Mixed-income housing, commercial space, and a new park could be coming to a large, vacant property in the Florence neighborhood under a proposed arrangement between the City of Los Angeles and a local real estate firm.

Earlier today, the Los Angeles City Council voted to authorize the initiation of an exclusive negotiation agreement with a team led by the Bakewell Company to redevelop a roughly eight-acre site at the intersection of Slauson Avenue and Wall Street.  The Leimert Park-based firm, which submitted the highest scoring proposal out of five applicants, is planning the construction of:

  • 280 "workforce" apartments;
  • 245 affordable units reserved for families and seniors earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income level;
  • a 60,000-square-foot central park space;
  • a new supermarket operated by Superior Foods;
  • business incubator spaces;
  • community centers;
  • shops and restaurants; and
  • parking for 565 vehicles.

The project site is to be subdivided into five separate parcels, three of which will be purchased by Bakewell, and one which will be retained by the City of Los Angeles for development with the proposed 1.4-acre park.  The fifth parcel, owned by the Brotherhood Crusade, would be retained by the organization to be redeveloped with a community center.

200 E Slauson AvenueGoogle Street View

The total cost of the proposed project is estimated at $239 million, pending the removal of all toxic substances and soil contamination from the site, which is bounded by Wall Street to the west and Los Angeles Street to the east.  The land was previously developed with a series of warehouse structures.

In addition to the Brotherhood Crusade, which is contributing land at 200 E. Slauson Avenue to the project, other members of the development team include the Michaels Organization and Capri Investment Group.  The negotiating period between the developers and the City of Los Angeles will run for an initial term of 12 months, with an optional 12-month extension.

The Slauson and Wall site came under the control of the City of Los Angeles in 2013 following the dissolution of the Community Redevelopment Agency, which purchased the land in 2010.  A request for proposals seeking developers for the property was issued in 2020.

In a motion initiating the search for a developer in 2019, Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren Price noted that the property sits two-and-a-half miles south of the tourist attractions of Exposition Park, including the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the California Science Center.  A staff report to from the Housing Department also acknowledges that the site sits along a historic freight rail right-of-way on Slauson Avenue which Metro is planning to convert into a $34-million active transportation corridor.