan Amendment Study EIR, Academy of Motion Pictures Project EIR, The New Century Plan EIR for Westfield, Washington Square EIR, Sunset Doheny Mixed‐ Use EIR, One Santa Fe Mixed‐Use MND, Lindbrook & Gayley Mixed‐Use MND, 6230 Sunset Mixed-Use Project EIR, Hollywood Center EIR, Palladium EIR, Sunset and Crescent Heights EIR, and Yucca and Argyle EIR. In Santa Monica she contributed to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows Revitalization Plan EIR, St. John’s Health Center Development Agreement Addendum EIR, Santa Monica Pier Gangway Project and Phase 4 Structural Upgrade, and CEQA support for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District-Wide Facilities Plan. In Pasadena her experience includes the Glenarm Power Plant Repowering Project EIR. In Long Beach she provided expertise and support for the Art Exchange Redevelopment Project EIR support, and the Golden Shore Master Plan EIR.

Educational Facilities and University Campuses, CA. Principal Investigator/Project Manager. Dr. Jerabek-Bray has conducted numerous evaluations of school and university campuses throughout Southern California.

Under ESA’s on-call contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District, she has managed and completed over 30 task orders involving historic resources, including campus assessments, character-defining features analysis, and project reviews for compliance with CEQA. For example, Margarita managed and conducted preparation of a historic resources technical report for Jefferson High School and provided preservation design consultation for this site-specific school upgrade and modernization project under the District’s School Upgrade Program (SUP). The proposed project included the rehabilitation of existing character-defining buildings and landscapes, demolition and removal of noncontributing buildings, and construction of new facilities. Rehabilitation work included modernization and seismic upgrade to existing buildings. Because the school site is considered a historical resource under CEQA, Margarita provided design consultation for conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards to reduce potential project impacts to less than significant. Once project plans were developed, Margarita oversaw review of the proposed project by ESA historic staff and completed impacts analysis findings regarding potential project impacts to identified historical resources that would be affected by the project. Margarita also provided project management, oversight and contributed to the preparation of CEQA and NEPA procedural guidelines to help the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to comply with the historical resources requirements of CEQA and NEPA, and to implement practical approaches to preserving culturally significant resources whenever possible. The LAUSD’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety requested the preparation of CEQA and NEPA guidelines, in addition to design guidelines and treatment approaches, specifically in support of the School Upgrade Program, and generally to guide ongoing repair and maintenance work on these sites. The guidelines build upon the District’s ongoing efforts to identify historical

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Packet Pg. 1680 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) resources, including the recently updated Historic Context Statement, survey of 55 campuses, creation of an ArcGIS-compatible database with current and previous survey results, and a Historic Resources Inventory. Dr. Jerabek-Bray worked with LAUSD and facilities staff to determine the scope, class, and type of projects that would impact historical resources and need to be addressed in the procedural guidelines. As a final work product, Dr. Jerabek-Bray authored a CEQA and NEPA procedural guidelines document that included the following sections: introduction, regulatory setting, environmental setting, project description, management and planning guidelines, procedural low charts for CEQA and NEPA/Section 106, and standard mitigation measures.

Margarita served as the project manager and principal investigator for the district-wide cultural resources survey for Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) which included the evaluation of 70 potentially eligible District school facilities for listing in the National Register and California Register, and included preservation guidelines for the district-wide facilities modernization program.

She conducted CEQA Compliance reviews for select projects including rehabilitation of Long Beach Polytechnic Auditorium and Woodrow Wilson Auditorium. Margarita completed a district-wide historic resources survey for the Santa Monica Unified School District, and provided preservation consultation for modernization and additions to selected school sites.

As part of the larger USC Master Plan Project Margarita prepared a historic resources analysis for the USC Student Union Project IS/MND evaluating the Formalist Modern Norman Topping Center and impacts to the adjacent Commons Building and surrounding historic district. She also prepared a HABS report for the Schoenburg Institute at USC. Other HABS reports for educational facilities include the Gymnasium at the University of La Verne, and the Administration Building at Harvard-Westlake Academy.

