Councilmember Bernard C. Parks joined community members and key stakeholders Thursday, May 31, 2012 to announce that Kaiser Permanente will be the new tenant for the long-awaited Marlton Square redevelopment project.
"Today marks a major achievement for the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw community," said Parks. "Twenty-eight years ago, Mayor Tom Bradley mandated that the Santa Barbara Plaza be completely rehabilitated. Now, twenty-five years later, we are here at the site once known as Santa Barbara Plaza, after many starts and stops to actually welcome a cornerstone and major tenant of the project Kaiser Permanente."
Kaiser Permanente has closed escrow on an 8.65 acre portion of land at 4033-4081 Marlton Avenue with the intention to construct an outpatient medical office building at this location. They have no plans for a hospital at this site.
"All of us at Kaiser Permanente are delighted that escrow has closed. Now we can begin planning an outpatient medical office building that brings medical services closer to our members living and working in the area," remarked Norair Jemjemian, Chief Operating Officer, Kaiser Permanente, West Los Angeles Medical Center.
"This announcement fulfills a decades long promise to the South LA community to provide high quality jobs and remove blight from the Marlton Square site. The proposed medical office facility in conjunction with the adjacent senior housing development, which was recently completed, is an example of how redevelopment has improved the quality of life for residents and businesses in the varied and diverse neighborhoods in Los Angeles," said Chris Essel, CEO of CRA/LA.
Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, and it provides medical services to more than three million people in Southern California.
Councilmember Parks spent years expending significant time, effort and political capital securing funding for the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) to purchase nearly all of the remaining properties.
"This facility will serve many purposes. It will provide first-class health care to a community that is sorely in need of care," said Parks. "It will become an economic engine for new employees, and provide a customer base for the surrounding shopping centers in the area."
Parks stated that this recent accomplishment is a positive sign for future development in the surrounding area.
"The reality of Kaiser Permanente coming to the community will give hope to those who for years thought this would never happen, and it will set the stage for future services and development in our community," added Parks.
"While we look forward to public celebrations in the future, such as the day we officially break ground at this site, we want to mark this early milestone by thanking the community and its leaders who have been supportive of this project," said Kaiser representatives.
The sordid history of Marlton Square goes as far back as 1984, when Mayor Tom Bradley first called for redevelopment of the shopping center then known as Santa Barbara Plaza. Former LA Laker-turned-businessman and entrepreneur Magic Johnson won the exclusive right to negotiate in 1996, and spent five years working with the city through the planning and entitlement process, only to loose the deal in 2002 to a development group, Capital Vision Equities, under the direction of developer Chris Hammond. Capital Vision Equities ultimately was unable to perform their redevelopment responsibilities and defaulted on the project in 2004.
To further complicate matters, Capital Vision's bank itself went bankrupt in 2006. The Las Vegas-based USA Capital, had loaned Capital Vision Equities $36 million to buy up the approximately 50 parcels of land that made up the project. When USA Capital dissolved, it became the largest company in Nevada history to go bankrupt, leaving over $962 million in assets, and more than 6,000 investors.
On December 29, 2010, a settlement agreement was reached, concluding the lengthy bankruptcy proceedings, leaving one owner – Commercial Mortgage Managers (CMM) – in control of approximately 80% of the total property, with the CRA/LA in possession or negotiations with the majority of the remaining 20% of the land.
CMM is currently in negotiations to sell the remaining acres of Marlton Square. The CRA/LA and CMM along with input from the council office have accepted a number of bids for the retail portion of Marlton Square. The bids have been narrowed down to the best offers and there should be a developer chosen soon. The new developer will provide much needed retail services for the community as well as for Kaiser employees.
Kaiser Permanente is in the beginning stages of development, which requires the city to approve its plans before construction can begin.
"We are now in the beginning stage of a multi-year process that includes thorough due diligence, environmental review, and City of Los Angeles entitlements review for this project. We have not yet submitted any applications to the City for a project as we continue to consider space planning for the site," Kaiser remarked in a statement. "We are looking forward to being a part of the revitalization of this community."
For the past several years, Marlton stood out like a sore thumb amidst numerous development projects and neighborhood improvements in the surrounding community.
- Capri Urban Partners invested $30 million into upgrading Phase I of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, including a major renovation of the mall's food court, pedestrian bridge over MLK Jr. Blvd., and a just recently completed $10 million renovation of the old Magic Johnson Theatres, which reopened in May, 2011 as Rave Motion Pictures. The new state-of-the-art theater features stadium seating and the latest digital technology, which can project in 3-D.
-Over $2 million was invested in the recently opened Buffalo Wild Wings in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, with over 120 permanent jobs created, the majority of which were local-hire.
-Restaurateur Brad Johnson constructed Post and Beam, an upscale sit-down family restaurant in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
-The MTA's planned $1.7 billion Crenshaw Light Rail Line will likely spur further development in the area, as well as planned improvements as part of the Crenshaw Visioning Project. That project, $14 million in Prop 1C funds, will provide street and sidewalk lighting improvements, streetscape improvements, new bus shelters, bike racks, street benches and trash receptacles along the Crenshaw corridor.
- In March 2011, Phase I of a planned $22 million renovation project began on the historic art deco Vision Theater in Leimert Park Village, built in 1931 by real estate developer Walter Leimert and eccentric billionaire aviator and film producer Howard Hughes. The CRA/LA purchased the property in 1999, and is working with Councilmember Parks and Department of Cultural Affairs to convert the former movie house into a full-scale performing arts center.
Click here for a timeline of Marlton Square's development.
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