By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter
Palisadian architect Howard Laks’ anticipated Santa Monica Proper Hotel is near completion, according to Laks, and is expected to open sometime in June.
The hotel “seamlessly combines a completely updated and reimagined 1920’s Spanish revival building with a new, modern curvaceous structure,” a press release reported. “The design was first conceived in 2005 when the Santa Monica Professional Building was designated as a City Landmark.”
The Santa Monica Proper Hotel will consist of 271 guest rooms, retail space, restaurants, a spa, banquet rooms, a rooftop pool and bar, and four levels of below-grade parking.
On the ground floor of the hotel is the “Surya Spa,” and restaurant Onda will open on the ground floor of the Landmark Building.
Laks, an award-winning architect, is known for his post-modern structures throughout the Westside like the Fidelity Building and The Lobster restaurant by the pier.
With 30 years in the business, he has gone on to win a Merit Award for the North Hills Community Park in Los Angeles and a California Construction Best Mixed-Used award for the Archstone Apartments on Main Street in Santa Monica, according to his website.
He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from the UC Berkeley School of Architecture, and has held a teaching position at the UCLA Interior and Environmental Design Program since 1981.
Laks has also served as a board member and chairperson on the City of Santa Monica Architectural Review Board.
The Proper Hotel will be located at 710 Wilshire Blvd.