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy Renovation and Expansion Project, Historic Resources Assessment and Impacts Analysis, Beverly Hills, CA. Principal Investigator/Project Manager. Margarita directed the historic significance analysis of two school buildings—the original Oakhurst Building designed by master architect Sydney Eisenshtat in 1963 in the Modern Style and the Doheny Building constructed in 1989 and designed by Harshad Patel. She oversaw preparation of an intensive-level Historic Resource Assessment Report for the two buildings in accordance with the California Office of Historic Preservation’s requirements for preparing historic resource evaluation reports. ESA found that the Oakhurst Building is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources under criteria A/1 and C/3, but it did not meet the requirements for local eligibility under the City of Beverly Hills criteria.

The client plans to rehabilitate the existing buildings, which would be updated for current use and continue to function as school buildings. The proposed project would add two additions to the rear of the property in order to accommodate additional classroom and gymnasium space. Margarita oversaw preparation of a character-defining features analysis and provided design consultation for conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards to reduce potential project impacts to less than significant. She also conducted an impacts analysis of the proposed project and prepared a preservation plan that was incorporated into the project as a project design feature to ensure the project would meet the Secretary’s Standards for Rehabilitation. The project has been reviewed and approved by the City of Beverly Hills as an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration.

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Packet Pg. 1681 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Rehabilitation of the Dunbar Hotel, 4255 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA.

Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian. As a Project Manager, Dr.

Jerabek-Bray directed a careful space-by-space inventory of character-defining features (including all windows) associated with the Dunbar Hotel’s period of significance (1928-1970). This included photo documentation of each feature along with a written description, condition, and treatment options. ESA recorded 425 character- defining features and spaces into an electronic database. Dr. Jerabek was principal author for the rehabilitation report that included a project description, methods, historical background and construction history, accompanied by historic photographs, an architectural description of existing conditions, a maintenance plan for high-integrity features, a restoration plan for low-integrity features, and a replication plan. The written report also provided a list of any issues and concerns that should be taken into account during the building rehabilitation and for the long-term preservation of the Dunbar Hotel. The hotel reopened in June 2013 as a senior living facility amidst local fanfare, “An encore for the historic Dunbar Hotel,” Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2013. The project was the recipient of the 2014 Westside Prize from the Westside Urban Forum and recipient of a 2014 Preservation Award from the L.A. Conservancy.

Historical Resources and Preservation Consulting Services for The Culver Studios, Culver City, CA. Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian. Since late 2014, Dr. Jerabek-Bray and ESA’ s Historic Resources Practice has provided a suite of services including historical resources evaluation, environmental review and documentation, and historic preservation consultation services for the CPA-6 Specific Plan, and the CPA-7 Specific Plan known as “The Innovation Plan,” a blueprint for the future of The Culver Studios. Dr. Jerabek is the point of contact for historic services, attends client and city meetings, attends public hearings, provides technical direction and advice, directs and conducts the preparation of report deliverables, directs and conducts construction monitoring, and acts as the City’s preservation officer for the Innovation Plan.

The Plan will transform the 14.3-acre Studio into a new media production hub, keeping the Studio on the vanguard of changing production practices in the entertainment industry. The Culver Studios is a motion picture studio in downtown Culver City established in 1919 by Thomas Ince, and eventually became the home of RCA, one of the “Big Eight” major motion picture companies in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Studio was the production site of historically significant motion pictures like King Kong, Gone with the Wind, and Citizen Kane. The Innovation Plan will restore and re-group historic structures adjacent to the Mansion, build new support buildings near existing historic sound-stages, and establish a creative campus in the core of the 14.3-acre studio lot. The Studio’s 100-year history will be showcased, historic bungalows will be preserved, and original landscaping in front of the Mansion will be restored. The Innovation Plan balances the need to provide state-of-the-art studio facilities, while retaining the Studio’s unique ambiance and prominent place in the community. ESA surveyed and evaluated the Studio’s historical resources, provided input to the development of The Plan to reduce impacts to historical resources, completed HABS report for Bungalows S, T, U and V, prepared a Relocation and Rehabilitation Plan for the bungalows, conducted construction monitoring for relocation of the bungalows, conducted plan reviews for tenant improvements to the Mansion and associated historic buildings in the historic core, conducted a landscape analysis, and provided documentation and input for the landscape restoration. ESA also prepared the environmental documentation for The Innovation Plan EIR, and is

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Packet Pg. 1682 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) implementing the mitigation program for historical resources including HABS documentation of Stages 2/3/4 and a salvage program, preparation of a preservation plan for the Studio, and development of an interpretive program for the Studio.

