Hawthorne Press Tribune
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
Herald Publications - Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale & El Segundo Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - September 27, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................3
Entertainment......................2
Food.......................................8
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Pets........................................5
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
75˚/65˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
72˚/63˚
Sunday
Sunny
74˚/63˚
Hawthorne High Homecoming
Last Friday was the Homecoming game at Hawthorne High School. Here are some photo highlights from the evening. On the field, the Cougars fell just short to Glenn in an exciting 51-50 contest.
Photos Courtesy of Hawthorne High.
Frustration Mounts as Council
Takes Stand Against Mall Owner
By Derrick Deane
The Hawthorne City Council took a stand
against the ongoing stall tactics by the development
company that owns the Hawthorne Mall
in a special meeting on Tuesday. The Council
members not only expressed their disappointment
that progress had not been made since a
proposed groundbreaking in December 2017,
but also stated that any remaining trust between
them and developer The Charles Company -- led
by Arman Gabaee -- had essentially eroded.
Mayor Alex Vargas and Mayor Pro Tem Hadir
Awad noted that they sat down with Gabaee
earlier in the year to talk about the mall. “We
had established a reasonable timeline of events
of milestones that were to be kept by The
Charles Company on the development of the
Hawthorne Mall.” Vargas said. “Somewhere
along the way, these things did not happen.”
Interim City Manager Arnie Shadbehr
said that April 2017 was the last time City
of Hawthorne staff had a meeting with the
development team. “During that meeting, The
Charles Company was proposing to increase
the number of approved condominiums from
600 to 1,000, which was refused,” Shadbehr
said. “I indicated to the development team that
what was approved by the City Council was
more than generous and there was no way to
increase it.”
Shadbehr added that the parking capacity
did not meet standards to accommodate the
number of residential units requested. “In
November, we received an email from one of
The Charles Company representatives saying
that this project was infeasible to build,” he
said. “The amount of retail space that they were
including in the representation wasn’t going to
work and they needed to increase the number
of residential units. Mr. Gabaee emphasized
the residential component.”
Shadbehr responded by email, saying that
the idea of the condos was the developer’s
grand vision and not dictated by the City.
“We asked them to scale it back, but it never
happened,” he said.
Councilwoman Olivia Valentine inquired
about the potential process of eminent domain
and if the City could possibly seize the property
from Gabaee. “With the abolition of redevelopment
law back in 2011, the power of cities
to exercise eminent domain has been severely
curtailed,” City Attorney Russell Miyahara
explained. “No longer can cities seek eminent
domain for the purpose of selling it to another
developer. It’s got to be for a public purpose, a
public building of some sort. I believe that the
goal is to get some revenue-making operation
in place and not a public facility.”
For their part, The Charles Company sent
its leasing consultant Gene Detchemendy to
address the Council’s questions and concerns
as well as give a brief statement. “We too are
very disappointed that the ownership’s idea of a
micro-village of having residential, offices and
retail didn’t come together,” he said. “We’ve
been extremely disappointed that we haven’t
been able to build it.”
Detchemendy led the team that sought to
build the first outlet mall that would service
the airport area along with Hawthorne. He
added that The Charles Company continues
to pay $90,000 monthly on existing bonds
that were used to acquire the mall and parking
structure. “I thought four years ago when
I was watching this whole thing develop that
it was a good plan, but the biggest thing that
has changed from now and four years ago is
that retail has evaporated,” he said.
In addition to repeatedly stating that the
company continues to make bond payments
and noting his continued disappointment of not
being able to get the project off the ground,
the alleged loss of retail was a main point in
Detchemendy’s response to the City Council.
Valentine, who heads up the annual Small
Business Expo in the city, was quick to shoot
down that theory. “I go to a lot of business
expos and I disagree that retail has evaporated,”
she said. “It hasn’t evaporated -- it has
changed. Big box stores are disappearing, but
the footprints are getting small so you have to
be more creative about how you put retail in
shopping centers now. I’m disappointed that
your company was not more creative in trying
to figure out what was needed in order to put
the shopping center there that we needed.”
Awad pointed out examples of local malls
that have recently undergone renovations,
including Westfield in Century City and the
Del Amo Mall in Torrance. “It’s clear that
mixed-use works, but it seems like you guys
haven’t taken the time to really look at it
from a different perspective and create this
retail,” he Awad. “We went out of our way
to take a strictly commercial property -- and
over the years, we gave you guys a mixed-use
project that you could use and move forward
and build… I think after a while when those
milestones that we wanted to have happen --
like the demolition permits -- never happened,
you guys disappeared.”
Shortly after Vargas and Awad met with Gabaee,
the developer was arrested for allegedly
paying monthly $1,000 bribes to a Los Angeles
County employee for six years and offering to
purchase a nearly $1.1 million home in Santa
Rosa in exchange for the 10-year lease.
Councilwoman Angie Reyes English summed
it up as she voiced her frustration with Gabaee.
“The people, myself included, have lost, in a
sense, hope,” she said. “Hope for something to
come today and that day passed in December
when there should have been a groundbreaking.
At the end of the day, my question is, ‘Why
doesn’t he just sell it? Why don’t you just get
rid of it?’ I’ve lived here 33 years. I shopped
in that mall. Montgomery Ward, the Broadway,
we were there faithfully…so for it to be down
for the last 18, 20 years is ridiculous. Arman
Gabaee needs to sell it.”
English added that there has been a steady
stream of interest from other developers who
are interested in purchasing the property, but
the decision ultimately rests with Gabaee. •