Santa Monica Unveils Draft Plan to Turn Airport Site Into Park

Santa Monica officials have released a draft illustrative plan to convert the Santa Monica Airport property into a large public park. The roughly 200-acre site, lying between Bundy Drive and 23rd Street, is scheduled to stop operating on December 31, 2028, and is restricted to recreation and open space under Measure LC, which voters approved in 2014.

The draft was prepared by design firm Sasaki. Passive areas would sit on the western side, with features such as a dog park, a flex lawn, a 1.5-acre wildflower meadow, an arboretum, water features and a nature education center. That section would connect to the existing Clover Park. The eastern side would hold athletic fields, basketball courts, a climbing wall and a recreation center. Existing northern structures would be reused as about 500,000 square feet of leasable space to help fund the project, and the southern edge would host food, performance and cultural events.

Environmental review is expected to run from spring 2027 through summer 2028, with detailed design following through the early 2030s, contingent on funding. The city council chose last year to advance the plan without a new public vote. A labor union has floated a ballot measure requiring affordable housing on a quarter of the land, though that effort did not advance this year.

For developers and lenders, the practical implication is that the site's future is limited to public recreation under current rules, so land-value assumptions should reflect park use rather than commercial redevelopment.