After securing a $90-million construction loan, The Ratkovich Company and Jerico Development have broken ground on the West Harbor, the long-awaited revamp of San Pedro's Ports O' Call Village.
The new funding, which supplements $65 million of investor equity that the project team has already secured, will go toward the construction of a 42-acre complex on the L.A. Waterfront that is approved to ultimately feature more than 330,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, and other commercial uses.
Anchor tenants that have already been confirmed for the complex include the first satellite location of Hollywood's Yamashiro restaurant, King & Cantina, a market hall, and off-leash dog park bar and cafe Bark Social. Additionally, plans call for a roughly 6,200-seat amphitheater, which is being developed in partnership with the Nederlander Organization.
Other confirmed tenants include: Mike Hess Brewing, Hopscotch, Poppy + Rose, Sugar Factory, Jay Bird's Chicken, Pitfire Pizza, The Win-Dow, Olala Crepes, Marufuku Ramen, Mario’s Neighborhood Butcher Shop and Delicatessen, The Baked Bear, and Harbor Breeze Cruises.
Besides the entertainment venue and commercial uses, an environmental report recently circulated by the City of Los Angeles also points to another tourist attraction at the West harbor - a proposed tower feature featuring a gondola and concessions. The gondola would carry up to 15 passengers at a time up to 115 feet above ground.
The West Harbor, which is slated for completion in 2024, makes use of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (or C-PACE) to cover the up-front costs of energy and water-efficient infrastructure under more favorable terms than otherwise available through conventional financing. In a news release, the project team noted that the fixed-rate terms of C-PACE financing are helpful at a time when interest rates have risen steadily.
“I’m proud of our team for their hard work in securing an accretive financing package that will make West Harbor the heart of the LA Waterfront. We are in a time of economic uncertainty for commercial real estate, but that is not the case at West Harbor,” said Ratkovich Company president and chief executive officer Brian Saenger in a statement. “I’m particularly pleased that we were able to utilize C-PACE financing. We were able to obtain a favorable fixed-rate loan for a significant portion of the capital stack thanks to West Harbor’s focus on sustainability.”
The West Harbor follows more than $600 million that the Port of Los Angeles has invested into the waterfront between 2005 and 2015, with an additional $400 million to be spent by the year 2025. Those improvements have brought new open space to San Pedro and Wilmington, such as the new Town Square & Promenade, which debuted late last year.
- West Harbor (Urbanize LA)