Does anyone know what's happening with the new landscaping and store-front improvements on the corner of MLK and Marlton (across the street from Rave Cinemas)? The new sidewalks and plantings look really nice, but the storefronts are still boarded up.

Thanks!

Hopefully it's more than a talk ing point.

As we have

begun to interview key players, we keep hearing "we are closer than ever to

redevelopming Marlton Square." Hopefully something is going on behind

the scenes.

If this is considered close, it means in the 20 years that this project

has been underway that the city was never close to making this a

success.



Capri Capital, which bought the adjacent…

Finally - a really big step toward reclaiming the derelict 20 acres known as Marlton Square!

When LeimertParkBeat.com and Intersections South LA Report teamed up to produce the definitive story last year, there had been…

Councilman Bernard Parks tweeted and held a press conference claiming that "Demolition to Begin Shortly" but offered few specifics and no time line. Parks held a press at the Buckingham Place senior apartments saying that "Marlton Square has emerged from bankruptcy, with a final settlement reached on December 29th.

In his Twitlonger post, Parks states that Commercial…

This is the press release from Bernard Parks' office:

PARKS TO KICK-OFF DEMOLITION AT MARLTON SQUARE

City’s Most Long-Awaited Development Project Moves Forward

WHAT: Councilmember Bernard C. Parks will join Congresswoman Maxine Waters and city

officials to kick-off the demolition of city-owned buildings in the Marlton Square shopping

center (formerly Santa Barbara Plaza) at a press conference on Thursday morning.

Redevelopment of the run-down…

The vacant and derelict buildings along Martin Luther King Boulevard in Santa Barbara Plaza, also known as Marlton Square, will be torn down and removed beginning the second week of July, according to Councilman Bernard Parks.

The city owns all but two of the parcels, Oran Belgrave's art house/radio station and Jerry's Flying Fox. The city made its last big purchase in the…

Cities across the USA are turning unsightly lots into semi-permanent parks while they wait, sometimes years, for development to occur, a story by Nathaniel Popper in the LATimes.com reports.

"The lemon: An empty Manhattan lot surrounded by beat-up chain-link fencing. The lemonade: An urban oasis with wildflowers, wooden benches and sculptures in the middle of…

Some say don’t sweat the small stuff. Though sometimes you have to celebrate the small stuff.

After decades of false starts and baby steps forward, there are big movements at Marlton Square, a.k.a. Santa Barbara Plaza. Just over a year ago, Leimert Park Beat embarked on a…

A number of upcoming neighborhood projects, as well as those that have started (e.g. Marlton Square), will probably be affected by the latest decision from the CA Supreme Court (thanks to today's Curbe- LA for reporting):

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/12/ca_supreme_court_votes_to_kill_local_redevelopment_agencies.php

For a complete list of…

The first project we tackled Marlton Square in South Los Angeles. This 20-acre redevelopment disaster has been neglected, mired in legal disputes and mismanagement for nearly 20 years. But in the last year, it became an issue. in the City Council race and in the community. The Leimert…

By Emily Henry of Intersections South LA and Eddie North-Hager of LeimertParkBeat.com



Santa Barbara Plaza has been whitewashed, boarded up, security gates padlocked. Most of the 240 small and large shops once here have been relocated, were bought out or have gone out of business.



Yet this Los Angeles shopping center -- the size of 20…

Kaiser Permanente to Open Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Medical Offices in September

The finishing touches are being put on the new Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Medical Offices, which will bring high-quality primary and specialty care services to an estimated 50,000 Kaiser Permanente members who live and work in the community, starting mid-September.

"We are committed to this community and this new building will take our relationship to a new level," said Georgina…

What do concerned citizens of the inner-city do when they feel that the mainstream press has let the community down as a watchdog over a major redevelopment projects?

They watch out for themselves.

Move over citizen journalism — make room for collaborative journalism, a new effort online. Its purveyors hope it will grow into a sort of synthesis of bloggers and journalists with press passes. The members of the joint effort want to take a hard look at one of the many…

LAPD Southwest Division's

8th Annual National Night Out Block Party



Tuesday, August 2

5 PM - 9 PM

Baldwin Villa Senior Citizen's Facility

3939 Marlton Ave

(between MLK Jr. Blvd & 39th St)



National Night Out is celebrated throughout the nation's…

  For the past 7 years, I've had the opportunity to attend quite a few CAC/CRA meetings.  They've been interesting affairs, crazy spirited at the height of the Marlton Square debacle when there were questions on whether Chris Hammond would be a no-show.  I've got notes, agendas, and minutes I can't bear to toss.  I haven't been to many meetings over the past couple years, but I'm happy I made this one.

  One of the State of California's budgetary plans is to dissolve every…