Westlake

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One of L.A.’s most economically depressed areas has grabbed the attention of developers.

The Westlake district around MacArthur Park with its dense population and dearth of consumer services has been targeted for at least two supermarkets and other retail developments.

“They’ve got so much planned all of a sudden,” said Norm Langer, who runs the venerable Langer’s Delicatessen on Alvarado Street, which has been in business 51 years. “There are several different projects on the table. I think they can all come to fruition if we have a sustained effort from the police and if the city decides it wants it.”

The most advanced proposal is for shops, a supermarket and a parking structure at the Westlake/Alvarado Metro Rail station. A grocery-anchored retail project is also being contemplated for the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Union Avenue. And the new owners of the historic Park Plaza Hotel on the west side of MacArthur Park are investing millions to restore the 73-year-old building to its former splendor.

“If you look at this area in a manner that’s nontraditional, there’s a lot of opportunity,” said Ed Reyes, chief of staff for Councilman Mike Hernandez, whose district includes the Westlake district.

In addition to the current development, the City Council is expected around the first of the year to consider establishing a redevelopment project area in Westlake. A hearing on the draft environmental impact report is slated for this fall, said Don Spivack, deputy administrator for the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

The city and Westlake merchants also are exploring the creation of a business improvement district, under which property owners would be assessed a fee to fund public improvements.

“A lot of exciting things are happening,” said John Garibian, owner of the 72-year-old Wilshire Royale Howard Johnson Plaza, which is on the western outskirts of Westlake. “I gave up so many times in 11 years. I was going to fold up and leave. I know (Westlake) has to come back. It’s such a beautiful area.”

Instead of folding, Garibian has invested $1.5 million over the last two years to refurbish the hotel’s rooms and public areas.

Westlake’s revival is being spurred by a 21.3 percent reduction in crime over the past year for L.A.’s Rampart division, of which Westlake is a part. That represents the biggest drop of any division in the city. MacArthur Park is no longer dominated by drug dealers and homeless encampments, although some of those elements persist.

On a recent evening, joggers ran across the cracked walkways and children kicked soccer balls and threw Frisbees. A police substation opened in the park’s boathouse two years ago, and police officers circulate on bikes.

“I think the area has been ignored a long time and property values decreased due to crime,” Langer said. “The increase in visibility of the police and decrease in crime is very evident.”

The once-abandoned Crescent Arms building southeast of the park was rehabilitated last year and now operates as a senior and child care center. A shuttle bus, which costs 25 cents per ride, started circulating around Westlake and Echo Park.

The city plans further improvements to the park, including rehabilitating a deteriorated community center for use as a senior and youth recreation center and adding a soccer field, Reyes said.

The Hertz Group, which owns the Oviatt Building downtown, bought the Park Plaza Hotel in May and plans to restore its ballrooms and 150 guest rooms and add air conditioning to bring it back as a full-service hotel, said Marina Baktis, event director for the hotel.

Still, Westlake has a long way to go. Hit hard by the 1992 riots, the area’s population remains low-income, with high levels of unemployment and substantial structural deterioration. Crime, while down, remains a focal point. And the district’s 18 office buildings have a high vacancy rate almost 38 percent, according to Charles Dunn Co.

The predominantly Latino area also has three times the population density of other urban portions of the city, with 147 residents per acre. About 35,000 people live within a three-block radius of the Westlake/Alvarado subway station, through which about 16,000 passengers pass each day, said Robin Blair, a project manager with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“The area is people-rich and job-poor,” he said.

It’s also retail-poor. A hodgepodge of discount stores, a permanent swap meet, pawn shops and fast-food outlets line the streets. But despite the area’s low income, or possibly because of it, value-oriented retailers can prosper. The Payless shoe store on Alvarado is one of the highest grossing stores in the chain, Blair said. And one study showed that the Westlake-Pico Union area could support seven more supermarkets, Reyes said.

“They have money; they have needs and families,” Reyes said. “How do you capture that volume?”

Several developers are giving it a try. The most advanced of the proposals calls for a $20 million retail center and parking structure on and around the subway station.

“There’s about five or six different supermarkets all wanting to be part of the project,” said Alfonso Salazar, director of L.A.’s Business Team, run out of Mayor Richard Riordan’s office.

The MTA owns most of the land where the proposed center would be built. The agency also has about $13 million in state grants to fund the parking structure, enhancements to the transit plaza and land purchases for the supermarket.

The MTA is soliciting design proposals for the parking structure under a design-build contract, and will later seek a developer for the small shops, Blair said. The parking structure and grocery store are scheduled for completion by 2000, he said.

Once the center is built, it would be run by a non-profit organization, Transit Community Development Corp., but the center and underlying property would continue to be owned by the MTA and the shop spaces sublet. The project is expected to create about 400 permanent jobs.

North of the station, at Sixth Street and Union Avenue, developer David Oved plans to build a 170,000-square-foot retail project on a vacant piece of land, anchored by a supermarket and drug store, Salazar said. He said the Business Team and Hernandez are working with the developer on the entitlement process, which is ongoing. He said the developer is taking care of all the financing, with no public funding at this point.

Frederick Leeds, a partner in the project, declined comment.

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