South-Central L.A. to Get Major Shopping Center
A group that includes professional football player Keyshawn Johnson will unveil today plans to build a $53-million shopping center in South-Central Los Angeles, an area that has long struggled to attract new real estate and retail development.
Chesterfield Square, a 23-acre project at the southwest corner of Western Avenue and Slauson Boulevard, would be one of the largest retail developments built in the area in more than a decade. Several major retailers--including the first Home Depot store in South Los Angeles--are scheduled to open in the shopping center late next year.
“It’s an important part of the revitalization that’s underway,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley Thomas, who represents the Chesterfield Square neighborhood. “It means jobs. It means improvement in the property values. It means the removal of blight.”
The effort to build the shopping center began several months ago when affordable housing developer Capital Vision Equities teamed up with Katell Properties, a major developer of retail and commercial properties. Johnson, a Los Angeles native who plays for the New York Jets, was later invited to participate as an investor and spokesman for the project.
The shopping center’s site, at a busy intersection and near residential areas, makes it an ideal spot for a major shopping center, said Chris Hammond, chairman and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Capital Vision Equities. The site, which is divided into seven parcels, currently is occupied by old industrial buildings and a small retail center.
“I believe that other developers will be looking in that area,” Hammond said. “There is tremendous opportunity.”
Many major retail chains began abandoning South-Central L.A. in the wake of the 1965 Watts riots. Despite some new construction in the 1980s, the area’s residents continued to face a scarcity of the large, modern stores and shopping centers commonplace in suburban communities. A regional recession, the 1992 riots and a wave of retail mergers led to a near standstill in new construction in the 1990s.
In addition, there are very few large plots of land available that can accommodate large stores and parking lots. Most sites have to be assembled in piecemeal fashion, making development more costly and time-consuming. As a result, few developers have been willing to undertake new ventures there.
Chesterfield Square, however, is in a city redevelopment zone, which has made it easier to overcome some of the obstacles facing central city builders. The developer can take advantage of financial assistance and incentives to reduce the cost of land purchases in the redevelopment area. In addition, the redevelopment agency can use its power to condemn property and help assemble large sites.
“We are paying more for the land than we would like to pay,” said Los Angeles developer Gerald Katell, whose major developments include Warner Ridge in the San Fernando Valley. “But when you can attract people like Home Depot . . . then you can get the kinds of rents that make the project economically viable.”
In addition to Home Depot, Ralphs, Sav-on and McDonald’s have taken the first steps to open outlets at Chesterfield Square, which will include about 300,000 square feet of retail space.
