"If you want to go far, go together."

— African Proverb

Downtown Crenshaw is a legacy-defining collaborative project and call for unity and self-determination.

On April 29, 2020, the day that the story broke in the news, community-centered developers and civic organization leaders in the community surrounding the Crenshaw Mall began to question how it was possible that the economic anchor of Black Los Angeles could be lost to an outside force like CIM Group. Then someone made a suggestion: “Let’s buy the mall, and redevelop it ourselves!”

What began with a few phone calls is growing into the most positively transformative process and project in the history of the Crenshaw community. This is a historic coming together of community-based and focused experts with over 200 collective years of experience in finance, acquisition, and real estate development, collaboratively working with civic leaders and organizers to identify strategies to quickly acquire the Crenshaw Mall and make it a true community-centered development with local ownership at every step of the process.

People-driven. Community-focused.

We will own the change. And our neighbors will be here to enjoy it.

Join the Effort

Community-Centered Development Elements

  • CLT Housing Lower Roxbury Housing…that we can afford

    Too often new housing is built outside the range affordable to long-time community residents. The Downtown Crenshaw Team has identified the financing and developed thousands of units of affordable housing, senior housing and mixed-income communities across the region and country. We will build housing the community can afford.

  • Brunch family Retail and Recreation…that is for us

    Building on the successful community-serving small businesses currently in the mall, we will attract quality retail tenants, including a hotel, to serve our economically diverse community, support emerging entrepreneurs, and encourage the growth of worker-owned co-ops, with entertainment, recreation and convening space.

  • Office Office…that is for us

    We know that our community has many corporate and nonprofit executives who every day drive to their offices in other parts of our region. We are going to bring them home to Downtown Crenshaw to establish the creative synergy to build a powerful Black business and cultural economy, job opportunities and services for the community.

  • Community-wealth building

  • Baldwin Village ApartmentsCommunity Stabilization Fund

    Rising rental and home prices are pushing out and pricing out long-time residents and challenging the integrity of the unique cultural community that is Crenshaw. Simultaneous to our effort to redevelop the mall, we will be buying homes and apartments in the surrounding area to preserve them as permanently affordable to the community to create neighborhood stability.

  • Collective OwnershipCommunity Ownership

    A large redevelopment project must share the wealth with the community. That begins with community ownership in the mall through investment opportunities for local residents, community ownership in the planning and reenvisioning phase, good jobs and community participation in the construction and operation, and local preference for procurement contracts.

 

 

What is your vision?

The guiding principles of community-centered development and community-wealth building provide a framework.

Join us in this conversation. We want to hear more from you.

What do you want to see in a Crenshaw Mall redeveloped and reimagined as Downtown Crenshaw?

Take the Survey