$37.2-Million Redevelopment Project Approved for Watts

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a long-term redevelopment project in Watts that will pump $37.2 million into a 245-acre area.

City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, whose district includes most of the project, touted the plan as a way of drawing business back into the area. Scores of small businesses were burned out and looted during the 1992 riots.

In the next five years, the agency will build about 22,690 square feet of commercial and retail space and spend about $1.6 million renovating existing buildings, about $3.6 million renovating industrial buildings and about $7.3 million developing nearly 100,000 square feet of mixed-use properties along Central Avenue. In the project’s “Cultural Crescent” area adjacent to Watts Towers, a bike path will be built in the old railroad right of way along Santa Ana Boulevard between Graham and Wilmington avenues.

The program, known as the Watts Corridor Recovery Redevelopment Project, is in addition to a 107-acre project the Community Redevelopment Agency began after the riots in the 1960s. It also consists of tree-planting, assisting new developers and job training.

The overall cost of the project is offset by about $28.9 million in CRA funds, which are derived from tax revenues; the estimated net cost to the city over the 45-year life of project is estimated to be about $8.2 million.