Stalled plans for a new shopping center on Crenshaw Boulevard are going back to the drawing board.

According to an agenda item from an upcoming meeting of the CRA/LA Governing Board, the Charles Company has suspended its efforts to construct District Square - a 300,000-square-foot retail complex which was to be located steps from Metro's Expo/Crenshaw Station.

Instead, the West Hollywood-based developer is now pursuing new entitlements for the property - a 6.5-acre expanse bounded by Crenshaw Boulevard, Rodeo Road, Norton Avenue and Coliseum Street.  Although specifics are currently unclear, tentative plans call for less retail space than previously approved and the addition of a 200-unit multi-family residential component.

News of District Square's revival first emerged in an April report from Intersections South LA, which quoted City Council President Herb Wesson describing the project as "back on," following delays caused by "financial hiccups."  The CRA/LA memo indicates that the project's fatal setback was the withdrawal of one of its anchor tenants.

With the addition of a housing component, the District Square project now joins several transit-oriented developments in the planning stages near future stations on the Crenshaw/LAX light rail line.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently identified two properties along the 8.5-mile corridor which could yield mixed-use developments, including one adjacent to Expo/Crenshaw Station.  Further south, bold plans were unveiled earlier this year to build housing, hotel rooms and office space at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall.