Marlton Square

Marlton Square is a one-block, (future medical facility), retail and residential portion of Marlton Ave, located in the Baldwin Village neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California.[1] The site was once the center of a long running controversy involving the developer Capital Vision Equities, the Los Angeles City Redevelopment Agency, and the former tenants of Marlton Square.[2] It is bordered by Martin Luther King Jr Blvd on the north, Marlton Ave on the east, Santa Rosalia Dr on the south, Angeles Vista Blvd on the southeast, Thrive Dr. on the southwest and Buckingham Road on the west. Across from the future medical facility is the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, a shopping mall owned by the Cari Capital Partners Firm. It's anchor stores are Macy's and Sears.

History

Marlton Square was created in the early 1950's and was then known as Santa Barbera Plaza due do the fact it was on Santa Barbara Avenue before it was changed to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Redevelopment

In 2003, local developers broke ground in the first phase of the 22-acre (89,000 m2) Marlton Square redevelopment project. This phase involved constructing the Buckingham Place Senior Retirement Community project, a 180-unit apartment complex, that is adjacent to the Baldwin Villa Plaza senior housing complex and shopping mall. The project was scheduled to be completed in spring of 2004. Several million dollars of public and private funding have been awarded to the project.[3][4] Although the redevelopment project began with concerns of political favoritism, it was billed as "the catalytic project for the Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw communities", and a lynchpin development project for the entire area.[5]

While initially promising, financial difficulties and other problems quickly beset the project. Capital Vision Equities' first check to the city bounced in 2001[6] and the testimony of whistle-blowers lead to an audit by the Ethics Commission early on in the project.[7] Ultimately these problems overwhelmed the developer, and amid complaints of mismanagement the redevelopment of Marlton Square has stalled in bankruptcy. Several other agencies have been involved with the development project, including Keyshawn Capital Development, which is owned and ran by former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver, Keyshawn Johnson. The old retail stores were demolished on May 2011 to make way for future development.

Kaiser

It is currently building a new state-of-the art 100,000 sq ft Kaiser Permanente medical facility office building with a two-mile walking path and outdoor plaza. It is slated for completion in September 2017.[8]A new shopping center complex along with new restaurants and retail stores are also currently being planned to be built in the future by private developers.[9]

Transportation

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro Rail will have a light rail subway station that will provide access to the new Kaiser Permanente medical facility, the Crenshaw Medical Arts Centre clinic office building and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza via the Metro Crenshaw/LAX Line.[10]

Buckingham Place

Much of the retail space in Marlton Square has been empty for serveral years and has fallen into disrepair. In 2008 there were no visible signs of redevelopment for that project of the retail space. By the end of 2009 Buckingham Place was largely finished but had remained unopened due to bankruptcy. However, in early 2012 Buckingham Place housing complex officially opened.[11]

References

  1. ↑ http://nreionline.com/property/multifamily/real_estate_public_investment_support/
  2. ↑ http://www.lasentinel.net/Marlton-Square.html
  3. ↑ http://www.allbusiness.com/real-estate/commercial-residential-property/5686010-1.html
  4. ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-104542691.html
  5. ↑ McGreevy, Patrick; Shuster, Beth (November 15, 2002). "$123-Million Crenshaw Project Goes to Council". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-100106472.html
  7. ↑ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-100426195.html
  8. ↑ Jennings, Angel (October 20, 2015). "Long-stalled Marlton Square project makes a move forward". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Sharp, Steven (January 20, 2017). "Marlton square mall". Urbanize LA. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  10. ↑ "Baldwin Hills is Up for a Makeover". www.thenewsfunnel.com. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zyNIMQAWO8
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