East Los Angeles in Transition

The construction of the Gold Line light rail extension has helped spur development.
By: DANIEL MILLER: Los Angeles Business Journal Online
Development plans and another attempt at incorporation signal that East Los Angeles
may be taking the first steps toward a renaissance.

1. Civic Center Plaza

131-255 S. Mednik Ave.

This 30,000-square-foot retail project is directly across the street from the East Los Angeles Civic Center and next to the forthcoming Gold Line station. Developer Mukai Maravilla opened the project in fall 2003. It is widely viewed as a catalytic development that spurred others to build in the area. The property includes 17 retail pads and is fully leased with a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and several local businesses. Developer Ron Mukai’s family had owned land at the site for decades, but it took Mukai several years to assemble a contiguous parcel suitable for development.

2. Whittier Clela Shopping Center

5041 Whittier Blvd.

C.E.G. Construction Inc. opened this 14,000-square-foot retail project in 2005. The project, which sits on slightly less than an acre of land, is one of the area’s first new retail centers. Located at the northwest corner of Whittier Boulevard and Clela Avenue, it includes a Cingular Wireless, Little Caesers and Quiznos Sub stores. The shopping center is 90 percent leased, and previously was home to a thrift store owned by the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. That store was damaged in a fire and had been vacant for some time.

3. Starbucks Square

3853 E. Third St.

This is a recently opened 15,000-square-foot retail plaza that fronts the Third Street corridor. It includes a Starbucks, Verizon Wireless store and on-site parking. Developer Charles Co. purchased the parcel, a contaminated former gas station site, five years ago. Charles specializes in redeveloping environmentally challenged sites and previously redeveloped another gas station site in East Los Angeles with an El Pollo Loco.

4. Chavez & Mednik Commercial Plaza

4782 Cesar Chavez Ave.

Construction could begin at this planned retail project by the start of 2008 if it receives county approvals. The shopping center, which will sit on over a half-acre, is being developed by Dokhy LLC. Plans call for four retailers, including a Subway sandwich shop and a Denny’s diner. Developer David Ahdoot, who heads Dokhy, purchased the land for $1.2 million almost two years ago. The parcel includes two buildings that will be razed and a vacant lot at the corner of Cesar Chavez Avenue and Mednik Avenue. The project is near the East Los Angeles Civic Center and the Denny’s would be one of the area’s only sit-down restaurants.

5. Golden Gate Plaza

909 S. Atlantic Ave.

The 1927 historic Golden Gate Theatre building is slated for redevelopment. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the theater is owned by the Charles Co., which plans an adaptive reuse of the theater that would bring a drug store – possibly a Walgreens – to the site. An adjacent Starbucks could also be built at the parcel at the corner of Atlantic and Whittier boulevards. The theater was built in the Spanish Churrigueresque style and an adjacent historic retail building that fronted the movie house was razed in the 1990s after sustaining damage in the Whittier Earthquake. Charles has owned the property for three years and is working on the project’s environmental impact report with a planning consultant. The company hopes to break ground at the site within 18 months.

6. Third & Woods Family Housing

5051 E. Third St.

Developer National Core Community Renaissance plans a $17 million mixed-use development with ground floor retail space and 60 workforce housing units at the site of a Red Cross office building. National Core, which purchased the site July 1, plans to build a four-story, 60,000-square-foot building will subterranean parking. Construction would take 14 months. The property will include about 10,000 square feet of retail space and the developer says the community is interested in seeing a sit-down eatery.