Project OKd Near Freeway

Plaza Casablanca, a 163,000-square-foot commercial development, will be built at an estimated cost of $2.5 million next to the Santa Monica Freeway near Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles.

The project, a development of Myung C. Park and Sung Jim King, received a go-ahead as the result of an option to lease approved June 23 by the California Transportation Commission.

The complex, located on a 300,000-square-foot Caltrans-owned site, will feature a neighborhood retail store, mini market, food center, warehouse, an office complex and parking. The food center is expected to take up about half of the entire project.

The 55-year lease is expected to return at least $150,000 a year to the state highway fund, and a total return of at least $8.3 million over the lease period.