A developer wants to tear down a single-family home near Bergamot Station and replace it with five townhomes, marking the first project filed under California's new transit-density law in Santa Monica.
Eric Silverberg, operating through an entity called Ficus Forest LLC, submitted the application for 2904 Delaware Avenue to the city's Community Development Department on July 14, according to city records. The corner lot sits just north of the 10 Freeway, a short walk east of the Metro E Line's Bergamot station.
The project invokes Senate Bill 79, the state law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025 that overrides local density limits within a half-mile of qualifying transit stops. SB 79's provisions took effect for cities on July 1, and the Delaware Avenue filing landed less than two weeks later.
What's planned
The proposal calls for demolishing the existing residence and building approximately 9,916 square feet of new construction across three stories reaching 40 feet, the Santa Monica Mirror reported Aug. 19. Each of the five townhomes would have three bedrooms and one at-grade parking space.
Open Office Architects, with project architect Ed Cronin, designed the buildings. Urbanize LA described the plans as showing low-rise homes clad in stucco, metal and wood.
Because the project has 10 or fewer units, it is exempt from SB 79's on-site affordable housing mandate. Silverberg instead plans to pay Santa Monica's in-lieu affordable housing fee and is seeking a subdivision tract map for five airspace condominium units.
Why it matters
SB 79, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, is his third attempt at transit-oriented density legislation after SB 827 failed in 2018 and SB 50 failed in 2020. The law allows projects within a quarter-mile of Tier 2 transit stops like the Metro E Line up to 65 feet in height, 100 units per acre and a 3.0 floor-area ratio.
The Delaware Avenue project stays well below those maximums at 40 feet and five units. It would not have been permitted under Santa Monica's existing zoning for the parcel.
The city is simultaneously weighing its own response to the law. The City Council considered an ordinance on July 14 that would exclude certain sites from SB 79 until one year after the city adopts its next Housing Element, and would increase development standards near the Bundy station specifically. That ordinance targets parcels near Bundy, not Bergamot, though the vote's outcome has not been publicly confirmed.
What's next
The project website lists a target opening of 2028. A community meeting was held Aug. 12. No planning commission hearing date has been announced.
An environmental resource analysis prepared July 1 found the site is not in any mapped seismic hazard zone, wildfire area, flood zone or critical habitat, clearing one early regulatory hurdle.
