Parking Structure 3 Impacts on Parking

The City engaged Walker Consultants to prepare a report analyzing the adequacy of the parking supply in Downtown Santa Monica and California coastal zone, and project how the loss of the Parking Structure #3's parking supply and replacement with affordable housing development would impact parking access. Parking analyses by Walker Consultants concluded that the proposed demolition of Parking Structure #3 would not generate additional parking demand. Instead, it is expected to redistribute existing parking demand to available spaces in nearby facilities, and potentially bolster other means of access to the coast, including the robust multimodal transportation system serving the Downtown area. The loss of parking supply at Parking Structure #3 will not impede the public parking system’s ability to accommodate existing parking demand on typical peak days, the analyses concluded.  Walker projected that approximately 2,015 spaces will be empty and available in Zone 1 during the typical weekend period of peak parking demand for Parking Structure #3.

On average, the peak occupancy level for Downtown’s public parking system is 69%. In 2020, the City of Santa Monica installed a series of real-time wayfinding signage throughout the district that informs drivers of the closest available parking spaces.