New timeline for West LA’s Martin Expo Town Center, construction now set for 2019

Dan Martin says construction will start late next year to turn the West LA auto dealership his family has owned for four decades into a major apartment and shopping complex.

That’s a new timeline for the Martin Expo Town Center, which is set to rise on the northwest corner of Olympic Boulevard and Bundy Drive—about a block away from an Expo Line station—bringing new shops, 516 apartments, a grocery store, and a 10-story office tower.

Approved by the Los Angeles City Council two years ago, the town center was slated to break ground earlier this year, but those plans were hamstrung by a lawsuit.

A local group named Westsiders Opposed to Overdevelopment sued the city in October 2016 over the development, accusing it of “impermissible spot zoning” when it amended LA’s general plan for the “single project.”

In an ruling issued earlier this month, the 2nd District Court of Appeal sided with Martin.

The project will replace Martin Cadillac and GMC, a dealership that for more than 40 years has been owned and operated by the Martins. The family will partner with developer Hines to build the complex.

With this case behind them, there are no other hurdles standing in the way of the project’s groundbreaking, says Martin.

He estimates the shopping center will take about three years to build.

• What’s next for West LA’s big new development Martin Expo Town Center? [Curbed LA]