Transforming the Santa Monica Airport Into a Great Park

In a major move towards closing the Santa Monica Airport, the Santa Monica City Council recently approved an agreement with Sasaki Inc. to evaluate current site conditions, gather public input, and propose future options for the airport land centering around the concept of a “Great Park”. Sasaki, Inc. is an interdisciplinary architecture, planning, landscape, and design firm.

The city plans to initiate the "Airport Conversion Planning Project" with Sasaki in early 2024. Sasaki will lead research and public outreach efforts in the following five distinct phases, aiming to bring forth a preferred scenario to City Council at the end of 2025.

• Phase 1: Charting the Course – Project Kick-off, Alignment, Document Review, Future Needs and Desires (3 months)
• Phase 2: Discovering the Place and Setting the Stage – Existing Conditions Analysis, Guiding Principles (5 months)
• Phase 3: Defining the Future of Place - Scenario Testing and Plans (8 months)
• Phase 4: The Path Ahead – Potential Implementation Planning (3 months)
• Phase 5: Preferred Scenario Plan Vision Book (2 months)

Throughout each phase, Sasaki, in coordination with city staff, will hold over 60 meetings and listening sessions with community members, city boards and commissions and the City Council in various formats. 

The 227-acre airport property represents almost five percent of the city's total land area. The city has obtained authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to close the airport for aviation uses after December 31, 2028, and passed a resolution in 2017 codifying that plan. The property is subject to voter-approved Measure LC, which restricts development on the airport property to only allow parks, public open spaces and public recreational facilities and the maintenance and replacement of existing cultural, arts and educational uses.