The site map. The project will straddle Crenshaw Blvd. south of Exposition. Source: Metro
The County and Metro will retain ownership of the lots but will lease them to the developer WIP-A, LLC (a subsidiary of Watt Companies), assuming that the final version of the project the developer has proposed proves satisfactory.
As currently proposed, the project will feature 492 residential units, 73 of which will be reserved for families earning under 50 percent of the area median income (families of four must earn $45,050 or less to qualify, but also earn a minimum in the neighborhood of $30,000 or approximately three times the proposed rent). The remaining 419 units will be market-rate.
The project will also feature 47,500 square feet of commercial and retail spaces, including restaurant spaces intended for locally-owned and -operated businesses, a grocery store, open plazas, a bike hub and car-share connections, a business incubator-type space, and community-serving spaces.
The project may be best remembered, however, for the way that the project's renderings had not only transformed the intersection into a white livability mecca but gave no indication to those that would be arriving by rail that they were at a de facto gateway to a historic black community. [See that coverage here.]
The original renderings envisioning the transformation of Crenshaw at Exposition featured the rapture of the entire black population... save one undoubtedly confused person in cargo shorts. Source: Metro
There is still room for community input on the project.
To get a jump on that process, Watt announced at the November hearing that they were in negotiations with West Angeles Community Development Corporation (CDC) about bringing them on as a community-based partner. But what the West Angeles CDC's role will be is as yet unclear.
Join neighbors in learning more about the project and engaging Metro on it this Saturday from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Community Room (3650 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.). Other topics that will be covered at the meeting include the LAFD Fire Station 94, planning and outreach around the King Day parade, the distribution of Space Shuttle funds, and general neighborhood updates. See the full agenda here. See past coverage of the project here and here.
Sahra is Communities Editor for Streetsblog L.A., covering the intersection of mobility with race, class, history, representation, policing, housing, health, culture, community, and access to the public space in Boyle Heights and South Central Los Angeles.
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