A year-and-a-half after breaking ground at the intersection of Lincoln Boulevard and Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, a mixed-use development from WS Communities is finally getting above ground.  

The project, which replaced a former Denny's restaurant, will consist of a five-story building featuring 100 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments above 13,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 232 parking stalls.  

The low-rise structure, designed by KFA Architecture, will have a modern exterior.  Plans call for a new courtyard - visible from Colorado Avenue - and a paseo connecting to Lincoln Boulevard.

WS Communities' project - located at 1550 Lincoln Boulevard - is one of four market-rate or mixed-income housing developments now taking shape near the intersection of Lincoln and Colorado, which is just east of the Expo Line's Downtown Santa Monica terminus.

Across the street, Century West Partner is now building 280 apartments in a two-phase development.

A short distance south, a 44-unit apartment complex with retail is rising at 1641 Lincoln Boulevard.

WS Communities is also planning a 98-unit apartment building at 1650 Lincoln Boulevard - one of more than a dozen projects the developer has in the works in the Los Angeles area.