SOUTH-CENTRAL : Project Hailed as Boon to Community

Residents and business owners last week heralded a proposal to build a $15-million housing and commercial development on South Vermont Avenue as the start of a new era for their neighborhood.

The project to develop the lot at 81st Street, where Pepperdine University once stood, will be one of the largest in the area in 20 years.

“This is something that should have been done 10 years ago,” said Kenneth Williams, a third-generation business owner near the former campus. “The project will create a new vision of prosperity in the community, as well as a shopper-friendly environment.”

Caleb Development Corp., with Solomon Inc. Architecture, were selected to develop the 75,000-square-foot parcel.

Owned by Watts entrepreneur Rodney Shepard, Caleb Development plans to build 35 townhomes, which would cost between $125,000 and $150,000, and 10 to 15 retail outlets in 14,000 square feet of commercial space. The homes will have two or three bedrooms each, private yards or large decks and two-car garages.

“We are going to be looking for businesses that are going to produce income and energy,” said Shepard, adding that high-traffic storefronts such as a grocery store or bakery will be preferred over a jewelry store, for instance.

The Vermont Corridor project is expected to create about 200 construction jobs, Shepard said. Building will get under way by mid-1995 if loans from First Interstate Bank can be bolstered by government financing, he said.

Included in the Caleb proposal is restoration of the landmark Pepperdine University tower, the only university building remaining after the rest of the campus was gutted nearly 10 years ago.

The development group aims at blending the 1931 art deco tower with the proposed commercial and housing complex and the nearby Vermont Knolls neighborhood.

First Interstate Bank named seven people, including City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, area residents and urban planners, to select the winning design from 66 concepts. As the winner, Caleb will assume ownership of the land from Medhi Bellour and be responsible for maintaining the project.

Residents and business owners said the corridor has deteriorated over the past decade.

“No one wanted to do business here or stay in business in this area,” said Williams, owner of Universal College of Beauty, located five blocks south of the parcel.

Michaele Pride-Wells, owner of an architecture firm and one of the judges, said Caleb’s design best met the needs of the community--needs voiced in dozens of community forums.

“Home ownership, community services, jobs . . . this will help the entire community as a whole,” said Mary Lydia, on the neighborhood development council since the inception of the project in March, 1993.

Velma Richardson, executive officer for the African-American Business Assn., had a more pragmatic point of view.

“After patronizing First Interstate all these years, the African-American community is excited when they bring something back to the community,” said Richardson, who graduated from Pepperdine before the campus moved to Malibu in 1972.

Pride-Wells said one of the key elements in choosing the Caleb proposal was its inclusion of the USC Business Expansion Network, an entrepreneurial assistance and training program for area business people. The network’s office will be located in the tower.