Light jazz played from invisible speakers in a grassy landscape dotted with sidewalks and drought-resistant plantings. The idyllics were haunted by Immaculate office buildings that housed famous Hollywood and technical tenants, including Amazon, Oracle and AMC Networks.
Some of the newest residents of the Santa Monica Complex, located by the lawn, were called The Water Garden and reclined into Adirondack chairs with books in hand.
The class was in session at Calvary Christian School.
This is one of five schools in the Pacific Palisade area that moved to or will soon do so after Inferno in January, which destroyed nearly 7,000 structures and burned more than 23,000 acres in the aftermath of Inferno in January.
Thousands of K-12 students live in over 200,000 square feet of space, and place the school in the Santa Monica office leasing market as an unexpected boost. The health crisis emptied buildings and later many businesses moved to hybrid or full work schedules.
“I didn’t have to lease schools this year on my bingo card, but I’m here, and you’re with the Times,” said Alex Cameron, Los Angeles Regional Director of commercial real estate firm BXP, who welcomed the village school and Seven Arrows Elementary School to two Santa Monica.
The Colorado Center, across from Water Garden, is now home to the village school, and its campus has been burned down in a Pallisard fire.
(Allen J. Scheven/Los Angeles Times)
Unlike other landlords, Cameron had few seats available at the Colorado Center and Santa Monica Business Park, his company’s development, and needed creative solutions to accommodate new school tenants.
However, not all owners of Santa Monica’s approximately 8.4 million square feet of office market are extremely fortunate. The vacancy rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 was about 31% compared to about 25% in the previous year.
Santa Monica’s Economic Development Manager Jennifer Taylor said the school’s influx is “a great way to revitalize some of our large commercial districts and office campuses. This created this whole new sense of vibrancy.”
If there was an emblem of a weakness in the market, it is the long-running former Sears building near the Third Street Promenade. But soon, it’s with the teens: Palisade Charter High School is expected to reopen there in late April.
The Colorado Center, named after Street It Front, is one of a handful of Santa Monica properties that host schools that have been refuge in the Palisades flames.
(Allen J. Scheven/Los Angeles Times)
The movement is intended to be temporary. For the school population still dealing with the trauma of the deadly Palisade fire, a convenient return to the classroom is important. Leaders at the village school and St. Matthew’s parish schools both had moved all or part of the school to Santa Monica by the end of January – said the new home was not the same as the Palisade campus, but the cheerful environment and welcoming neighbors made the transition easier.
“It can be described as a collective victory,” said John Evans, the village school director. The move has not had any challenges for the K-6 community, but the new space will have no permanent interior walls and require temporary dividers to be used.
He said other tenants at the Colorado Center (including Hulu and Roku among businesses with space there) offered to help with the transition. “They [asking],’What can we do for your graduation? Do kids want to spend their career day here? ” Evans said. “It was just overwhelming.”
Save the Sears Site
Located across the street from Santa Monica Place Mall, it is right in front of a historic neon sign that welcomes visitors to Santa Monica Pier.
New York developer Seritage Growth Properties, who managed the struggling Sears and Kmart stores in 2015, closed its Santa Monica store two years later. The developers then launched a $50 million real estate transformation built in 1947, designating a historic landmark in Santa Monica and transforming it into a destination office project that is supported by restaurants and stores.
The upgrade completed in 2020 when the pandemic was squeezing office leases, was intended to attract creative industrial tenants willing to pay the best rent when Google and other tech and entertainment companies were leasing hundreds of thousands of square feet in the West.
Ceritage and its partner Invesco were unable to find a tenant. Parihai was then destroyed in a fire in January. Approximately 30% of campuses, including some classroom buildings and athletics facilities, have been damaged or destroyed. I needed a new home.
Pali High resumed classes online on January 21st, which was always seen as an incomplete, short-term solution for a 2,445 student school.
