Work commencing for mixed-use project at 1902 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica

This post was written by Steven Sharp and published on Feb 6, 2026 on la.urbanize.city

Plans call for 140 apartments over retail

Cypress Equity Investments has commenced work on yet another mixed-use apartment complex in Santa Monica.

Heavy equipment recently arrived on site at 1902 Wilshire Boulevard, where approved plans call for the construction of an eight-story building featuring 140 residential units above 7,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a subterranean parking garage.

The project is part of a pilot program in Santa Monica in which a small number of developers are being allowed to develop required affordable units at an off-site location to jump start stalled developments. Cypress Equity Investments previously expected to accommodate 14 lower-income units within 1902 Wilshire, will instead see them built in a project at 1333 7th Street.

Plans reviewed in 2024 by the Santa Monica officials call for a contemporary podium-type building clad in brick, porcelain, concrete, and stucco. Patrick Tighe Architecture is designing the building.

“The project is composed of a series of volumes organized to create a linear open space above a podium and oriented in a north/south direction, with its opening onto Wilshire Boulevard,” states a 2024 staff report to the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board.. “The volumes are differentiated from one another alternately using an additive or subtractive method along the elevations. As the design wraps the corners onto 19th Street and the alley the distinction between the volumes becomes less visible until the south elevation presents as a quiet, cohesive elevation.”

The company also has approvals to build housing on several sites to the north of 1902 Wilshire, and recently broke ground on a larger mixed-use project at the former site of Pico Bowl near the Santa Monica Civic Center.