A controversial plan from Capri Capital Partners to redevelop the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza shopping mall has officially received the blessing of the Los Angeles City Council.

The project, which was approved earlier this week, envisions adding more than 2 million square feet of development to the 43-acre site at the intersection of Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevards.  A full buildout of the development will include:

  • An eight-story, 400-room hotel.
  • A 10-story, 135-foot office tower with approximately 148,000 square feet of rentable space.
  • Multiple six-story structures containing 551 condominiums and 410 apartments.
  • 330,000 square feet of new shops and restaurants - including a street-fronting retail village.
  • Parking for 6,829 vehicles.

Much of the existing mall - which is anchored by a Macy's, a Sears, and a movie theater - will be retained.

The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza project spurred staunch opposition from activist groups, which argued that its construction would lead to the displacement of black residents in the surrounding community.  Capri has responded by noting that no housing units are being lost as part of the proposed mall redevelopment, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A development agreement approved yesterday will require Capri to set aside 10 percent of the proposed residential units as affordable housing, and commits the developer to a 30 percent local hire mandate for the project's construction.  Capril will also pay $2 million to Los Angeles Trade Technical College for job training, and $1.5 million for public realm maintenance in the surrounding area.

The project is one of a handful of large development slated for properties surrounding Metro's Crenshaw/LAX light rail line, which will run 8.5 miles between the Green and Expo Lines starting next year.  North at Expo/Crenshaw Station, a mixed-use apartment complex could rise on County and Metro-owned sites just south of the Crenshaw Line's northern terminus, and a 573-unit development with retail is set to rise from the site of a former shopping center at Crenshaw and Rodeo Road.