Magic Johnson May Back Retail, Housing Complex in Chinatown

Plans are underway to develop new housing and retail space in Chinatown -- in a possible collaboration with former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

“What we have done is lay the foundation for what will be an exciting mixed-use project,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes, whose district includes Chinatown. “This addresses a high priority in Chinatown.”

The project would include 255 housing units and 45,000 square feet of retail space focused on small shops consistent with Chinatown, said developer Larry Bond, chairman of the Santa Monica-based Bond Companies. The project is expected to cost about $65 million, including about $15 million in city funds.

Ken Lombard, a managing partner of Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, said that although the company is interested in the project, it is too soon to say whether it will be involved.

“We think it’s an exciting opportunity,” Lombard said. “We still have work to do.”

The heart of the project is the new Metro Rail Gold Line, which stops in Chinatown. The city has purchased the space and air rights to build a 450-space garage at the site of the former Little Joe’s restaurant, adjacent to the public transit line’s Chinatown station on the west side of Alameda Street at College, Reyes said. The top of the garage would provide a pedestrian link between the elevated Chinatown station and Broadway at the heart of the Chinatown community.

The project will also include the construction of a plaza and cultural center “to reflect the heritage of the Chinatown community and help draw visitors to the area,” according to a memorandum of understanding between the city and Bond Chinatown Ventures.

A report by the city’s chief legislative analyst identifies housing as a key element of the project: “The need for housing and economic development in Chinatown is clear, and it is the intent of the city to work with the developer in good faith to devise a development plan on the site which will meet the needs of the surrounding community.”

Reyes said the plan includes all the elements necessary to address the city’s housing shortage and transportation and parking problems.

“This project exemplifies that rail lines in and of themselves do not work. But rail lines with shuttle systems, with housing, with parking facilities and complementing existing bus networks, do work.”

Bond is the developer of a mixed-use project one block south of the Hollywood and Vine Metro Rail Red Line station, which has 300 residential units and about 90,000 square feet of retail.

“We’re focused on creating solutions to the housing crisis in Los Angeles and we’re also focused on creating innovative developments in neighborhoods of interest,” Bond said.

“We define neighborhoods of interest as communities with strong local constituencies and architectural interest. We feel that Chinatown contains all these characteristics as well as a great proximity to a significant workforce with downtown Los Angeles just blocks away.”

Bond has worked with Johnson previously through the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Beverly Hills-based Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Johnson’s Johnson Development Corp.

Bobby Turner, a managing partner at the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, said the company supports what Bond Companies does.

Developers LaeRoc Partners Inc. of Manhattan Beach will also be involved in the project, Bond said.

“We anticipate the commencement of the parking garage will start late next summer, with full completion of the combined project approximately 24 months later,” Bond said.