City Wants Hudson Pacific To Redevelop Marlton Square Land Into Mixed-Use District
A long-vacant property where a city council member once hoped a bioscience hub would rise could soon be an office and retail complex developed by Hudson Pacific Properties.
After putting out a request for proposals last year and reviewing the four responses, the Economic and Workforce Development Department asked city council for approval to enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with HPP to remake a collection of publicly owned parcels at Marlton Square on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South Marlton Avenue, adjacent to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
The negotiations would include figuring out how much it would cost HPP to buy the properties so it can build two five-story, 300K SF office buildings, a 19K SF grocery store, a 10K SF "food incubator" operated by Black-owned food and beverage company Good Vibes Only, and an urban farm that will supply the grocery store and the food incubator.
"The Marlton Square Development opportunity provides the potential to bring a Class-A mixed-use project with both a high-end office experience and a unique set of retail destinations aimed specifically at addressing food equity issues historically present in South Los Angeles," Hudson Pacific's proposal said.
The selection of the developer still has to be approved by the city council. HPP was one of four respondents to the call for proposals, including Harridge Development, which bought the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza last year with plans to redevelop it. The property is approved for nearly 1,000 new housing units, plus a hotel, office space and stores.
Marlton Square has been vacant, but was once a bustling retail center. Agreements to develop it have been proposed and fallen through since at least the 1980s. Though Kaiser Permanente bought a part of the site and has operated a medical center on the property since 2017 and a 102-unit affordable housing project has also been built, the rest remains undeveloped.
A spokesperson for HPP confirmed that the developer has been selected by the EWDD and said that the project would be in connection with EquiBlue, Hudson Pacific’s impact investing platform.
