Retail Center in Compton Nears Finish

Melvin Hooks of Inter-Urban Enterprises Inc. had planned to build an apartment complex at 135th Street and Avalon Boulevard in Compton, but area residents voiced a preference for convenience stores. So Hooks changed his mind.

Now he is developing the $1.5-million Tamara Gardens Plaza, a commercial center, on the site.

When completed in August, it will be “one of the first new shopping areas to be built in the area in more than 10 years,” according to Don Wolf, a retail properties specialist with Grubb & Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services, which is handling leasing.

The 6,100-square-foot project is being developed by Inter-Urban Enterprises Inc. according to a design by John Williams AIA & Associates. Inter-Urban and Esquire Development Inc. are joint-venture contractors, and Valley Federal Savings & Loan Assn. is providing the financing.