Shopping Mall Anchored by Vintage Adobe
Ground breaking ceremonies were held this week for the new Lugo Plaza shopping center, a $2-plus-million retail and officefacility on a 1.32-acre site at the southwest corner of Slauson Avenue and Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park.
The center will be anchored by the historic Lugo Adobe, a two-story Monterey-style building which was built in 1849 as headquarters for El Rancho San Antonio, a 29,513-acre Spanish land grant that was later carved up to make the cities of Bell, Huntington Park, Maywood, South Gate and others.
Completion of the retail and office facility is scheduled for September, according to Frederick J. Stemmler, managing partner of Watson & Associates, developer of Seal Beach.
The Lugo adobe building, presently at Bell, will be moved to its new location in August. When opened, the 2,000-square-foot structure will house a restaurant.
When Jim Watson, head of Watson & Associates, decided to acquire the Lugo Adobe for the new center, the Huntington Park Redevelopment Agency stepped in to play a key role for the preservation of the Lugo landmark which had originally faced bulldozing to make way for an industrial development.
The developer agreed to pay a minimum of $85,000 to move and restore the building and the agency offered to contribute $25,000 to meet moving costs. In addition, in order to accommodate the Lugo structure, Watson’s project was expanded from the original 28,000 square feet by an additional 5,000 square feet; this was made possible by acquisition of an additional strip of property.
