By Jorge Casuso
February 3, 2025 -- Six months after the City Council gave the go ahead, negotiations to revive the shuttered Civic Auditorium as an entertainment venue have not begun, City officials said Monday.
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Civic Auditorium in 1958 |
Under an Exclusive Negotiation Agreement (ENA) approved by the Council in July, Revitalization Partners Group, LLC (RPG) was expected to have signed the agreement and be poised to present plans to restore and operate the local landmark by early this year.
Instead, RPG -- composed of experts in live entertainment, real estate development, finance, historic preservation and public-private partnerships -- "has yet to sign the ENA" and negotiations "are not progressing," City officials said in a press release Monday
"As the Council is eager to see progress on the matter, and as the process began last July, the Council provided direction that they would like to see the ENA executed by February 28."
The Council met in closed session on December 17 and again last Tuesday "to discuss the status" of the agreement and authorized staff to continue working with RPG.
"Once the ENA is signed by RPG, it must be approved by the City Council again if any terms have varied from what the Council had previously authorized," officials said.
"It will then clear the way for actual negotiations to begin, with the city and RPG defining the terms and project scope that are then put into a DDA," or Disposition and Development Agreement.
City officials had hoped RPG could restore the iconic structure as an entertainment venue with a storied past that staged legendary rock concerts and hosted the Academy Awards.
The Council voted on July 23, with no discussion and as part of a consent calendar roll-call vote, to approve the ENA with the group, which came together to submit a proposal for the 66-year-old site.
As part of the exclusive negotiating agreement process, RPG "will perform studies and analysis related to historic preservation, seismic and structural engineering, ADA compliance, acoustics, and other areas to evaluate remediation, construction costs and other considerations," according to staff's report to the Council.
City officials said RPG had agreed to pay an initial $350,000 to cover the City’s staff, consultant and legal costs, "to be replenished if necessary."
The group was expected to submit a comprehensive project scope and time frame for council consideration by early 2025.
Failure to reach an agreement would be a major blow to efforts to restore the Civic, which has been closed since 2013 and requires major upgrades before it can reopen.
The Santa Monica Conservancy, has called the 65-year-old Civic -- which was designated as a City Landmark in 2001 -- "an endangered building in a precarious situation."
Previous efforts have failed to pencil out a way to pay for the restoration, which includes extensive seismic retrofitting, especially after the City lost some $20 million a year in redevelopment funds in 2011 when then Governor Jerry Brown axed more than 400 redevelopment agencies.
The Council voted to enter into exclusive negotiations with RPG last summer after proposals submitted by the School District and Community Corporation fell through under the State's surplus land act, paving the way for negotiations with private developers.
"RPG was selected for the ENA based on their experience and financial wherewithal to renovate, operate and program entertainment venues that have historical attributes," officials said.