NBA star Russell Westbrook announced Primestor Development, has partnered with Westbrook Enterprises, in creating a new retail center as part of the project that will include Target and South LA Cafe.
Additionally, BRIDGE Housing and a second partner, CRCD, are leading the development of the 180 affordable housing units for seniors and families at the intersection of Manchester and Vermont in South Los Angeles.
The residential component, led by BRIDGE Housing and CRCD, consists of Vista@Evermont, which will offer 62 permanent supportive housing apartments for seniors who have experienced chronic homelessness, and Luminus@Evermont, which will feature 118 affordable homes for families with low incomes, including 60 permanent supportive housing units.
Permanent supportive housing combines affordable housing with wraparound health, behavioral health, and social services to serve people who have experienced chronic homelessness.
The project is being built on land that was the site of an intense eminent domain battle in 2017.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took steps to seize the land from developer Eli Sasson in November 2017.
Two years prior, on his last day in office, former Los Angeles Councilman Bernard C. Parks held a highly publicized “groundbreaking” ceremony, on the 23rd anniversary of the L.A. riots, stating the developer, Sassony Commercial Real Estate, was ready to move forward.
Eminent domain was supported by the Community Coalition (CoCo South LA), a nonprofit founded by Karen Bass, which at the time was led by Marqueece Harris-Dawson. Harris-Dawson continued to support eminent domain proceedings after he was elected to succeed Parks.
In 2017, I met with Councilman Harris-Dawson and asked his opinion on what LA County is proposing at the site: affordable housing, a boarding school for wayward youth, a Metro job training center and a 400 car parking lot, he replied, “…that is not my understanding of what the county is planning for the site.” He refused to elaborate on the record. Harris-Dawson did share he would much rather negotiate with LA County over the direction of the lots as opposed to the current owner Eli Sasson.
In December 2017, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve the use of eminent domain to seize Sasson’s property and give it to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority.
The only Black elected official who had no position on the disposition of the Manchester and Vermont parcels was Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
In 2017, 2UrbanGirls asked the question, “Is she [Rep. Waters] contradicting her position on eminent domain, for economic development, by supporting South LA residents who want the property at Manchester/Vermont to be a source of economic resurgence v the County’s proposal, which proposes no economic incentives?”
Her office reiterated she had no position on the Manchester and Vermont debacle, however, her statement in a 2012 press release was clear as was her signing on as co-sponsor of a 2017 version of legislation related to eminent domain for purposes of economic development.
In 2012 Congresswoman Waters and Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced H.R. 1433 “The Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2011.” A press release on the Congresswoman’s page gives clarity into what the bill aims to do.
The legislation [H.R. 1433] is intended to protect private property owners and communities from eminent domain abuse, and restore property rights that the Supreme Court changed in the controversial case, Kelo v. City of New London. In 2017, H.R. 1433 passed.
“I am very pleased that the House last night passed H.R. 1433 to reverse the Supreme Court’s overly broad Kelo ruling,” Rep. Waters said. “This legislation is critical to preventing states from using eminent domain to seize private property from one individual in order to transfer it to a company for for economic development. Eminent domain abuse impacts both urban and rural communities, and it is past time that the Congress acted affirmatively to protect the private property rights of all Americans – who all too often are not evenly matched to challenge private companies in lengthy litigation. Where the Supreme Court has created ambiguity, Congress must be clear: there should never be a legal question concerning the rights individuals have to their own homes and property.”
Rep. Maxine Waters
Did the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors violate federal law when the land was seized from Sasson, who pledged to build retail on the space, for it to end up in the hands of an affordable housing developer who included retail at the site?
