Hawthorne Press Tribune The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - December 1, 2016 City Council Gives Hawthorne Mall Redevelopment Unanimous Approval By Derrick Deane “The curving street is pedestrian-only and Hawthorne’s long dormant mall is finally will also serve as our fire lane,” Anderson said. coming back to life. A unanimous vote “It’s being planned much like The Grove of by the Hawthorne City Council last week being a walkable, exciting community amenity moved the $500 million Hawthorne Mall for both residents in the community and those project known as Magnitude LAX a step living within the project. We are planning on closer to groundbreaking early next year with having residential at the top of each of the construction to begin later in 2017. “It is a four buildings along Hawthorne Boulevard. privilege that I can say that the redevelopment That was a part of the original plan.” of the mall has actually commenced,” George The project also calls for an office structure Wright, project manager for Magnitude with 160,000 square feet per floor with three LAX, said. floors planned. “Each floor will have its own The presentation to the Council included access to daylighting through courtyards an update from conceptual plans shown to that lead up to a rooftop park that will be the City of Hawthorne earlier in the year, an amenity for the offices and the residents taking into account parking, traffic, and living within the project”” Anderson said. residential and commercial spacing within Anderson also noted that since the site the facility. The end result is a project that is almost a quarter of a mile long, there is will be balanced with 65 percent commercial potential for adding an exercise track in the structures – a figure that does not include an park for residents with small retail amenities- office structure that will sit on the northeast -and the area is even long enough to serve side of the project. as a bike path. “The spirit of the original project is very Parking has been a major concern with much preserved,” Ben Anderson, co-founder the project and Anderson reported that there of R&A design, said during a presentation of will be two levels of subterranean parking the revised concept design. “We were able for the office and residential are. “In order to provide an entire street level of retail, to remain cost-efficient, two levels was all entertainment, restaurant and other activated that we are able to provide,” he said. uses that ensure Hawthorne Boulevard, which The basement parking will be a mix of office was formerly completely inactivated with the and residential uses that will be segmented existing mall, is brought back to life again.” for security and convenience issues. The The project will consist of “numerous residential parking will be directly below retail entrances” off Hawthorne Boulevard the residences so that it is easily accessed as well as walk paths between four major via elevators with entrances to the parking buildings that will house retail and restaurant structure set along Birch Avenue. The project businesses. The walk paths will allow for will also have surface-level parking for stand-up retail carts. shoppers. Major entrances to the retail site A curved path cuts through the space that could potentially be set along the south side will separate the four-building mall with larger of the project as well as off of 120th Street. name brand commercial structures, an office Anderson said a significant component center, a movie theater, and potentially a of the development will be entertainmentfocused. bowling complex. Each of the buildings will The movie theater will be set to the also feature some component of residential south side of the project near the railroad. structures on the top with subterranean parking. That structure could also potentially house a double-level restaurant along with other commercial uses. “It’s been about the last year and a half that this immediate group has really allowed for good, honest development to take place in the city with a look toward the future and listening to what the residents want,” Mayor Alex Vargas said. “There’s three points that we needed to satisfy. The City, we need to have something that is going to be good and increase the quality of life. The residents deserve that good quality of life—that’s the second point--and the business owner who needs to come out well in the end. All three points were satisfied. This is proof that it can be done. This is a true mixed-use development.” Vargas added that “we’re going to be the envy of the area” before taking a shot at neighboring Inglewood’s $2.6 billion Rams football development. “You think the Rams’ little development, okay they’re going to have a stadium, play 10 games a year. Ten games a year is when you see the crowds of people over there, while 365 days a year we’re going to have people at this facility.” Councilman Haidar Awad also took a moment to reflect on how far the City has come in just a year. “A year ago Hawthorne was knocking on the door of disaster,” he said. “A year ago, we had no idea what was going on and the residents had no idea what was going to happen to the City, let alone the mall. In one year, this administration along with the City staff took the City from possibly the brink of bankruptcy to now having a vision and reopening a mall that has been dormant for many years.” Awad continued. “He’s about to tear up,” after acknowledging the exhaustive efforts by Interim City Manager Arnie Shadbehr. “That just goes to show you the passion that we have begun to have in this city. We’re sticking to the City of Good Neighbors motto and we will continue to push that message forward. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............2 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................4, 6-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................3 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 66˚/48˚ Saturday Sunny 68˚/50˚ Sunday Sunny 68˚/51˚ City and Memorial Center Host Thanksgiving Luncheon Senior citizens and those from underprivileged families gathered on Thursday, November 17 at the Hawthorne Memorial Center for a special Thanksgiving luncheon feast. The City of Hawthorne and Hawthorne/Lawndale Ministerial Association have sponsored this event for over 20 years. The luncheon drew about 600 diners with over 150 volunteers on-hand to assist.
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