The proposal, called the Missing Middle Housing Realignment Plan, centers on the cottage court — a cluster of six or seven detached homes of about 850 square feet arranged around a shared courtyard. "Santa Monica can build homes for its own workforce on the open market if we let the building form do the work," Landres told the council. About 90% of the people who work in Santa Monica live somewhere else, he added. "Our community assembly pathway has built zero units," Landres said, arguing that community land trusts and nonprofit development partners, paired with a revised affordability mix, could finally make such projects "pencil." Councilmember Ellis Raskin called the plan a fitting capstone, praising Landres for helping build "a more just and equitable city."