Dispute Over Site Imperils Plans for Crenshaw Supermarket
For years, Crenshaw residents have bemoaned the dearth of major supermarkets in their community, saying they have little choice but to pay high food prices at independent stores or travel long distances to patronize lower-priced chains.
Now a dispute between Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and the developer of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza over the location of a proposed supermarket near Crenshaw and Martin Luther King boulevards threatens to drive away the only two chains that have indicated an interest in constructing a store in the mostly black, middle-class area.
In a statement released last week, Galanter said that developer Alexander Haagen has refused to provide a site next to the shopping mall that would be large enough to accommodate a 50,000-square-foot supermarket proposed by both Boys Markets and Lucky Stores, unless the city gives him a 41-foot-wide strip of land along Crenshaw Boulevard from 39th Street to Stocker Street.
Cites Letter
“I’m outraged that Alexander Haagen would hold the supermarket hostage in order to grab yet another piece of free land,” Galanter said. “Haagen has said that finding a place for a Lucky’s is just a matter of a little give and take. Unfortunately, the community does all the giving, and Haagen does all the taking.”
But Haagen, whose Manhattan Beach-based development firm completed a $120-million overhaul of the landmark two-story, shopping mall last year, said Galanter wants to prevent any supermarket from locating on the mall because she prefers a location a block west in the Santa Barbara Plaza on Marlton Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
“She wrote me a letter March 17th, (saying) ‘I do not regard the (shopping mall site) as the ideal location for a supermarket,” Haagen said.
“She is defeating the opportunity for a major supermarket and community center--there is no question about that,” Haagen added. “I have no ulterior motive. . . . If they take that 15 feet of land away, they will defeat practically the whole purpose of the shopping center.”
A Haagen spokesman said a 50,000-square-foot supermarket would have to be built on a portion of the disputed 41-foot-wide strip of city-owned land that once served as an access road along Crenshaw Boulevard.
Permit With City
Haagen has enclosed much of the city-owned property in the mall under a permit with the city. However, Haagen’s permit can be revoked, and the city could take back the land if, for example, the city decides to widen Crenshaw Boulevard.
Galanter said in an interview that the city Community Redevelopment Agency, which developed the mall along with Haagen, believes a 50,000-square-foot building can be built on the mall site without giving up part of Crenshaw Boulevard.
“The don’t want the revocable permits, they have the property to do it,” said Bill Price, a CRA assistant project manager. “We believe a 50,000-square-foot supermarket can be done, and it would not be a problem.”
Lucky spokeswoman Judith Decker confirmed that the chain is interested in building a 50,000-square-foot store at the mall site. “It must be big enough to include all the specialty departments, the deli, the bakery departments, all the standard things that we have in our brand-new stores,” she said.
Decker would not say whether Lucky would consider an alternate location if the store is unable to locate in the mall.
Only Location
But Peter Sodini, president of Boys Markets, said Boys will only consider locating at the mall.
“I don’t think a supermarket will work there” Sodini said, referring to Santa Barbara Plaza. “We closed a store we had there back in 1979 because of all the problems with robbery and theft at that location. If (Galanter) insists on that location, I think the supermarket will be dead.”
The Crenshaw district is part of a nearly 50-square-mile area of South and Central Los Angeles that has been virtually abandoned by major food chains since the Watts riots in 1965. The number of major supermarkets in the 50-square-mile area dwindled to fewer than 30 from about 55 in 1965, and Boys now operates the only four supermarkets within two square miles of the mall. However, residents of the Crenshaw District have criticized the 68-year-old Highland Park food chain for its high prices and near-monopoly status in the area.
“I don’t have a problem with Boys, per se, but the higher prices and the lack of choice in the area,” said Adrienne Mayberry, a Crenshaw resident and organizer of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Network civic group. Mayberry said residents are circulating a petition to present to the developer, asking that the community be given a choice other than the Boys.
