Goldenvoice in Talks to Take Over SM Civic Auditorium

The city is negotiating for a "multi-use entertainment venue".

Holly Bieler · July 28, 2026 · Santa Monica

The closed Santa Monica Civic Auditorium may finally have a partner with the muscle to reopen it: Goldenvoice, the promoter behind music festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach.

Emerging from closed session Tuesday night, Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis announced the council had directed City Manager Oliver Chi to [negotiate "price and terms of payment"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqno9PSkYsA&t=63s) with AEG Presents/Goldenvoice for a potential multi-use entertainment venue at 1855 Main Street. Staff expects to return with an exclusive negotiating agreement within the next two council meetings.

It's the second run at reviving the landmark in under a year. The council [declined to extend](https://santamonicanext.org/2025/10/city-council-terminates-exclusive-negotiating-agreement-for-redevelopment-of-civic-auditorium-favoring-a-competitive-process/) a prior exclusive negotiating agreement with a different partner nine months ago, promising at the time to keep residents afloat as to what would come next.

That promise has proven a sore point. When the Recreation and Parks Commission requested an update in April, the city replied it was "not in a position to provide a meaningful update," and one commenter Tuesday urged the council to engage the public rather than deliver "a backroom deal."

Longtime [civic gadfly Jerry Rubin](https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2013/September-2013/09_09_2013_Santa_Monicas_Peace_Activist_Still_Going_Strong_at_70.html) took the opposite tack during last week’s meeting, calling Goldenvoice one of the best promoters in America and pleading: "Please save the Civic Auditorium."

The negotiation itself is confidential. The next public information will be the exclusive negotiating agreement, expected by mid-August.