Developers Rethink the Mall for the 21st Century
Jul 27, 2010 10:52 AM, By Elaine Misonzhnik
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
When Capri Capital Partners bought the 1.2-million-square-foot Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in south Los Angeles for $136 million in 2006, the mall did not suffer from any serious issues with tenants. In fact, occupancy at the center has always been high, says Ken Lombard, a Capri partner in charge of redeveloping the mall. But the 30-year-old property felt outdated and bland. He graded its physical condition a “C-minus.”
What the mall had going for it were the demographics. There are more than a million people living within a three-mile radius of the property. The per capita income in the area is the highest of any diverse minority community in the country, Lombard says.
“This is a fantastic site,” says Jeff Green, president of Jeff Green Partners, a Mill Valley, Calif.-based retail real estate consulting firm. “It’s a very captive market; you’ve got to travel some distance to get to [another] regional retail center. What’s been the problem with the mall previously was just that it was old and not kept up. So if they make those physical changes, I think it will be a very good project.”
So Capri Capital Partners embarked on a multi-year project to bring the mall into the modern era. To begin with, the firm plans to upgrade the physical condition of the existing structure with new flooring and lighting fixtures, new entrances, a paint job and a new food court that is expected to house some of today’s more popular restaurant concepts.
Capri is also bringing in a new movie theater, a state-of-the-art multiplex with stadium seating and 3D screens.
This phase of the redevelopment is scheduled to start in the winter of 2011. In the meanwhile, the firm has been trying to pin down exactly what it wants to do with the rest of the 43-acre site.
On a larger scale, Capri would like to add offices and a hotel to the property, even maybe some residential units.
At the moment, the firm is awaiting approvals from the local government. When completed, the expanded, 2.2-million-square-foot development should serve as a stop on the Los Angeles light rail transit route.
The alterations will help give the shopping center a fresh feel and transform it into a destination retail center from a run-of-the-mill 1980s throwback.
“This mall is in just a fabulous location, surrounded by rooftops with great density and exceptional spending power,” Lombard says. “Obviously we are planning to make a very significant investment in it right now.”
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