There Are Nearly 2 Dozen Starbucks Stores In Santa Monica - And Maybe 1 More On The Way
SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — If you're looking for a cup of coffee in Santa Monica, chances are you won't have to travel far to find it.
The Landmarks Commission may be close to a decision on a plan to tear down some of Santa Monica's oldest structures along the 1600 block of Ocean Front Walk and replacing them with, among other things, what will become the city's 22nd Starbucks location.
The buildings at the foot of the Santa Monica Pier were built in the early 1900s and are largely considered to be historical relics from a "bygone era of amusement piers, beach front boardwalks, and grand recreational and social beach activities", according to a report (PDF) by Ostashay & Associates Consulting.
Although the site has housed gift shops and eateries for over a century, it doesn't qualify as an actual city landmark due to undergoing a number of changes since its original construction, according to the report.
The debate over the buildings' historical value comes as an application has been filed with the city to convert the structure which houses Carousel Cafe and its neighboring storefronts into what some city staffers say would be a generic Starbucks design.
According to the Starbucks company website, there are currently 21 stores with a Santa Monica zip code, not including several other stores in neighboring cities like Marina del Rey and Brentwood.
That averages out to just over 2.5 Starbucks stores for every square mile of Santa Monica's roughly 8.4-square-mile area that's home to about 90,000 residents.
To put that number into perspective, nearby Inglewood - which has a population of over 111,000 - has a total of five Starbucks locations within city limits.
