1 David Yakobson
From: Kathy Knight <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 2:06 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Lana Negrete; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick; Oliver Chi
Subject: Item 5.G 4th/5th and Arizona 27 SM City Council Meeting Closed Session Item
EXTERNAL
Dear Council Members: We strongly support this letter. Please DON’T SELL OUR PRECIOUS PUBLIC LAND AT 5th & Arizona.
Kathy Knight and Joe Faris
Santa Monica Residents for past 30 years
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ov, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], na [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] v, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] v, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Sent: 1/26/2026 2:47:57 PM Pacific Standard Time
Subject: January 27, 2026 Council Meeting - CLOSED SESSION Item 5.G. - 4th/5th & Arizona - NO SALE! GROUND LEASE ONLY!
Dear Mayor Torosis, Mr. Chi, and Councilmembers -
Regarding this closed session real estate negotiation about City-owned land at 4th/5th & Arizona... ...I strongly urge you please never to sell this public land at 4th/5th & Arizona, if that's what on the table tomorrow night. Please only consider a long-term ground lease.
Why? We owe it to the future financial health of our City not to deplete our City's property inventory today.
We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve opportunities and flexibility for our City to meet its future needs, both decades or even a century from now. This is a huge, marquee property. So please only consider a long-term lease structure, not a sale.
To wit - Many in the community including me were shocked to learn recently that the City inconceivably deeded the contentious Ocean Avenue properties to Community Corp. back in 2016. Deeded ocean-view properties!! That was an action, presumably, of the "Gleam Davis crony capitalism and public land privatization Council". I believe it is short-sighted and irresponsible to hand over City-owned properties that will only continue to skyrocket in value over time in what is a land-locked City.
Please preserve the City's ownership of our public lands for an as-yet unknowable future.
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
2 N.B. - As a result of so many land transfers in the past 10-20 years, Community Corp likely has a billion dollar+ real estate portfolio. And we have just seen they may have been poised to sell out to a developer with an extremely bad reputation who you fired from the DTSM Board of Directors. Argh!!
Long-term lease ONLY, please!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Best, Ann Bowman
Resident, 29 years
G. Conference with real estate negotiator - Gov. Code § 54956.8; property: New Item Received 1/22/2026
1333 4th/1324 5th Street (“4th/5th/Arizona”) and 1234 4th Street ("Parking Structure 1), Santa Monica, California; City negotiators: Natalie Verlinich, Housing Manager, and Agustin Aleman, Senior Development Analyst; owner of record: City of Santa Monica; persons to be negotiated with: Mee Heh Risdon, Director of Housing, A Community of Friends; Jeff Edgren, Director of Acquisitions, Affirmed Housing; Frank Chang, Vice President of Acquisitions, Linc Housing; Gary Steinhardt, Metropolitan Pacific Real Estate Group; Jay Stark, Principal, The Pinyon Group; Bill Witte, CEO, Related California; David Grunwald, Executive Vice President, RMG Housing; Steven Spielberg, Senior Vice President, Alliant Communities; Andrew Bueno, Bueno Group; Charles Cohen, Project Manager, EAH, Inc.; Daniel Hanasab, Principal, Orum Capital; Luis de la Rosa, Pacific Urbanism; Shant Samuelian, Samuelian Group; Jason Yap, Director of Acquisitions, Sola Impact; Anup Patel, Director of Real Estate Development, West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation; Hunter Simmons, Partner, Bridge Realty Advisors; Mike Lanza, Project Manager, People Assisting the Homeless; Ian Fishburn, Managing Director, Vitruvian Development; under negotiation: disposition of property, price and terms of payment
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
1 David Yakobson
From: Soloff, Michael <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 3:21 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Ellis Raskin; Dan Hall; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Lana Negrete
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: 1.27.26 City Council Meeting Agenda (Items 10.1, 16.c, and 5.G
EXTERNAL
Dear Council Members:
I have a meeting tonight as a pro bono attorney with the tenants of a building in Echo Park whose landlord illegally tried to empty the building. I therefore may not make it back to your meeting in time to provide live public comment (and have learned that phone comment required sign up yesterday). Here are my comments.
Main Agenda
Item 10A
SMRR supports adoption of the proposed worker retention policy, but urges that you amend the draft to include the specific language proposed by UniteHere. SMRR understands that by making these amendments you will bring the new ordinance into conformity with the Los Angeles LAX ordinance and other local ordinances.
