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By Lookout Staff

January 10 -- The public on Thursday can weigh in on a proposal to redevelop the half-century-old Travelodge and Sands motels on Ocean Avenue into a hotel comprised of two new buildings.

The meeting at the Main Library offers a chance to provide input before the Planning Commission takes up the project, which would replace the current 87-room lodgings on Ocean Avenue with an 89,000-square-foot, four-story Travelodge with 164 guestrooms.

The project -- which City officials say will add much-needed affordable lodgings to Santa Monica’s increasingly pricey coastal zone -- also includes approximately 4,700 square feet of ground floor commercial and retail uses and underground parking.

A pedestrian bridge across 1st Court alley would connect the two buildings -- one on Ocean, the other on Second Street.

The proposed project is the first affordable hotel since the Best Western was built on Ocean Avenue in 1992 by the Farzam family, which owns the Travelodge.

The new Travelodge, with rooms in the $150-a-night range, will have limited amenities, said Dr. Michael Farzam, who overseeing the proposed project.

The project will feature approximately 296 parking spaces in a four-level underground parking garage, or some 100 parking spaces more than required by the City and Coastal Commission. The parking will be leased to neighboring businesses, including restaurants facing a parking crunch.

The project also includes some 3,200 square feet of retail space facing Second Street and 1,500 along Ocean.

Although the 45-foot-tall structure abides by existing zoning codes, the project will require a variance for a pedestrian bridge that will allow guests to move between the two proposed structures above the alley.

The meeting is a new City Planning initiative to solicit comment from the public before the project is heard by the Planning Commission.

The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Monica Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, in the multi-purpose room on the second floor.

For more information contact Laura Beck, associate planner, at 310.458.8341.