A November staff recommendation it likely, but a vote by the Los Angeles City Council has made it official: the City of Los Angeles will enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Hudson Pacific Properties for the redevelopment of the Marlton Square site in Baldwin Hills.

Hudson Pacific, known for projects such as the Google-anchored One Westside complex in Rancho Park and multiple office towers now occupied by Netflix in Hollywood, will now try its hand on 5.7 acres of land near the K Line and the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza mall in South L.A. The sites, which are owned by the City of Los Angeles and CRA/LA, includes properties at 3700-3916 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 4011-4027 S. Marlton Avenue.

3700-3772 Martin Luther King Jr. BoulevardGoogle Street View

Hudson Pacific's winning bid, which beat out competing proposals from South LA Studios, Nvision Development Group, and Harridge Development Group, would include:

  • a pair of five-story office buildings featuring 300,000 square feet of space;
  • a 19,000-square-foot location for Tiffany Haddish's Diaspora grocery store;
  • a 10,000-square-foot food incubator operated by Black-owned food and beverage company Good Vibes Only; and
  • an urban farm operated by Cropswap LA which would provide produce for the incubator and grocery store.

Perkins&Will is designing the proposed project, along with landscape architecture firm Agency Artifact.

Following the Council vote, Hudson Pacific will be bear responsibility for guiding the project through the city entitlement process, including its environmental review. The initial term of the agreement between the developer and the city will run for a period of 12 months, with two optional 90-day extensions which could be exercised at the discretion of the City of Los Angeles.

Hudson Pacific's submission includes a proposal to purchase the city-owned portion of the Marlton Square site for $13 million, although the final price will be determined by an appraisal at a later date.

3700-3772 Martin Luther King Jr. BoulevardGoogle Maps

Marlton Square, originally known as Santa Barbara Plaza, was home to a number of local businesses and department stores in the mid-20th century, but saw a gradual decline in the decades that followed. Portions of the site have already been developed with the Kaiser Permanent facility and a 102-unit affordable housing complex built by Meta Housing Corp.

Harridge Development Group, one of the spurned suitors, is also the owner of the neighboring Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw Plaza mall, which is entitled for a separate mixed-use project featuring housing, offices, and commercial uses.

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn