SP Courthouse to be Demolished, Replaced with Apartments

Project is committed to 20 percent affordable housing

The San Pedro Courthouse, which closed in 2013 when the local court was consolidated into the Long Beach Court, will be demolished and replaced with an eight-story mixed use apartment building. It is reportedly scheduled for demolition at the end of 2021, with construction on the project to begin in summer 2022.

On Aug. 10, the Los Angeles County Supervisors voted unanimously to lend $1,000,000 to the developers, Genton Cockrum Partners.

In January 2021, the supervisors approved a lease for the project. The county owns the property but is leasing it to Genton Cockrum. It will have approximately 300 units and at least 20% will be affordable housing. It will be 336,514-square-feet, with about 559 parking spaces and 25,479 square feet of commercial space. This will include a new food market or food hall. In addition, there will be 6,000 feet of open space.

Initially, only 11% of the units were going to be affordable housing. But the developers changed it to 20% to acquire a Revenue and Taxation Code Section 214(g) Welfare Exemption towards its property taxes, according to a motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn. This is an exemption that charitable organizations apply for and having 20% affordable housing is one of the requirements.

One of the other requirements is to have a loan from a government entity, which is why the county lent them $1,000,000, said Liz Odendahl, communications director for Hahn. The developers don’t need the money, they just need a loan to prove a partnership exists.

“We stepped in to do this $1 million loan to signal the partnership that we’re on board with this project,” Odendahl said.

Genton Cockrum Partners will prepay $1 million in rent to the county anyway, according to Hahn’s motion. The exemption will reduce the amount of annual rent the developers will have to pay by $12,500 for 20 years. Instead of paying $187,980 per year, they will pay $175,480 per year.

Hahn said the project will be a good fit for San Pedro.

“We are making sure it lives up to our town’s values and is not only going to be union-funded, but union-built,” Hahn said in a statement. “It is the kind of development the downtown area needs and will not only mean more people living and shopping in downtown, but also has space for a much-needed grocery store or food hall. This project has been a long-time coming and I am going to do everything I can to move it along quickly.”

However, not everyone feels the same way. San Pedro resident Steve Casares said he has mixed feelings about the project.

“I don’t like when public land is turned over for commercial purposes,” Casares said. “Especially considering most public lands are ‘Leftovers’ that no one wanted. At the same time, we need the housing and development in the downtown area. We really need to establish historic status BEFORE permits are pulled. By that time, it is too late.”

San Pedro resident Ziggy Mrkich said that new construction in downtown San Pedro should be limited to 4th Street, 5th Street and Pacific Avenue between Channel and 3rd streets.

“Keep these huge new construction projects taller than three floors off of 6th [Street],” Mrkich said. “This is an eight-story building that will dwarf the older ones on 6th. It will stick out like a sore thumb.”

Lee Williams, former chairman of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, said he supports the project.

“Projects like these are essential for the rebirth of the downtown district,” Williams said. “This one especially since it offers housing for varying incomes and more daytime foot traffic to support longer hours for our restaurants and small businesses.”

The county purchased the property in 2016 from the state of California and sent out a request for proposal to develop the project. In that same year, the county entered an exclusive negotiation deal with Holland Partner Group. Holland Partner Group presented at eight stakeholder meetings and three community meetings and completed a community survey, according to Genton Cockrum’s application with its Department of City Planning. However, the exclusive negotiation with Holland Partner Group deal ended without reaching an agreement.

Because of this, the county put out a second request for proposal in 2018. A committee formed by the Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Works chose Genton Cockrum to build the complex in 2019. The county agreed to a six-month exclusive negotiation deal with Genton Cockrum, during which time they were required to create designs for the project and secure permits with their own funding.

Genton Cockrum gave presentations of the project at three stakeholder meetings, according to its application with its Department of City Planning. It met with the joint meeting of the planning and land use committees of the three San Pedro neighborhood councils, the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce and San Pedro Historic Business Improvement District.

Diana Nave, chairwoman of Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee, said that she could not find any evidence the neighborhood council had taken any position on the project.

“As I recall a public hearing was not required so there was no real opportunity for public input other than comments to the developer at the Joint Committee meeting,” Nave said.

Javier Gonzalez-Camarillo, chair of the Plannng and Land Use Committee of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, said his committee has seen a presentation on the project at the joint meeting earlier this year.

“We all have concerns about the particular massing of the project and how it’s going to blend in with the current downtown area,” Gonzalez-Camarillo said.

He pointed out that most buildings in the area are one or two stories.

“It’s going to make an impact,” Gonzalez-Camarillo said. “Hopefully a good impact. I mean, I’m definitely one that is looking for a little bit of a boost in the downtown area. But I also know that there’s people that have some concerns about that, given the scale and mass of this particular project.”

This project meets the legal requirements for the number of parking spaces — something which a lot of nearby developments fail to meet.

“Even though we have adequate parking here, I mean it’s the amount of density that is ultimately proposed,” Gonzalez-Camarillo said. “So, that combined with two or three other projects not too far from there would reduce parking, creating a concern that there might not be enough parking when they all get built.”

Genton Cockrum did not respond in time to comment on this story.