REAL ESTATE NEWS

Santa Monica, California, has green-lighted legislation to create an entertainment zone, allowing visitors and residents to consume alcohol on the public streets within the parameters.

The ordinance was a revised proposal that specifically permits adults to buy and drink alcohol seven days per week through three blocks on Third Street Promenade, located in Downtown Santa Monica, according to a report from L.A. Business First. Originally, the calls restricted access in the entertainment zone to just one block and only three times per year. It was originally designed for weekends and special occasions. However, that changed with the final motion.

Meanwhile, Lauren G. Howland, Santa Monica’s communications and public information manager, told the news outlet that the council can still amend the hours the entertainment district operates.

Additionally, other rules will apply, including the requirement that business operators must supply their own to-go cups, and customers drinking in the entertainment zone on the streets or sidewalk must wear wristbands.

This marks the first time that a California city has approved a full-time entertainment zone. But keep in mind that California Senate Bill 969 law does allow for entertainment zones across the state, with San Francisco experimenting with an Oktoberfest event in 2024.

Andrew Thomas, CEO of Downtown Santa Monica Inc., expects other cities to follow suit and advocate for their own entertainment zones. Also, several states allow consumers to drink outside a venue in specific parameters, including Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, and Mississippi, according to a 2023 post from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“The Promenade is already built out for this,” Thomas said, according to L.A. Business First.

“We don't have to close the street, as nobody's used to driving on the Promenade. We have lots of public space. We have our organization, which is used to having events and activations and great programming in downtown. We're ready to embrace this, and I think it's going to have a big impact on leasing downtown.”

The new ordinance will offer commercial real estate developers more mixed-use opportunities in Santa Monica. It will be interesting to see what they come up with on Third Street Promenade and if the results influence nearby cities and other states to allow full-time entertainment zones of their own.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM