Neglected shopping center next to Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza might also be developed

As developers prepare to transform the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza into a huge 24-hour community, the long-neglected shopping center next door could also be in line for a major overhaul.

As Urbanize LA reports, City Council President Herb Wesson introduced a motion calling on city officials to negotiate the sale of much of the 22-acre property known as Marlton Square. The city is looking to sell to Fred Leeds Properties, which already owns five parcels and a chunk of parking lot within the site.

According to the motion, the developer wants to turn the city-controlled portions of the site into a commercial retail property complementing the Kaiser Permanente and Buckingham Seniors Housing developments already underway on the property. Like the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, the project will be easily accessed by public transit once construction wraps up on the Crenshaw/LAX Line in 2019.

The motion notes that the Marlton Square was once a “thriving retail center” called Santa Barbara Plaza. It had fallen into a state of disrepair by the 1990s, when the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency began buying up parcels of the property with plans to redevelop the site into a residential mixed use project.

Those plans were eventually scrapped when the state’s redevelopment agencies were eliminated in 2012. Now, city officials are looking for a private developer to bring at least some of the retail component to the site, which is largely vacant land right now.

• Blighted Marlton Square Could See New Shopping Mall [Urbanize LA]
• After 30 Years, Redevelopment Finally Underway at Crenshaw's Marlton Square [Curbed LA]
• New details emerge on Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza redesign [Curbed LA]
• Here's the Huge Plan to Turn Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Into a 24-Hour Community [Curbed LA]