City Council Approves $3-Million Loan for Remodeling of Macy’s

To remodel the new Macy’s at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, the Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved a $3-million loan to Federated Department Stores for the project.

Late last year, community residents staged a “Parade for a Macy’s” at the southwest Los Angeles mall after receiving news that Federated had bought all the Broadway department stores.

Federated officials had announced that the Broadway stores would be replaced by either a Macy’s or a Bloomingdale’s--or shut down. Baldwin Hills residents organized the rally and a letter-writing campaign to make sure that their local shopping mall would continue to have a quality department store.

Federated will use the loan from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to remodel and provide merchandise at the Macy’s store, said John Evans, economic development planning deputy to Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. The agreement was approved by council members Friday.

In addition, Federated agreed to operate the Macy’s for an additional four years, Evans said.