Historic Resources and Preservation Consultation Services for the Redevelopment of the Fred C. Nelles State Reform School, Whittier, CA. Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian. The Fred C. Nelles Correctional Facility is a listed California State Landmark, and is significant as the state’s first reform school for boys. The 1920s-1930s Tudor Revival-style campus is currently vacant and will soon be redeveloped as a multi-use residential and commercial project, “The Groves”, entitled under the certified Lincoln Specific Plan EIR. For over a decade, Dr. Jerabek-Bray has been providing Historic Resources and Preservation Consultation services to the developer, Brookfield Homes. Work began with preparation of a historic resources assessment report to clarify the regulatory status and assessed the potential eligibility of a historic district. No district was found to be present, but eight individual resources were identified. Margarita conducted an opportunities and constraints analysis and provided input to the developer on managing impacts to historic resources and the feasibility of adaptive reuse of the individual buildings for the project.

She directed preparation of feasibility studies for the EIR, that were peer reviewed by the City’s consultants. She provided peer review of the Lincoln Plan EIR on behalf of the developer, and attended city meetings and hearings for the EIR. Once the EIR was certified, she worked with the developer’s architect to prepare rehabilitation plans for the individual resources to be retained and adaptively reused. The rehabilitation plans were peer reviewed by the City and the City’s preservation consultant. She directed ESA’s historic team in the completion of a HABS/HALS for the campus, with photography by Positive Image. She also worked with Eye-Glass Productions on a documentary film, and oral histories. Dr. Jerabek-Bray assisted the client to implement a full suite of mitigation measures including a heritage trail, a signage program, oral histories, salvage program, and construction monitoring for rehabilitation historic buildings. She recently completed consultation services and construction monitoring for adaptive reuse of the school’s Commissary as a community center (The Commons), which is the first historic building to be restored. The Commons project received a Gold Nugget merit award (2020) for best rehabilitation project from Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC).

Home Savings and Loan Art and Architecture Conservation Services, Interpretive Exhibit, Montebello, CA. Project Manager/Principal Investigator. Margarita provided project management and oversight for the conservation work of the art and architecture and an interpretive exhibit for the Montebello branch of Home Savings and Loan Association. Constructed in 1973, the Montebello branch was designed by Millard Sheets (1907–1989), an accomplished, nationally prominent artist and designer, with integrated art works by the Millard Sheets Design Company. The building and art works were preserved in preparation for the building’s new use as a medical office by PIH Health. ESA provided oversight for the conservation work undertaken by Preservation Arts.

Additionally, Margarita assisted with the development of a project schedule, conducted conservation monitoring and documentation, and provided project oversight during the implementation of the conservation project to ensure that the cleaning and repair of the art works and exterior architectural materials was conducted in accordance with accepted standards for art and architectural conservation work, that the work completed is of acceptable quality, and that the project stayed on schedule and within budget. After the conservation work was completed, she oversaw the development of an interpretive exhibit to

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Packet Pg. 1683 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) beautify the interior and protect the building’s important art, architecture, and history. The exhibit contains professionally mounted permanent narrative panels and photographic enlargements with captions illustrating the key information about the Montebello Branch and its historic use. One of the highlights of the interpretive exhibit is a reproduction of the original tapestry hung its original location for which ESA coordinated with the Mingei International Museum. The project was the recipient of a prestigious 2016 Preservation Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation.

Rancho Los Amigos South Campus EIR, County of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works, Downey. CA. Project Manager/Principal Architectural Historian.

The County of Los Angeles (County) proposes redevelopment of a portion of the Rancho Los Amigos (RLA) South Campus which is located in the City of Downey.

