. . . or Is Retail Revitalization the Key? : Development: Stores and services will energize the neighborhood economy; besides, that’s what the people want.

Once upon a time, Vermont Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles was a dynamic commercial strip that served the community from Figueroa to Arlington and from Slauson to Imperial Highway. You could find car dealerships and doctors’ and lawyers’ offices. You could bank at any of several branches and shop at J.C. Penney’s. There were supermarkets and furniture stores.

Then, in the 1970s, Pepperdine University closed its campus on Vermont and moved to Malibu. Ford and General Motors, Goodyear and Firestone closed up shop, laying off workers. With the area in decline, shoppers opted for the Fox Hills, Hawthorne and Del Amo malls.

Today, we have an opportunity to re-create a neighborhood retail and commercial center that could enhance the quality of life and boost the economic viability of South-Central. I have been working closely with the Vermont Knolls/Vermont-Manchester Vicinity Assn., representing the surrounding neighborhoods, to promote just such development.

The obstacle to the kind of development the community wants is First Interstate Bank. First Interstate owns the first option on a key property, the former Pepperdine administration building at Vermont Avenue and 81st Street. The bank is insisting on building low- to moderate-income housing on the site instead of dedicating it to commercial development, despite strong opposition from the community.

I believe a new housing project on this parcel is not the best use of a unique property. It is zoned for commercial use. The census tract adjoining the property has an 11% housing vacancy rate. There are existing apartment buildings just east of Vermont that are sorely in need of rehabilitation. Why not invest scarce resources in rehab rather than starting from scratch?

In no way is this a “not-in-my-backyard” kind of attitude on the part of the community. Rather, it is a question of allowing the community to make judgments on the kind of development most appropriate to this particular property. Vermont is the only South-Central street that connects to the Santa Monica and Century freeways. There is discussion of running future light-rail lines down Vermont. All this enhances the argument for commercial development.

According to the U.S. Census, the tract adjacent to the property in question boasts an aggregate income of $59 million--or $32,250 a year per household. The unemployment rate, at 9%, is comparable to statewide rates. There is a strong unmet demand in these neighborhoods for goods and services--a demand sufficient to support a new retail and commercial area. Such developments have succeeded in Pasadena’s Old Town and in Larchmont Village.

First Interstate should listen to what the community is saying. Instead, the bank has turned a deaf ear. That is not surprising, given that First Interstate has been criticized by the California Greenlining Coalition for its lack of lending to African Americans. According to the coalition, 332 First Interstate branches gave a total of 337 loans to African Americans in all of 1990. Their data showed that even affluent African Americans were turned down for loans at rates 50% higher than whites.

It is time for First Interstate Bank to either listen to the community and respect the community or to get out of the way. Community Build, the Los Angeles grass-roots rebuilding coalition, has offered to buy out First Interstate’s option. SRP Investments, a consortium based in Columbus, Ohio, has pledged to work with the community on planning and design and to assemble a financial package of up to $40 million. During a walking tour in January, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros pledged his agency’s support for Vermont Avenue commercial development.

We can restore Vermont Avenue as a vibrant retail and commercial area. This will create jobs and provide sorely needed goods and services for a neighborhood of working people with money to spend. We can have commercial development and boost low- to moderate-income housing in the area. All it takes is listening to the folks who live there. It’s as simple as that.