LA County Looks to Facilitate Crenshaw Line TODs

3606 West Exposition Boulevard

In an effort to stimulate economic growth in South Los Angeles, County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas is pushing for the redevelopment of government-owned land near the upcoming Crenshaw light-rail line.

According to a motion submitted by the 2nd District Supervisor, the Los Angeles County Probation Department intends to relocate the operations of its current Crenshaw Area Office at 3606 West Exposition Boulevard.  The dated one-story structure is situated next to to a future transfer station between the Expo and Crenshaw Lines, and thus occupies a critical juncture in the Metro Rail network.

Under plans detailed in the motion, the County intends to partner with Metro in redeveloping the one-and-a-half-acre property as a mixed-use complex with possible residential and commercial components.  The Probation Department's operations would be moved to another county-owned building near the University of Southern California.

Redevelopment Plans Crystallize for Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza

All images: Capri Capital Partners and RAW International

As construction continues on a new subway station at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevards, a bold development scheme is in the works for an adjacent shopping complex.

Capri Capital Partners, the Chicago-based owner of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, is planning to redevelop their 43-acre property with over 2 million square feet of new office space, housing, retail space and hotel rooms.  According to a master plan created by planning and design firm RAW International, the proposed development would replace a series of surface parking lots and low-rise commercial buildings which flank the mid-century shopping center.  The centerpiece mall, anchored by a Macy's department store, would be preserved and rehabilitated as part of the project.

The Ultimate Measure R2 Fantasy Map

Image Credit: Move LA

Transportation advocacy group Move LA, one of the driving forces behind the transformative Measure R, has cooked up a mouth watering fantasy map for a sequel ballot initiative in 2016.  Measure R2, as per its most recent draft proposal, could fund a slew of transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles County via a 45-year, half-cent sales tax.  As reported this past April by Streetsblog LA, the tentative plan allots revenue as follows:

• 30% for new Metro Rail and BRT Capital
• 20% for Transit Operations
• 20% for Highways
• 15% for Local Return
• 6% for Clean Goods Movement
• 5% for Metrolink Capital
• 4% for Active Transportation

Kaiser Permanente's New Baldwin Hills Outpatient Facility Revealed

From the ashes of blighted Marlton Square rises a new medical office building, courtesy of healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente.  Two years ago, the Oakland-based nonprofit announced plans to construct a new outpatient facility on an 8.6 acre parcel near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Marlton Avenue.  Now, an environmental report just released by LADCP has finally revealed all of the juicy details.  Known by the glamorous title of "Kaiser Permanente Outpatient Medical Facility - Baldwin Hills MOB," the project offers a four-story, 105,000 square foot building, surrounded by surface parking lots and a landscaped central plaza.  The plaza, which will be open to the public, allows for cut-through pedestrian traffic between the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall and the residential neighborhood to the west.

Designed by HOK, the project will utilize a variety of environmentally friendly measures in an effort to obtain either LEED Gold or LEED Platinum Certification.  The outpatient facility will incorporate solar panels in several areas throughout the project site, including its parking lots and the central plaza area.  Most notably, the building will employ a photovoltaic canopy as part of an architectural rooftop feature.  Other exterior materials include include metal panels, perforated metal screens and spandrel glazing.

The new medical offices will rise on a site once occupied by Marlton Square (a.k.a. Santa Barbara Plaza), a long dilapidated shopping complex which was demolished in 2011.  With the new Crenshaw/MLK subway station slated to open one block east in 2019, it appears that Kaiser's timing may be just right.  Per the environmental report, a full buildout of the outpatient facility is anticipated sometime in 2016, following a 16 month construction timeline which should begin later this year.

LA City Councilmembers Want Blue Line Extension to San Pedro

A Long Beach-bound Blue Line Train.  Image Credit: Los Angeles Times

Despite being home to the United States' busiest container port, the waterfront community of San Pedro has long been isolated from Los Angeles County's Metro Rail network.  Two members of the LA City Council are trying to change that.  Yesterday, Councilmemembers Tom LaBonge (4th District) and Jose Buscaino (15th District) introduced a motion which requests that Metro report on the feasibility of a new light rail line connecting the Wilmington/San Pedro area to the Blue Line.  Known as the Harbor Line, the expansion concept has existed for well over two decades, appearing in several past visions of the Metro Rail system.  Although there are no immediate plans or funding available to construct the Harbor Line, the project could be incorporated into a future transportation ballot measure.  Notably, the light rail line was included in transit advocacy group MoveLA's "strawman," proposal for Measure R2.  In MoveLA's tentative plan, the Harbor Line would function as an extension of the Green and Crenshaw Lines, running south towards Wilmington before turning east to meet the Blue Line in Long Beach.

Two Crenshaw Boulevard Game Changers in One Shot

We're one month into construction on the $2 billion Crenshaw/LAX Line, and the view from Exposition Boulevard has already changed significantly.  With Earlez Grille safely relocated two blocks south, the low-rise commercial structures which previously stood next to Expo/Crenshaw Station are no more.  By 2020, this now vacant lot will sit above the northern terminus of Metro's newest light rail line.  Set to add 8.5 miles of track and seven new stations to the Metro Rail network, long term plans call for extensions of the Crenshaw Line to Wilshire Boulevard and even as far north as Hollywood.  But that kind of talk is putting the cart way before the horse.

In the background of the above picture, green construction fencing is visible surrounding the future site of District Square.  The 300,000 square foot shopping center, designed by the Irvine-based KTGY Group, will bring a variety of large chain retailers to the Crenshaw neighborhood.  While perhaps not the ideal development for a parcel near the intersection of two rail lines, District Square is certainly an improvement upon the strip mall that it replaces.  Pedestrian friendly, street fronting buildings beat acres of surface parking any day of the week.