1 City Council Meeting July 29, 2025 Santa Monica, California
RESOLUTION NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA ADOPTING A NINTH AMENDMENT TO THE
CIVIC CENTER SPECIFIC PLAN THAT WOULD ENSURE CONSISTENCY
BETWEEN THE CIVIC CENTER SPECIFIC PLAN AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT
TO RAND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
WHEREAS, the Civic Center Specific Plan (“CCSP”) was adopted on June 28, 2005 and included four special use districts: Auditorium, Palisades Garden Walk, Civic Core, and the Village; and
WHEREAS, RAND Corporation (“RAND”) and the City of Santa Monica (“City”) entered into that certain Development Agreement dated November 23, 2000 and recorded in the Official Records of the County of Los Angeles on February 1, 2001 as Instrument No. 01-0176770 and that certain Amendment No. 1 to Development Agreement dated August 14, 2012 and recorded in the Official Records of the County of Los Angeles on February 6, 2013 as Instrument No. 20130191602; and WHEREAS, RAND’s original Development Agreement provided vested rights and permitted uses for the construction of RAND’s headquarters building at 1776 Main Street in Santa Monica, CA ; and
WHEREAS, the RAND headquarters building is a component of the Village Special Use District in the Civic Center Specific Plan ("CCSP"), adopted on June 28, 2005; and
2 WHEREAS, the CCSP has subsequently been amended to be consistent with the Land Use and Circulation Elements (the “LUCE”) of the City’s 2010 General Plan and 2015 Zoning Map and 2017 Downtown Community Plan; and WHEREAS, The Civic Center Specific Plan (p. 61) calls for The Village Special Use District to aid in "transforming the Civic Center from a single-purpose district into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood”; and
WHEREAS, The Civic Center Specific Plan includes individualized policies for each property/development site within The Village Special Use District; and WHEREAS, The relevant policy (VD-29) for RAND cross-references the Development Agreement rather than providing separate use policies; and WHEREAS, On August 1, 2023, an application to amend the First Amended Development Agreement (23ENT-0137, the “Second Amendment” Application) pursuant to the Development Agreement Statutes and an amendment to the CCSP (23ENT-0142, the “CCSP Amendment” Application), were submitted by RAND Corporation; and WHEREAS, the primary purposes of the Second Amendment are to (a) broaden the permitted uses allowed within the Project and remove barriers to leasing and/or transfer of the Project Site consistent with City goals and policies to create a vibrant mixed-use environment in the Civic Center district, (b) provide the City with additional project and community benefits, (c) establish that future improvements, changes, and/or modifications to the Project shall be, with limited exceptions, governed by the SMMC in effect at the time the improvements, changes and/or modifications are proposed, and (d) extend the term of the Agreement; and
WHEREAS, given the specific references to RAND within the Civic Center Specific Plan and to ensure consistency between the Civic Center Specific Plan and the 3 Second Amendment to Development Agreement, the CCSP Amendment is proposed for the purposes of inserting certain language on page 84 of the Civic Center Specific Plan (Attachment “A”); and
WHEREAS, the proposed Second Amendment to the Development Agreement submitted to broaden allowable land uses for RAND’s existing office building is consistent in principle with the goals, objectives, policies, land uses, and programs specified in the adopted Land Use and Circulation Element. The Civic Center Specific Plan (p. 61) calls for The Village Special Use District to aid in "transforming the Civic Center from a single-purpose district into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood"; and WHEREAS, the expansion of permitted uses for the existing building is consistent with this vision as the proposal includes business and professional office, creative office, banks and financial institutions, business services, limited life sciences research and development, media production support facilities, retail, and restaurant uses; and
WHEREAS, these proposed expansion of permitted uses is also consistent with existing government, open space, and residential uses in the Civic Center – and are compatible with and consistent in character with RAND’s existing institutional office building. No new construction or Floor Area are proposed; and WHEREAS, the accompanying amendment to the Civic Center Specific Plan provides updated clarifying language regarding the applicability of the Second Amendment to RAND’s Development Agreement; and
WHEREAS, the public health, safety, and general welfare require the adoption of the proposed amendment to the Civic Center Specific Plan in that the general welfare of the City is enhanced by this action because the accompanying amendment to the 4 Civic Center Specific Plan provides updated clarifying language regarding the applicability of the Second Amendment to RAND’s Development Agreement and its broadened permitted uses for the existing building located within the plan area at 1776 Main Street; and
WHEREAS, this Civic Center Specific Plan amendment will help to ensure there is consistency between the site-specific RAND Development Agreement and land use plan that maintains the vision, goals, and policies for the broader specific plan area; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendments to the CCSP ("Proposed CCSP Amendments") are attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated herein by this reference; and
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on June 18, 2025 to consider the Proposed CCSP Amendments and found that they are consistent with the General Plan as required by Santa Monica Municipal Code section 9.45.130; and WHEREAS, the proposed CCSP Amendments have been determined to be categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act, California Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq. (CEQA), pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities).
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council has reviewed and considered the Proposed CCSP Amendments, attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated herein by this reference, and hereby adopts the Proposed CCSP Amendments.
5 SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DOUGLAS SLOAN
City Attorney
Adopted and approved this 29th day of July, 2025.
Mayor
I hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. was duly and regularly introduced and approved at a meeting of the City Council on the 29th day of July, 2025 by the following vote:
Ayes:
Noes:
Abstain:
Absent:
6 Exhibit 1
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CIVIC CENTER SPECIFIC PLAN (CCSP) The following language shall be added on page 84 of the Civic Center Specific Plan:
“In 2025, after years of significantly reduced occupancy in the RAND Headquarters and consistent with LUCE Policy D15.1 to create a diverse mix of uses in the Civic Center area and this Specific Plan's vision for the Village Special Use District to be a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood, the RAND Development Agreement was amended to allow use of the property by a broader range of commercial office, research and development, pedestrian-oriented retail/restaurant and other uses. For the purposes of clarity, references to the ‘RAND Headquarters’ site/building throughout the Specific Plan refer to the 1776 Main Street site/building.”