New Businesses and Investments in the Downtown
December 20, 2022 3:01 PM
by Jennifer Taylor
This article was featured in the December 2022 edition of Seascape. Read the entire edition in English and Spanish.
The City of Santa Monica will soon welcome an assortment of exciting new businesses Downtown. As Santa Monica continues to navigate its economic recovery following the impacts of the pandemic, these new investments indicate positive business activity for the local workforce and Santa Monica's future. Projects planned for the area include innovative and mixed-use developments across retail, dining, and hospitality industries.
Here are eight new businesses we're excited about:
- Two new restaurants will soon join Blue Bottle Coffee in the building located on the northeast corner of 4th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard: Mixt, a salad-based, fast-casual restaurant will occupy the corner space of the building at 401 Santa Monica Blvd. and Impasta, a plant-based pizza and pasta restaurant will take a space between Mixt and Blue Bottle.
- Gold’s Gym — The fitness center makes a triumphant return to Santa Monica in 2023 with plans for a 45,000 square-foot flagship location spread over three floors. The interior design will be reminiscent of Gold’s storied epicenter of the bodybuilding world, featuring the famous green wall from The Mecca just a couple miles down the road in Venice Beach plus state-of-the-art weight machines and equipment.
- McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams — The Santa Barbara-based ice cream shop opened a Santa Monica location at 1456 3rd Street Promenade in the former Somi Somi space. This 70 year-old, 3rd generation, family-run startup has a sweet legacy of having the creamiest, cleanest ice cream in the business.
- The Georgian Hotel — Located at 1415 Ocean Avenue, the 84-room, eight-story hotel is set to relaunch in January 2023. The top-to-bottom renovation, by Ace Hotel DTLA developers BLVD Hospitality, restores much of the building’s historical Art Deco grandeur, reviving the property’s lower-level restaurant and adding a gym, a shared space for guests called The Library and two meeting and private dining room spaces.
- Vons at 710 Broadway — Related California has plans for a new Vons grocery store to be located within a mixed-use development on the southwest corner of Broadway and Lincoln Boulevard. The project features 280 new multi-family homes, 84 of which will be affordable residences, above 99,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space which will house an updated Vons grocery store and gym. The project is slated to break ground in early 2023 and be completed in early 2026.
- Frank Gehry Ocean Avenue Project — Santa Monica City Council approved plans for a mixed-use, LEED Platinum-certified project at the northeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, designed by world-renowned architect and Santa Monica resident Frank Gehry. The project includes a hotel, commercial space, residential units including rent-controlled and affordable housing, and a museum, plus a public rooftop deck, interlaced by pedestrian paseos that are also open to the public.
- HQ Gastropub — The restaurant will open a third location at 1360 3rd Street Promenade, featuring a multi-level space with a rooftop dining deck overlooking the Promenade.
In the past year, the City of Santa Monica has approved over 951 new business permits across multiple industries. See a complete roundup of everything that’s continuing to shape the City’s vibrant local economy.
Authored By
Jennifer Taylor
Economic Development Manager