San Pedro WELCOME HOME

Following a unanimous vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Vancouver, Washington-based real estate firm Holland Partner Group is expected to build a mixed-use development on the 1.8-acre site that houses the abandoned San Pedro Courthouse. Although exact plans have not been revealed, an agenda item from a past meeting of the Board of Supervisors notes that the land could yield up to 250 market rate apartments above ground-floor commercial space.

An environmental report published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning offers up new details on a proposed mixed-use development near the San Pedro waterfront. Earlier this year, Beverly Hills real estate investment firm Omninet Capital, LLC submitted plans for a residential-retail complex at 550-560 S. Palos Verdes Street. The project, which would span across 2.5-acres, consists of a six-story structure that would offer 404 residential units above 5,200 square feet of ground-floor retail space..

According to plans filed with the city earlier this month, a small mixed-use development is headed to a .3-acre property in San Pedro, located just a short walk from Bandini Canyon Park. The new low-rise building would emerge from a currently vacant lot at 335 North Gaffey Street, consisting of 30 apartment units above street-level commercial space. Although current neighbors include an auto-oriented mixture of strip malls and drive-thru restaurants, the proposed residential-retail complex would likely benefit from Gaffey Street’s selection in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Great Streets Initiative.

Despite being home to the United States’ busiest container port, the waterfront community of San Pedro has long been isolated from Los Angeles County’s Metro Rail network. Two members of the LA City Council are trying to change that. Yesterday, Councilmemembers Tom LaBonge (4th District) and Jose Buscaino (15th District) introduced a motion which requests that Metro report on the feasibility of a new light rail line connecting the Wilmington/San Pedro area to the Blue Line.

A planned residential-retail complex near the southern terminus of the Harbor Freeway is moving full steam ahead, according to a recent article from the San Pedro Beacon. West Hollywood’s Charles Company, developer of the three-story building at 335 North Gaffey Street, intends to break ground on the $1.5 million project sometime during the first half of 2015. The Gaffey Street Apartments, slated for a currently vacant lot at Gaffey’s intersection with Sepulveda Boulevard, will offer 28 residential units and 4,800 square feet of ground-level retail space above a partially underground garage.

Meta Housing Corporation has completed its first “family arts colony” apartment project - a new, 49-unit arts-focused affordable apartment community that integrates artistic live/work space in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The community, the Pacific Avenue Arts Colony, is the fourth arts colony project developed by Meta Housing, and the first that is open to non-senior residents. “Our senior arts colony apartment communities have proven successful in supporting and encouraging imaginative thinking and meaningful creative achievement among residents, while also bringing affordable housing and thoughtful architecture to many Cities,” says Kasey M.

Over the coming years, the San Pedro Waterfront is expected to become a regional hub of commercial activitity, thanks to the $500 million AltaSea Marine Research Center and the planned redevelopment of the Port o’ Call Village. Now, the City of Los Angeles is exploging the possibility of adding apartments and hotel rooms to the mix. According to a memo from the Los Angeles City Council, the City’s Harbor Department and Economic Workforce and Development Department have hired a consultant to study the feasibility of developing multiple publicy-owned properties along the waterfront.

A series of commercial buildings near the San Pedro waterfront may give way for a large mixed-use development. Last week, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles for a new residential-retail complex on an approximately 2.5-acre site at 550-560 S. Palos Verdes Street. A case filing from the Department of City Planning (LADCP) describes the proposed development as a six-story structure which would feature 403 residential units, 5,200 square feet of ground-level retail space and a 639-car garage.

Today, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, 15th District Councilmember Jose Buscaino and the Port of Los Angeles announced plans for a $100-million renovation of the Ports O’ Call Village. The approximately 30-acre development, to be known as the San Pedro Public Market, will include stores, restaurants and open space to improve public access to the city’s waterfront. The first phase of the project, to be developed by the Ratkovich Company, will feature 16 acres of shops, eateries, markets and boutique office space.