Tony Santa Monica housing complex embraces Quonset hut

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A once-humble Quonset hut, now an official city landmark, will soon be the touchstone of a five-story, $14- million housing and retail complex in Santa Monica.

Construction is underway on Quonset Court, as it will be known, at 829 Broadway in Santa Monica. Developer NMS Properties is building a 97-unit apartment building that will rise over street-level shops, a courtyard and three levels of underground parking. Its concept is to provide upscale touches such as granite countertops, 9-foot ceilings and stainless steel appliances while holding rents at $1,400 a month and under.

The reason the rents are considered ‘affordable’ for Santa Monica is that the units designed by Killefer Flammang Architects will be only 375 square feet. The architect and developer employed a similar approach at Olympic Studio Lofts, also in Santa Monica.

“We believe this project will appeal to a wide variety of renters based on our experience at Olympic Studios,� said Neil Shekhter, chief executive of NMS Properties. ‘We expected that project to appeal mainly to college students, singles and couples in their 20s, but found that about one-quarter of residents were over 35.�

Quonset Court is expected to be completed late next year. The World War II-era Quonset hut will be turned into a cafe, the developer said. The lightweight huts made of galvanized steel were mass-produced during the war and erected quickly to serve a variety of purposes, including housing and offices.

-- Roger Vincent

Photo illustration credit: Killefer Flammang Architects