We’ve seen some confusion recently about negotiations between the group that wants to restore and operate the Civic, Revitalization Partners’ Group (RPG), and the City.
It’s important to know that throughout this process there has been frequent communication between the City staff responsible for the Civic project and the RPG group, including an exchange of comments and requests for changes on the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA), and all during a period when two months were lost to the holidays and fires.
Here are the facts:
July 23, 2024:
City Council unanimously authorizes the City Manager to negotiate and enter into an ENA with RPG to renovate, program and operate the Civic Auditorium. No deadline to conclude negotiations is set.
August – November 2024:
There is regular communication between City staff and RPG about moving the process forward, with RPG submitting comments on the ENA to the City and the City responding.
RPG meets with councilmembers individually or in pairs to discuss the project and next steps.
RPG hires preservation consultants to monitor the Santa Monica Conservancy application to include the Civic Auditorium on the National Register of Historic Places (approved October 16, 2024) establishing additional layers of protection for the building.
RPG hires structural engineers, architects, electricians, and more to visit the Civic, appraise and report back to RPG.
City Manager arranges for RPG to meet with the Southern California Regional Director of the Coastal Commission and his team to present the project. The Coastal Commission team responds very positively.
Four sets of lawyers, each representing different entities of RPG, review and consider the City’s draft ENA.
November – December 18, 2024:
City asks RPG to revise the ENA so that trailers for its SaMo Bridge (homeless transition project) can be temporarily placed on the Civic site. RPG agrees.
Four new councilmembers are elected to City Council.
The City Manager, who was authorized by Council to negotiate with RPG, announces he’s exiting his position leaving a temporary leadership vacuum.
RPG begins meeting with new councilmembers to explain the project and its economic benefits to the City.
December 18 – January 3: Holidays observed.
January 2025:
Fires destroy the homes of two RPG principals, causing a pause in their ability to engage on the Civic. City staff is promptly notified.
Responding to the fires, leadership of RPG mount a massive effort to help fire victims with FireAid, a live and streaming concert that raises over $100 million dollars for fire relief.
Currently:
City Council imposes a 30-day time limit for the parties to execute the ENA (by February 28, 2025). City officials are aware that two of RPG’s principals lost their homes.
City staff advises RPG that it needs to complete its review of the ENA and submit any additional comments for the City’s consideration in time for the ENA to be finalized by the deadline.
RPG expects to return its response to the City’s latest ENA by week ending February 21, 2025
RPG anticipates that both parties will sign the ENA by February 28, 2025
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