The proposed redevelopment of West L.A.'s Martin Cadillac took a big step forward last month, when the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted to approve the project.
Located across the street from Metro's Expo/Bundy Station, the Martin Expo Town Center (METC) would feature 150,000 square feet of office space, 516 apartments, a 35,000-square-foot grocery store and additional space for shops and restaurants. This revised plan redistributes approximately 25% of the originally proposed office space to the project's residential component, which will now feature larger unit sizes. However, the office tower will retain the same vertical profile by increasing floor-to-ceiling heights.
Additionally, a planned supermarket has been cut from 50,000 square feet to just 35,000 square feet.
According to property owner Dan Martin and project representative Phil Simmons, METC received the go-ahead from the City Council after agreeing to a generous community benefits package with 11th District Councilmember Mike Bonin. METC will set aside 20% of its total apartments - or approximately 104 units - as workforce-level and very low income housing, representing the largest block of unsubsidized affordable housing in the entire city. Other components of the package include money for homelessness programs and numerous street improvements.
The project was officially launched in 2012 with a series of outreach meetings seeking input from the surrounding community. Simmons described the process as a long-running collaboration with West L.A. neighbors, observing that the Martin family's long history in the area has made the community more receptive to the proposal. He pointed to a strong show of support at the METC's City Council hearing, noting that approximately 100 people spoke in favor of the development.
Moving forward, the project must now finalize is documentation and compile engineering drawings. Simmons estimated that the project would be ready to pull construction permits in approximately one year.