Workers at the hotels on City land, and at pier businesses, play a vital role in our tourist economy, and thereby contribute greatly to the sales tax and TOT tax that benefits all of us residing in Santa Monica. We owe it to those workers to protect them to the extent reasonably possible from losing their jobs merely because one lessee goes out of business and a new one enters. Assuring that those workers can be retained, even if there is a delay between the closing of one business and the opening of another, is a very reasonable step that the UniteHere language addresses. It is bad enough that Rusty’s was closed immediately after the workers had decided to unionize. It would add additional injury if this City allowed the delay in reopening at that location to cost these workers their jobs.
Item 16C
SMRR applauds the eƯort of Mayor Torosis and Council members Hall and Raskin in bringing forward an item focusing on aƯordability. SMRR was formed to preserve housing aƯordability, and has continued to fight to do so for more than 45 years. SMRR believes all of the items are worthy of study, although any final position will depend on the details of any proposals later brought forward.
SMRR believes that one critical aƯordability program needs to be added to the list; namely, the Council should direct exploration of expansion of cash payments to rent burdened renter households. The POD program targets senior households, but many other types of households—including families with children and even residents of some of our aƯordable housing projects, get no help from that program at Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
2 present. Part of the reason for passing 2022 Measure GS was to allow expansion of assistance to new groups, and Council should direct exploration of doing so.
The prior direction by Council to stand up a right to council and flexible financial assistance program is critical to avoiding homelessness. But as this item highlights, that does not address ongoing aƯordability and the devastating health and educational consequences of being lower income and rent burdened. Direct cash payments do address this in a highly cost-eƯective manner, as the POD program and Section 8 prove. Please add this to your aƯordability study agenda.
Consent Calendar
Item 5.G
As a personal comment only, while I rarely agree with the people who provided written comment on this, I think that from a transparency perspective the City is going overboard by putting all of this into closed session (i.e., even withholding the rough outlines of what it is going to negotiate about regarding the public land). I also have concerns about EAH given that so little progress has been made on the 4th Street Garage project to date, and hope that the City will negotiate provisions with whomever to assure real and timely progress is made toward building the aƯordable housing to which the City committed in the housing element on its public land.
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
1 David Yakobson
From: Nikki Kolhoff <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 11:58 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Cc: [email protected]; Jesse Zwick; Lana Negrete; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Heidi von Tongeln Subject: 1/27/26 City Council - Items 5G, 5H, 5I, 5J - OPPOSE & Brown Act Violation
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor and City Council,
I am writing to oppose Items 5G, 5H, 5I, 5J as Brown Act violations. The Brown Act allows for narrow exceptions of price and terms of real estate transactions to be discussed in closed session. However, how we use our public funds and public land, to what goals and policies, and with which counterparties, should all be discussed publicly BEFORE working out a deal.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding pier leases and we need to know what you are doing with this unique asset.
Furthermore, regarding the other 3 properties, residents have raised myriad issues relating to programs and services being offered in Santa Monica, many by the county and with insufficient city and resident transparency and engagement. You have recently unanimously approved several 16 items requiring more transparency. Yet we have at least 3 more items on today's closed session that appear to fall in this category and have no public outreach component.
In addition, Item 5G appears to be contemplating a sale of city property and that should NEVER be done. Once you sell OUR LAND, we can never get it back. Selling public land is a short term solution lacking vision and leadership. You also shouldn't be saddling us with a lease of OUR LAND that we didn't have the opportunity to review and comment on.
Please stop working on these items until we have a transparent public discussion, making use of all the information required by recent 16 items, regarding the use of our public land and the services being provided in our city.
Regards,
Nikki Kolhoff
Santa Monica Resident and Voter
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
1 David Yakobson
From: Elizabeth Van Denburgh <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2026 11:30 AM
To: Caroline Torosis; Lana Negrete; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Jesse Zwick; councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi
Cc: Peter James; Susan Cline; [email protected]; Jing Yeo; [email protected]; Natalie Verlinich; Jennifer Taylor; Nia Tang; [email protected]
Subject: City Council Mtg. 1/27/2026 - CLOSED SESSION - Item 5.G - 4th/5th & Arizona - No sale of public land; ground lease only
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Torosis, Councilmembers and City Manager Chi, Regarding this closed session real estate negotiation about City-owned land at 4th/5th & Arizona I strongly urge you to please reconsider selling the public land at 4th/5th & Arizona, if that's what is on the table night. Please only consider a long-term ground lease.
