Many of the hangers-on in L.A. may be surprised to find out that a lot of people live south of the 10. Indeed, one neighborhood in particular is very dense and ripe for development. Fourteen years after the Rodney King Riots left it in shambles, the Crenshaw neighborhood is bustling with people busting with new development. Just when they thought that the condo/lifestyle center/boutique/entertainment complex boom engulfing the rest of the region would pass them over, Crenshaw residents may soon find themselves awash in overpriced coffee shops, granite countertops, and stadium seating. Driven by higher-income residents wanting to return to the neighborhood and the anticipated opening of the Exposition Line, many changes are in the pipeline:
Another key ingredient to a complete revitalization of the area is the planned renovation of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. The 860,000-square-foot shopping center is in the heart of the corridor at West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Across the street from the mall, Bedford Group is building the Bedford Parc and Promenade at Baldwin Hills. The project on Santa Rosalia Drive is targeted at young professionals and empty nesters. It will include an office component and 172 condo units in two mid-rise towers with market rate housing; condo units priced from the low $300,000s to over $600,000.
Further south on the corridor, CIM – which has developed dozens of mixed-use projects in downtown, Hollywood and elsewhere – is partnering with the West Angeles development group to build two separate projects.
There’s West Angeles City Place, a planned retail and condominium development further down the corridor at West 54th Street that would include between 75 and 100 condos and about 30,000 square feet of retail space. Construction is planned to begin spring 2008.
And at West Jefferson Boulevard, the partners plan to build West Angeles Plaza, a retail and office development that is slated to start construction in summer 2007 with a Union Bank of California branch as an anchor.
Welcome to Gentrificaitonland!
· Projects Start to Show Promise on the Corridor [L.A. Business Journal]