This weekend, Gardena Cinema at 14948 Crenshaw Boulevard will be hosting free movies in partnership with Pluto TV, including showings of The Addams Family (the 1991 version) all day today and School of Rock all day on Sunday. Free tickets can be reserved here: www.gardenacinema.com or https://gardenacinema.eventbrite.com.
Gardena Cinema, viewed from across Crenshaw BoulevardGoogle Maps
Opened in 1946, the Gardena Cinema is the only single-screen independent movie theater in the surrounding community. It has been operated by the Kim family continuously since 1976, and is the first theater to be supported through Pluto TV's Summer of Cinema campaign which looks to support similar independent and family-run theaters across the country. More on that here: here.
Optima Tax Relief has expanded its footprint at the Griffin Towers in Santa Ana, Barker Pacific Group announced this week.
Griffin Towers, also known as 5 and 6 Hutton Center, are twin 13-story buildings encompassing roughly 560,000 square feet of space. Optima previously leased 38,000 square feet of space at the towers, and has recently expanded its footprint to more than 57,000 square feet.
520-534 N Glendale AvenueGoogle Street View
This week, the City of Glendale announced that Erewhon will open a new store in the former Virgil's Hardware Home Center site at 520 N. Glendale Avenue. This will be the Erewhon's 11th location.
The vacant building, which encompasses 24,000 square feet of space, will include 18,000 square feet of space for Erewhon, with the remaining footprint to be leased to complementary tenants. Erewhon forked out more than $12 million to buy the site earlier this year.
Previously, the Virgil's site had been slated for redevelopment with senior housing, as we reported in 2022.
CicLAvia - South LA (Western Ave) on June 23 from 9 am to 4 pmCicLAvia
On Sunday, June 23, the 53rd CicLAvia is coming to South Los Angeles with a five-mile route along Western Avenue between Exposition and Century Boulevards.
As a reminder, here's the rules: only people-powered vehicles allowed. That means no electric scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, unicycles, motorcycles and other non-people-powered vehicles are permitted. However, Class 1 e-bike pedal-assist is allowed, Class 2 e-bikes are allowed when throttle is powered off, and Class 3 e-bikes are allowed when pedal-assist is powered down.
Pico Boulevard elevationBrooks + Scarpa
Yesterday, Community Corporation of Santa Monica opened Pico Roots, a new marketplace at the ground floor of the Brunson Terrace apartments at 1819 W. Pico Boulevard. The new space will include multiple vendors selling coffee, cards, clothing and other products. Tenants include: Adey Gojo Coffee and Catering, Tiny Bee Cards, Lucky Bug Clothing, Youthful Savings Marketplace, Santa Monica to Senegal, Queen and Kings and Soleil Satnam.
Here's what we're reading this week:
Why California lawmakers are giving up a bid to repeal a nearly 75-year-old anti-public-housing measure "State Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), who authored the repeal measure, said that the November ballot was too crowded with expensive tax, housing, bond and public safety campaigns to give his effort the best chance at succeeding." (LA Times)
All-Door Boarding Coming Soon to Metro Buses Systemwide "Metro is installing TAP card readers by this December, with all-door boarding coming soon after. Faster boarding means faster buses." (Streetsblog LA)
View of the Weingart Center tower looking west from 6th StreetWeingart Center
In Skid Row, a 19-story residential tower for homeless people will offer gym, cafe, art studio "From the courtyard balcony on the 19th story of the new residential tower, Skid Row seems small and distant below." (LA Times)
$2.7 million meant to build homeless housing ended up with L.A. nonprofit, court records say "The organizations were awarded more than $114 million in Homekey funds to convert seven motels in San Bernardino, Ventura and Monterey counties into studio apartments for formerly homeless tenants....But instead of creating hundreds of housing units for some of California’s neediest individuals, the projects became mired in financial disarray. Today most sit empty and unfinished." (LA Times)
LA County Supervisors Vote To Lower Annual Rent Increases. How To Know If That Applies To You "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors narrowly voted Tuesday in favor of a proposal to limit rent increases for many tenants in unincorporated areas to 3% or less starting next year." (LAist)
Bel Air homeowners vow to kill Westside commuter subway "Fearing noise, vibrations, and a possible decline in property values, many Bel Air residents, like Fred Rosen, the former CEO of Ticketmaster, say they’re ready to use their wealth and lawyers to fight subway construction." (KCRW)
Rendering of a Sepulveda Line station in Sherman OaksMetro
With City Bike/Bus Upgrades on Hold, What’s Next for Measure HLA? "Voters supported safe multimodal streets in March, but instead of doing more multimodal projects right now, the city is doing less. A City Council Safe Streets ordinance might help uncork city department delays." (Streetsblog LA)
Legendary Clifton’s is reopening in a struggling downtown L.A. Its owner hopes crowds return "The five-story restaurant and bar complex has been closed for the last year after a burst water pipe caused a flood that destroyed the kitchen and collapsed the ceilings on three floors." (LA Times)
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