Ralphs Signs Lease for Store Near L.A. Fashion District
It’s official: Downtown Los Angeles will have its first major grocery store in recent years. Ralphs Grocer y Co. has signed a lease to occupy a 50,000-square-foot space at Ninth and Flower streets, about four blocks west of the Los Angeles Fashion District, according to broker NAI Capital Commercial.
Ralphs’ move to the area should support the renaissance occurring downtown, where a number of residential projects have been completed or are currently in development. Several Fashion District projects incorporating a residential element are underway, including the Orpheum Lofts above the Orpheum Theatre on Broadway and Santee Court, a 780,000-square-foot residential/retail project along Los Angeles Street.
For years, downtown developers and the growing residential population have been clamoring for a major supermarket.
Groundbreaking for the new Ralphs is scheduled for next month, and a completion date is anticipated for early 2005.
The store will be part of a $220 million mixed-use retail/residential development by Hollywood-based CIM Group, which has taken land formerly occupied by the Southern California Gas Co. headquarters. The development is in the Central Business District Redevelopment Project Area, which has allowed the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency to acquire the land and provide financial assistance to the project. —Robert McAllister