The 74-acre RLA South Campus was the home of the “Los Angeles County Poor Farm” that was established in 1880s to provide room and board to indigent citizens in exchange for agricultural labor, then served as an infirmary and later evolved into a hospital facility in 1932. The RLA South Campus functioned as a major hospital complex from 1956 to the 1990s, when it was abandoned. The RLA South Campus is currently unoccupied and has been designated as the RLA Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. The County is proposing redevelopment of a 21-acre portion of the RLA South Campus with County uses, including a Sheriff’s Station Crime Laboratory, Internal Services Department Headquarters, and Probation Department Headquarters. The project will include supporting parking and installation of utilities and other features on a site that has been abandoned for nearly 30 years. Building demolition and/or repurposing or relocation of existing buildings will be required. ESA lead the CEQA process on behalf of the County, including preparation of all technical studies in support of a full-scope EIR for the RLA South Campus Project. This included a Historic District Evaluation, archaeological surveys, traffic, water supply, arborist services, and all other CEQA-required topics. ESA is also served in an Executive Consultant role to the County, to advise on other potential future projects at the RLA Campus.

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Packet Pg. 1684 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Alison Garcia Kellar
Senior Architectural Historian
Alison is a senior architectural historian with 9 years of professional and academic experience with a background in historic preservation, design, and museum collections. Her work with historic resources and cultural heritage in California has included managing and authoring historic resource assessments, National Register Nominations, historic structure reports, feasibility studies, Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit applications, in addition to extensive archival research and resource documentation. Alison applies her understanding of preservation design and historic interiors to inform impacts analyses of proposed development and recommendations for adaptive reuse.

Relevant Experience
Earl Carroll Theatre Historic Structure Report, Los Angeles, CA. Senior Architectural Historian. Alison was the lead author of the Historic Structure Report created for the rehabilitation of the historic Earl Carroll Theatre in Hollywood.

Constructed in 1938, the property is significant for its association with owneroperator Earl Carroll, Hollywood nightlife, and architect Gordon B. Kaufmann. The theatre is a listed LA Historic-Cultural Monument and has been identified as eligible for the National Register. In recent years, the theatre has been rented by television network studios as sound stages, and as a result some public areas have been modified over time. Alison conducted supplemental in-depth research, participated with the creation of a detailed interior and exterior characterdefining features analysis, and assisted with the analysis of the theatre’s current condition. She developed recommendations in compliance with the SOI standards that sensitively guide stakeholders with ongoing preservation efforts.

Celes King III Swimming Pool Historic American Building Survey, Los Angeles, CA. Senior Architectural Historian, Deputy Project Manager. ESA was hired to conduct HABS documentation for the City of Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department. Constructed in the early 1960s, the Celes King III Swimming Pool was designed by architect Albert Criz in the Mid-Century Modern-Expressionist style.

Alison conducted in-depth research related to the history of the surrounding recreational complex, construction of the swimming pool, architect, and neighboring communities.

Alpine Village Preservation Consulting Services, Unincorporated Los Angeles County, CA. Senior Architectural Historian. Alison was the lead author of the preliminary historical significance evaluation determination for the Alpine Village complex, a European-style shopping center located near Torrance, California.

Comprised of seven buildings constructed between 1969 and 1974, the complex is an example of an increasingly rare type of roadside architecture, and retains high historic integrity. Alison participated in conducting in-depth construction chronology research, determining the complex’s period of significance, and

EDUCATION
MS, Historic
Preservation, University
of Pennsylvania
BA, Design, University of
California at Davis
9 YEARS EXPERIENCE

PROFESSIONAL

AFFILIATIONS
Latinos in Heritage
Conservation, Education
Committee Member
California Preservation
Foundation, Member
Society of Architectural
Historians, Southern
California Chapter
Member
National Trust for
Historic Preservation,
Member
AWARDS
Albert Binder Travel
Fellowship, 2012 and
2013
PennDesign
Departmental Grant,
2011-2013

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Packet Pg. 1685 Attachment: Property Owner's Historic Assessment Report (4957 : Appeal of Landmarks Designation of 631 Colorado Avenue (60 min)) Alison Garcia Kellar, M.S.