Republicans 2 CA Caucus growing, diversifying.
Election 4 Mock Held for JAMS students.
Legislature 3 State Special ‘Trump-proof’ session.
Grades 6 Beach From Heal the Bay.
Volume 24 Issue 13
smdp.com
TUESDAY 12/3/24
14th and Olympic could see significant change with mixed-use proposal SCOTT SNOWDEN SMDP Staff Writer
The northwest corner of Olympic Blvd and 14th Street could undergo some significant change as an application recently filed with the city suggests that kitchen and bath showroom Snyder Diamond is putting its Santa Monica location up for redevelopment. The site at 1399 W. Olympic Boulevard is located close to Memorial Park, Tacos Por Favor and across the street from the Police Activities League center. The proposal is for a new eight-story build featuring 222 studio, one, two, and three bedroom apartments above approximately 9,484 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a two-level, 211-car subterranean parking garage. Snyder Diamond is a popular source of quality household
DFH Architects
DEVELOPMENT: The proposal would certainly breathe a bit of life into this largely empty area on Olympic.
appliances and fittings in Southern California and also has outlets in Pasadena, Solana Beach and Van Nuys. In fact, this December, the locally-based business celebrates its 75th anniversary in Santa Monica. Russ Diamond, President at Snyder Diamond, told the Daily Press that this proposal was awaiting approval and nothing will happen until then. And once that’s done, there’s still the matter of a relocation. “We’re waiting to get the approvals initially, so it will make the property probably a little bit more valuable, because if a developer comes in, will already have the approvals. And typically it takes a year to two years to get an approval,” Diamond said, adding, “So we’re just being a little preemptive, based on the fact that Santa Monica, due to the housing SEE OLYMPIC PAGE 11
Grammy Award-winning group joins forces with local music prodigies
Landlords are using AI to raise rents — and California cities are leading the pushback
THOMAS LEFFLER
WENDY FRY
The young, yet immensely talented, classical music prodigies of Santa Monica are now ready to have their skills accentuated by worldrenowned artists. This coming spring, local music ensemble organization Elemental Music will introduce four-time Grammy Award-winning contemporary classical sextet Eighth Blackbird to its students. The legendary group will be working with Elemental’s Chamber Music
If you’ve hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you’re not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company’s software — which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information — to help set rent prices. Federal prosecutors say the practice amounts to “an unlawful information-sharing scheme” and some lawmakers throughout California are moving to curb it. San Diego’s city council president is the latest to do so, proposing
SMDP Staff Writer
Special to the Daily Press
SEE MUSIC PAGE 7
Courtesy Photo
MUSIC: The students of Elemental Music watch on as Grammy Awardwinning Eighth Blackbird presents a lesson to the group.
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to prevent local apartment owners from using the pricing software, which he maintains is driving up housing costs. San Diego’s proposed ordinance, now being drafted by the city attorney, comes after San Francisco supervisors in July enacted a similar, first-in-the-nation ban on “the sale or use of algorithmic devices to set rents or manage occupancy levels” for residences. San Jose is considering a similar approach. And California and seven other states have also joined the federal prosecutors’ antitrust suit, which SEE RENT PAGE 8
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
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