Marlton Square

Marlton Square is a one-block 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 medical facility is the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, a shopping mall owned by the Cari Capital Partners Firm. Its anchor store is Macy's.

Marlton Square
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Country United States
State California
County Los Angeles
CityLos Angeles
Time zonePacific
Area code(s)323

History

Marlton Square was created and built in the early 1950s as a retail strip mall. It was then known as Santa Barbara 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 operated by former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. The old retail stores were demolished in May 2011 to make way for future development.

Buckingham Place

Much of the retail space in Marlton Square has been empty for several 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.[8]

Kaiser Permanente Medical

It is the home to a state-of-the art 100,000 sq ft Kaiser Permanente medical facility office building. The facility has a two-mile walking path and outdoor plaza. The facility officially opened on September 7, 2017.[9] A new shopping center complex along with new restaurants and retail stores are also being planned to be built by private developers.[10]

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.[11]

References
  1. "Public investment to support $125 million mixed-use project in south LA". National Real Estate Investor. 7 August 2002.
  2. "Marlton Square". 14 August 2008.
  4. "$43.5 MILLION DEVELOPMENT DEAL OK'D.(News) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | HighBeam Research". web.archive.org. November 2, 2012.
  5. McGreevy, Patrick; Shuster, Beth (November 15, 2002). "$123-Million Crenshaw Project Goes to Council". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  6. "Finances of Los Angeles-Area Project's Developer Come under Scrutiny. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News | HighBeam Research". web.archive.org. November 2, 2012.
  7. "SOUTH L.A. PROJECT RAISING EYEBROWS.(News) - Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) | HighBeam Research". web.archive.org. November 2, 2012.
  8. ECWANDC (3 March 2008). "Marlton Square - We deserve better!" – via YouTube.
  9. Jennings, Angel (October 20, 2015). "Long-stalled Marlton Square project makes a move forward". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  10. Sharp, Steven (January 20, 2017). "Marlton square mall". Urbanize LA. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
  11. "Baldwin Hills is Up for a Makeover". www.thenewsfunnel.com. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
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