Palisade Charter High School security director Cesar Gomez and principal Pamela Maggie visited the former Searsville in Santa Monica on March 13th.
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
The previous Sears site spans more than 100,000 square feet and includes a considerable amount of parking, making it a rare property suitable for large student groups in Paris Hai, which school leaders were meant to be with. Pali High has signed a six-month lease of space and retains the option to extend the transaction. Principal Pamela Maggie said the cost of leases and construction work to convert the building into a school would totally cost around $11 million.
Much of the money comes from insurance policies in Paris High and needs to be spent on relocation, Maggie said. “This is a ‘use it or lose it’ situation,” she added.
Ceritage did not respond to requests for comment.
Pali High is scheduled to welcome students into the building on April 22nd. “Though these kids are extremely resilient and suffering,” Magee said. “I know they want to be with me.”
The hope is to have a short stay in Santa Monica. Parishai could potentially return to Pallisard campus soon in August at the start of the next school year, Maggie said. But that can take time.
“Due to uncertainty about when Palisades will be considered a safe environmental space, we invest in the company. [in the former Sears site] We guarantee that schools will open directly at Palisade or Sears this fall,” Maggie said.
The mock-up Paris High Classroom at the former Sears Building in Santa Monica features a desk donated by WeWork.
(Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)
In a way, the former Sears building may not feel like a campus. Unlike the Water Garden and Colorado Center across the street, the property adjacent to the 10 highways is free of greenery.
Maggie acknowledged the challenge and said it was something school officials are discussing. “Fortunately, Santa Monica has plenty of open spaces and the city has been extremely helpful in helping them find a place for outside activities,” she said.
The old Sears building offers other benefits. It is located near the E’s endpoint, previously the exposition, the light rail line, many restaurants, shops and other attractions.
Stewart Wilson Turner, whose son Aiden is a sophomore at Paris High, is excited to be able to return to in-person learning, but he has noted the potential for the infamous La Scourge. “I think traffic is a bitch, I’ll forgive my French,” he said. But “I think the energy is very good… It’s going to be very cool to hold a school.”
Challenge and “God’s Growth”
Even if the Palisade fire was still severe, Santa Monica city officials foresee that it could become a haven for evacuated schools. On January 10th, the city council adopted an emergency ordinance that allowed schools to streamline and expedited permit review processes.
Roxanne Tanemori, deputy director of Santa Monica’s Community Development, said the measure would allow some schools to be opened in the city within weeks of the fire.
The emergency rules were used at St. Matthew, where the 29-acre campus in Pallisard was damaged. Among those who were personally influenced were the head of the school’s alley, Michaelson. She and her family lived in an on-site residence, which burned. Still, she said work started quickly with the plan to relocate St. Matthews.
“It was focusing on the afternoon of January 7th,” said Michelson, a graduate of the school. “It was emotional, but I knew I had to bow my head and focus on returning to in-person learning. I think we learned from Covid – Learning [online] That’s why it was difficult. ”
Water Garden has long been home to highly-crowded media and entertainment tenants. Currently, there are two schools.
(Allen J. Scheven/Los Angeles Times)
St. Matthew partially reopened on Jan. 27 with a 30,000-square-foot space in Water Garden. The facility houses students from the school’s third to eighth grades. Younger children, including preschoolers, are taking part in nearby classes at the Stoner Avenue facility. However, some of those students will soon be coming to the Water Garden. St. Matthews has signed an additional 21,000 square feet contract at the facility. In the fall, kindergartens from kindergarten through second grade classes will be able to participate for older students.
Mark Yoshitake, the first-year parent of St. Matthew, looks forward to the moment. Because he works at the Water Garden.
Amazon executive Yoshitake said the move was an unexpected joy during the dark times. His family home was damaged by a fire in Palisades and forced a move to West LA
“The grace of God has happened,” Yoshitake said. “In all that insanity, there was this really interesting advantage that I could get closer to my daughter.”
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