Since it closed in 1999, the Hawthorne Plaza Mall has been a derelict wasteland, popular with vagrants, urban explorers, and film crews (most recently, it’s appeared in HBO’s Westworld). Now, after numerous false starts, the Hawthorne City Council has unanimously approved a plan paving the way for the mall to be demolished and replaced with an enormous mixed use outdoor shopping complex.
As the Daily Breeze reports, mall owner Charles Company previously proposed three other designs for the mall, but each proposal was eventually rejected by the city. This time, officials liked the design for the project and even agreed to throw in some financial support for construction.
The $500 million development will replace the old-fashioned indoor mall into a Grove-like open-air retail space with offices and residences. When complete, the massive project will include 500,000 square-feet of commercial space, 800,000 square-feet of offices, 600 residential units, and enough parking for nearly 6,000 vehicles.
If you’re worried this means you’ve missed your opportunity to sneak into the mall to observe its apocalyptic splendor, be assured that there’s probably still time. Plans call for the construction of a new office building to house LA County employees who occupy a small corner of the old mall. Only after those employees move into the new structure can demolition begin.
Given that, the project will likely take several years to complete.
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