A new partnership of investment firms is poised to purchase the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, four months after CIM Group pulled out of a $100-million deal that would have redeveloped the sprawling shopping center.
Capri Urban Investors will sell the 43-acre property to New York-based firms LIVWRK and DFH Partners for an undisclosed sum, according to the Los Angeles Times. The sale could close by the end of the year.
The property’s value is in its redevelopment potential. Capri secured entitlements in 2018 to add 2 million square feet of new construction there, including nearly 1,000 residential units, a 400-key hotel, a 10-story office building, and around 300,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space.
But CIM planned to scrap the residential portion of that plan in April, and looked to potentially add more office space.
Two months later, CIM dropped out entirely amid community opposition. Neighborhood groups warned it could accelerate gentrification in the working class area.
LIVWRK founder Asher Abehsera said he will talk to local residents before deciding on a development plan, according to the Times. He appeared to suggest that residential development was on the table, saying that “a project of this scale affords a mix of uses.”
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza would be LIVWRK’s first development project outside New York. The firm has teams with CIM on at least two projects in the past — a ground-up condominium in Brooklyn and an $80 million renovation and apartment conversion of a Brooklyn office building.
Abehsera said CIM is not involved in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza deal. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch