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Huge Plan Revealed to Turn Kitschy Old Ports O' Call Into Fisherman's Wharf-Style Complex

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The Fish Market will survive, but everything else will go in favor of new restaurants, shopping, markets, Red Cars, and office space

Big ambitions for a comprehensive remodel and revival of the kitschy Ports O' Call complex in San Pedro have come and gone, but this one could be here to stay. The $100-million plan put forth by developers Ratkovitch Company (of DTLA's The Bloc) and Jerico Development would fully transform 30 acres of space at the waterfront into a Grove-style outdoor mall called the San Pedro Public Market, according to a release from the companies.

The fakey-New-England-style Ports O' Call Village is about 20 percent empty right now, says the LA Times. The hands-down biggest attraction is the San Pedro Fish Market, which sees a steady flow of weekend visitors coming to enjoy trays of seafood by the water. The fish market will stay open during the demolition of and construction on the rest of the Ports O' Call, and when the dust clears, it will move to a new building at the north of the new complex and continue to serve as a "main anchor" of the development, says the Daily Breeze.

The first wave of changes will wash over 16 acres of the site and bring "restaurants, shopping, fresh markets, boutique-style office space and more than half a mile of waterfront promenade," the release says. The designs by Tim J. Delaney Design and TFO Architecture show a very Fisherman's Wharfy-type complex, with big warehouses aplenty.

The SPPM will also eventually include an open-air event space, year-round event programming, and a new route for a handful of Red Car trolleys, which will be refurbished to run on light rail in the project. Construction's expected to begin on this segment of the waterfront in 2017, with the new San Pedro Public Market complete in 2020.

It's not clear yet what the second phase of construction will include or when it will start. Ratkovich tells the Times that they're going to "hold off on the remaining roughly 15 acres" of the Ports O' Call for now, and that he expects to sign a long-term lease for the whole property in the next couple months.

This is the latest of several big upgrade that have come to the port in recent years. In 2014, a new promenade and outdoor movie screening space opened up on the waterfront, and new businesses have popped up too, like the artisan goods marketplace Crafted at the Port of LA, or the new home of a famous local craft brewery in an old Navy warehouse.

Ports O'Call Marketplace

Berth 75 - 79, San Pedro, CA 90731 (310) 548-8076 Visit Website