Why? We owe it to the future financial health of our City not to deplete our City's property inventory today. As well, this property is the heart of Santa Monica. We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve opportunities and flexibility for our City to meet its future needs, both decades or even a century from now. This is a huge, marquee property. So please only consider a long-term lease structure, not a sale and continue looking for this property to provide cultural and financial benefits for our city's long-term future.
I was surprised to learn recently that the City inconceivably deeded two contentious Ocean Avenue properties to Community Corp. back in 2016. Deeded ocean-view properties! That action and presumably the lack of transparency of it continues to make residents question the promises of transparency and accountability, something it has been impeling neighborhood groups to do. In addition, there have been two Ocean Ave. properties used by a developer to land bank these properties until they could receive higher development thresholds and we have seen a mental health facility, sober living and "prisoner" housing, as defined by the city, try to be located there with no risk requirement analysis or assessment on the neighborhood. I believe it is short-sighted and irresponsible to hand over City-owned properties that will only continue to skyrocket in value over time in what is a land-locked, three-sided City.
Please preserve the City's ownership of our public lands for an as-yet unknowable future.
With respect to Community Corp and as a result of so many land transfers in the past 10-20 years to Community Corp it is a possibility that it has a billion dollar+ real estate portfolio. And we have just seen they may have been poised to sell out to a developer with an extremely bad reputation who you fired from the DTSM Board of Directors. I would request that Councilmember Snell as Chair of the Audit Sub-Committee identify as a key project for the internal auditors an effort to understand the current state of Community Corporation's Santa Monica real estate footprint/portfolio, 10 year Santa Monica city build/facility management plan and overall assessment of transparency, accountability and ongoing reporting to Santa Monica City Council and residents.
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
2 Finally, with respect to city land and the two and half year Santa Monica Realignment Plan passed in October 2025, I would request that the pro forma income statement for this massive program provide a detailed budget of revenue sources and expenses for it. The original Realignment Plan document outlined specific expenses but did not forecast how much revenue (one-time or ongoing) would be generated from the revenue sources discussed and had little numerical specificity. In this way we will know how much of that revenue is one-time i.e., from reserves, selling public land, selling/leasing city rights to private companies, etc. The city needs to be clear about its targets and forecasting to ensure the promises of transparency and accountability in its actions and reporting. We should be tracking, ensuring and reporting the revenue sources generated from the Realignment Plan are growing in the ongoing revenue category and provides a sustainable financial future or discuss other options, openly and on a timely basis.
Many thanks,
Elizabeth Van Denburgh
Wilmont, 45 years
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
1 David Yakobson
From: Alex Novakovich <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2026 5:27 PM
To: Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Barry Snell; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Natalya Zernitskaya; Ellis Raskin; Oliver Chi
Cc: councilmtgitems; Peter James; Susan Cline; Oscar Santiago; Jing Yeo; Heather Averick; Natalie Verlinich; Jennifer Taylor; Nia Tang; Agustin Aleman Subject: Closed session item 5-G. Do not sell!
EXTERNAL
Mayor Torosis, Mr. Chi and Councilmembers,
“Buy Land — they ain’t making any more of that stuff.”
Will Rogers
Regarding the closed session real estate negotiation concerning City-owned land at at Arizona Ave. between 4th & 5th Streets:
Please do not sell the public land at Arizona Ave. between 4th & 5th Streets. Please consider a long-term ground lease.
As a resident of Santa Monica for over 50 years I believe we owe it to the future financial health of our city not to deplete our City's inventory of property. The value of City-owned properties will only continue to skyrocket in our seaside city.
We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve opportunities and flexibility for our City to meet its future needs. This is a huge, strategically placed property. Please only consider a long-term lease structure, not a sale.
Thank you,
Alex Novakovich
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
2 David Yakobson
From: Ellen Mark <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2026 7:38 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Lana Negrete; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick; Oliver Chi
Cc: Peter James; Susan Cline; Oscar Santiago; Jing Yeo; Heather Averick; Natalie Verlinich; Jennifer Taylor; Nia Tang; Agustin Aleman
Subject: January 27, 2026 Council Meeting - CLOSED SESSION Item 5.G. - 4th/5th & Arizona - NO SALE! GROUND LEASE ONLY!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Torosis, Mr. Chi, and Councilmembers -
Regarding this closed session real estate negotiation about City-owned land at 4th/5th & Arizona...
Dear Mayor Tosoris, Mr. Chi, andCouncilmembers,
...I strongly urge you please never to sell this public land at 4th/5th & Arizona, if that's what on the table tomorrow night. Please only consider a long-term ground lease.
Why? We owe it to the future financial health of our City not to deplete our City's property inventory today.
