RETAIL
Multi-Million Dollar Project for South L.A.
Ground was broken on a major retail development, Vermont Entertainment Village, in a formerly blighted area of South Los Angeles on April 29, according to a statement from the office of Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks.
Vermont Entertainment Village will reportedly cost $200 million to construct on the corner of Vermont and Manchester avenues, which has been largely vacant since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
The development is scheduled to be completed by winter 2016. The upcoming retail center will bring more business and development to South Los Angeles and will cater to an underserved population who currently must leave their neighborhood to shop or see a movie.
The project will be built on a site that is two city blocks long and offers 190,000 square feet of leasable space.
The project is being developed by Sassony Properties, which is headquartered in Los Angeles. Sassony also is slated to redevelop a 106-year-old building in downtown Los Angeles’ Historic Core. The ground floor of the 722 Broadway building, also called the Sassony Building, will be reserved for retail.
According to plans on the Sassony Properties website, Vermont Entertainment Village will offer restaurants, retail and a central courtyard landscaped with trees and foliage. A call and an email requesting further information were not returned by Sassony by press time.
The development seems to be part of a new wave of retail development in the South Los Angeles area. In September 2014, construction commenced on USC Village, a retail and residential development that will primarily serve the University of Southern California.
Mall-style retail is anticipated to come to Inglewood, Calif., a South Bay city that is located a short drive away from South Los Angeles. The city intends to build a football stadium on the grounds of the former Hollywood Park Racetrack, said Harjinder Singh, a finance supervisor for the city of Inglewood. Ground is scheduled to be broken on the project in December. Mall-style retail might be constructed around the new stadium.
