Waterfront Retail Destination West Harbor's First Phase 75% Leased One Year Before Opening
On the heels of a $258M investment in port-adjacent development receiving approval from the Port of Los Angeles, Jerico Development and The Ratkovich Co. are readying retailers for West Harbor project.
The 42-acre entertainment and retail destination is set to open in 2025 on the San Pedro waterfront next to the port.
The first two buildings that will open in the project are approximately three-quarters leased, with only one food and beverage space remaining, Jerico President Eric Johnson told Bisnow.
The development features retail spaces on the smaller side, mainly in the 500 SF to 1,500 SF range.
“That's where the market is for something like this,” Johnson said.
The tenant mix has been curated with a focus on retailers local to Southern California, with a focus on trying to have something for everyone.
The roughly $160M joint venture between The Ratkovich Co. and San Pedro-based Jerico Development is replacing the old Ports O’ Call Village, a kitschy collection of shops that was razed in 2018 to make way for the multi-use redevelopment.
Although it was showing its age in the end, the Ports O’ Call Village was an upscale destination in its heyday of the 1960s and 1970s, a major investment in the waterfront’s retail and a place with a wide variety of attractions.
“It was really this amazing little jewel in San Pedro,” Johnson said of the shopping center's prime era, recalling the glass blower, joke shop, pearl vendor and other specialty retailers that were once on the retail roster at the waterfront shops. “The perception that it was downscale really just had to do with the later years.”
West Harbor is trying to bring that variety back, with offerings including a live entertainment amphitheater run by Pantages operator the Nederlander Organization, a self-described “bar for dog lovers,” a forthcoming Ferris wheel and amusement park-style rides, and a pickleball concept. Whale-watching outfit Harbor Breeze Cruises will also be a tenant.
The vast majority of the 350K SF in the project is food and beverage space, Johnson said. The first building in the project, called Building A, will house a 20K SF Mike Hess Brewing Co., popular brunch restaurant Poppy + Rose, a creperie and a butcher shop, among many others. Johnson said the focus is on creating a unique, locally focused experience with brands that are based in the area.
Johnson said there isn’t new retail product in the pipeline “of any scale” in the South Bay. There was 1.5M SF of retail under construction in Los Angeles County, which had a 5.7% vacancy rate in the first quarter, NAI Capital found. There is nothing in the county quite like this site on the water.
It’s something the Port of Los Angeles has recognized as well. It is making its own investments in the waterfront, with the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approving $258M for capital improvements at the port and waterfront in the next year, LA Business First reported.
Included in the list of projects for that funding are public access projects at West Harbor, which is working with the port and coordinating construction around these public projects, as well as elsewhere on the San Pedro waterfront.
“If it's done right, in an experiential way, then you have a compelling offering and we have a pretty compelling waterfront site,” Johnson said.
