El Rey Developer Meets Neighbors
- Kevin Conboy
- Oct 22, 2018
- 2 min read
On Sunday October 21 2018, John Goldman of Goldman Architecture presented drawings and their preliminary refurbishing plans for the El Rey Theater, located at 1970 Ocean Avenue. Goldman presented to a group about 50 Mount Davidson Manor residents the preliminary plans to restore the El Rey Theater to it's original 1930's decor and design.
The goal of the restoration is to restore the property to it original design, including it's iconic tower and 1600-seat theater. The budget for restoration is to be funded by the sale of two new 16 unit residential complexes which are planned to be built where the currently-existing two rear parking areas are now. The residences, a mix of one, two, and three bedroom residential units are planned to be built above an underground lift-operated 16-space parking facility.
Commercial development is also planned for the two front wings facing Ocean Avenue, and would also help fund theater redevelopment. The developers have no tenants confirmed yet for the commercial spaces. Although plans are in the very early stages, Goldman says that the long term plan is for the facade and the original theater to also be fully restored. Plans now are preliminary and would depend greatly on the tenant's needs.
The project at this point is only in the design phase, and has yet to be reviewed by the city's planning department. Since the El Rey is a protected historical landmark, a separate city Historical Site Commission approval will also be required before any construction could begin. Goldman conceded that the permit process could take at least 2-3 years, and construction could take another 2-3 years. The costs and budgets to fix and restore the El Rey to its original glory were also undetermined at this point. It was unclear whether the sale of the residential units and commercial rental space would provide adequate funding to fix the theater space.
Goldman said that his drawings of the initial plans would be released to all attendees soon. The drawings will be posted here soon.
I understood that there would be 21 units per current parking lot and that each side would have 5 over each parking , plus and accessible van spot for 11 spaces per current parking lot. Did I misunderstand?