To those of you who live in Santa Monica and have been up late at night worried that you just may have to walk more than one block to procure coffee comes this welcome news… With the recent spate of coffee houses opening across the city comes wind of one more.  It looks like a brand-spanking new branch of Starbucks is looking to take over the prominent corner spot long-held by Farrah’s Florist at 11th and Wilshire.  If you look carefully at the picture on the “notice of pending design review”, you can get an idea of what the new corner will look like.  But not so fast… As you can see by the marquis, Farrah’s is fighting back.  Looks like they’ve commenced a petition drive to hold on to the location.  We’ll be following this one closely…

Update:  I spoke with someone from Farrah’s who explained how frustrated the florist feels after inhabiting the choice spot across from Melisse for 25 years, hence the petition and community push-back.  Some of the other shops on the block are losing their leases as well; This is going to be one big Starbucks!  The battle will culminate in a March 18th hearing at City Council Chambers.  But there’s a bigger concern here.  With all the construction downtown (the new Miramar project, the proposed Frank Gehry tower on Ocean Ave. at SMB, and the upcoming Village at Santa Monica), local residents are increasingly worried about over-development and the loss of local character, turning this into a cause célèbre. Looks like Farrah’s could be the latest poster-child in the fight. We’ll see how this plays out…