The City of Santa Monica (“the city”) is inviting innovative partnership opportunities from qualified persons and/or firms for the conceptual development and use concepts within the Santa Monica Airport land, focused on (but not limited to) the following uses:  recreational, arts, cultural, educational and supported community uses through a Letter of Interest (LOI). These concepts could be short-term pop-up type activities or long-term multi-year opportunities. The Santa Monica Airport Conversion project (SMACP) is focused on these proposed uses, in alignment with the City Council adopted Guiding Principles, with the expectation that they will generate revenue to pay for the design, construction, operations, maintenance, and programming of the almost 200-acre site.  Please see below for additional info on Project Goals and Scope, refer to the project website www.smacproject.com for information on the site, community engagement process, and City Council direction. LOIs should address at least one use, or a group of uses, for the City to consider for a portion of the site, this is not a master plan request.  This LOI process is to understand the wide-range of potential Public-Private Partnerships, or other funding structures, that may be available for the airport land post-closure to ensure that the Airport Conversion Project is financially feasible. The LOIs are for information only for the city to consider as the Airport Conversion Project feasibility process proceeds.

The City of Santa Monica is closing the Santa Monica Airport (KSMO) at midnight on December 31, 2028, as authorized by the Consent Decree/Settlement Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2017. This closure will enable the city to repurpose the 192-acre site, originally purchased with a park bond, into a park-focused project with supporting uses (see pages 10 -13 of this PDF) that will serve Santa Monicans and the wider region for generations to come. The project scope involves extensive community engagement to determine how best this land can serve all of Santa Monica by balancing preferred uses with adopted city policies, and other immediate and long-term community needs via economically supportable uses. This solicitation should address at least one use, or a group of uses, for the city to consider for a portion of the site, this is not a master plan request. If the city decides, by City Council direction, to move forward with any of the LOIs, or other, a separate Request for Qualifications / Proposals (RFQ/RFP) would be necessary, no negotiations will occur at this time. LOI respondents will be included on a list of partnership ideas that may move forward for City Council and community consideration.  

This request for LOI’s is solicited to help the city understand the wide-range of potential Public-Private Partnerships that may be available for the airport post-closure, and their potential viability.  We seek proposals that align with our project goals and the city’s commitment to economic vitality, social equity, and environmental protection.  

For more information on the project, work to date can be found at  https://smacproject.com specifically under the Resources tab and the Community Engagement summaries for Phases 1 and 2 and the Guiding Principles. Analysis of the site can be found in the Site Inventory and Site Opportunities and Constraints documents. Many of the structures on the Santa Monica Airport land may have the ability to be reused, and this analysis can also be found in the aforementioned documents and as attachments for this solicitation.