Later today, the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board is scheduled to take its first look at a proposed mixed-use development from Cypress Equity Investments that would replace an Aahs! store in Mid City.

The project, slated for a property at 3223 Wilshire Boulevard, calls for the construction of a four-story building featuring 53 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments - including four affordable units - above 5,831 square feet of ground-floor retail space and two levels of basement parking.

Oakland-based architecture firm Pyatok is designing the development at Wilshire and Centinela Avenue, which is portrayed as a contemporary low-rise edifice. The design is described as expressing the "balance and juxtaposition between land and ocean," with a travertine tile rain screen wrapping the residential units and painted metal sunshades and spandrel panels used to create deep shadows.

The hearing before the Architectural Review Board will be to solicit design feedback, and no formal action is anticipated at this time.

According to a staff report, the developer is currently considering using prefabricated units to speed the construction process, but will proceed with more traditional methods if that does not prove feasible. A timeline has not been announced.

Cypress Equity Investments is currently in the midst of construction on a similar mixed-use project on Lincoln Boulevard near the Expo Line.