We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve opportunities and flexibility for our City to meet its future needs, both decades or even a century from now. This is a huge, marquee property. So please only consider a long-term lease structure, not a sale.
To wit - Many in the community including me were shocked to learn recently that the City inconceivably deeded the contentious Ocean Avenue properties to Community Corp. back in 2016. Deeded ocean-view properties!! That was an action, presumably, of the "Gleam Davis crony capitalism and public land privatization Council". I believe it is short-sighted and irresponsible to hand over City-owned properties that will only continue to skyrocket in value over time in what is a land-locked City.
Please preserve the City's ownership of our public lands for an as-yet unknowable future.
N.B. - As a result of so many land transfers in the past 10-20 years, Community Corp likely has a billion dollar+ real estate portfolio. And we have just seen they may have been poised to sell out to a developer with an extremely bad reputation who you fired from the DTSM Board of Directors. Argh!!
Long-term lease ONLY, please!!!
Thank you for your attention to this issue
Best,
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
3 Ellen Mark
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
1 David Yakobson
From: Ann Hoover <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2026 2:48 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Dan Hall; Lana Negrete; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Natalya Zernitskaya; Jesse Zwick; Oliver Chi
Cc: Peter James; Susan Cline; Oscar Santiago; Jing Yeo; Heather Averick; Natalie Verlinich; Jennifer Taylor; Nia Tang; Agustin Aleman
Subject: January 27, 2026 Council Meeting - CLOSED SESSION Item 5.G. - 4th/5th & Arizona - NO SALE! GROUND LEASE ONLY!
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Torosis, Mr. Chi, and Councilmembers -
Regarding this closed session real estate negotiation about City-owned land at 4th/5th & Arizona... ...I strongly urge you please never to sell this public land at 4th/5th & Arizona, if that's what on the table tomorrow night. Please only consider a long-term ground lease.
Why? We owe it to the future financial health of our City not to deplete our City's property inventory today.
We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve opportunities and flexibility for our City to meet its future needs, both decades or even a century from now. This is a huge, marquee property. So please only consider a long-term lease structure, not a sale.
To wit - Many in the community including me were shocked to learn recently that the City inconceivably deeded the contentious Ocean Avenue properties to Community Corp. back in 2016.
Deeded ocean-view properties!! That was an action, presumably, of the "Gleam Davis crony capitalism and public land privatization Council". I believe it is short-sighted and irresponsible to hand over City-owned properties that will only continue to skyrocket in value over time in what is a land-locked City.
Please preserve the City's ownership of our public lands for an as-yet unknowable future.
N.B. - As a result of so many land transfers in the past 10-20 years, Community Corp likely has a billion dollar+ real estate portfolio. And we have just seen they may have been poised to sell out to a developer with an extremely bad reputation who you fired from the DTSM Board of Directors. Argh!!
Long-term lease ONLY, please!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Best, Ann Bowman
Resident, 29 years
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
2 G.
Conference with real estate negotiator - Gov. Code § 54956.8; property:
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1/22/2026
1333 4th/1324 5th Street (“4th/5th/Arizona”) and 1234 4th Street ("Parking Structure 1), Santa Monica, California; City negotiators: Natalie Verlinich, Housing Manager, and Agustin Aleman, Senior Development Analyst; owner of record: City of Santa Monica; persons to be negotiated with: Mee Heh Risdon, Director of Housing, A Community of Friends; Jeff Edgren, Director of Acquisitions, Affirmed Housing; Frank Chang, Vice President of Acquisitions, Linc Housing; Gary Steinhardt, Metropolitan Pacific Real Estate Group; Jay Stark, Principal, The Pinyon Group; Bill Witte, CEO, Related California; David Grunwald, Executive Vice President, RMG Housing; Steven Spielberg, Senior Vice President, Alliant Communities; Andrew Bueno, Bueno Group; Charles Cohen, Project Manager, EAH, Inc.; Daniel Hanasab, Principal, Orum Capital; Luis de la Rosa, Pacific Urbanism; Shant Samuelian, Samuelian Group; Jason Yap, Director of Acquisitions, Sola Impact; Anup Patel, Director of Real Estate Development, West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation; Hunter Simmons, Partner, Bridge Realty Advisors; Mike Lanza, Project Manager, People Assisting the Homeless; Ian Fishburn, Managing Director, Vitruvian Development; under negotiation: disposition of property, price and terms of payment
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Item 5-G
January 27, 2026
Item 5-G
January 27, 2026