BALDWIN HILLS — A local coalition representing 300 black clergy members has joined the fight to block the sale of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, one of the biggest malls in Los Angeles.
At a June 10 press conference outside the Hancock Park offices of CIM Group, the coalition voiced its strong opposition to the giant real estate firm’s plan to buy the 40-acre property, arguing that it threatens South L.A. and its economic interests.
“This is just the start of a series of protest events we will organize against CIM’s plan for the plaza property,” said the Rev. William D. Smart Jr., CEO and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California.
In May, Los Angeles-based real estate developer Shaul Kuba, CIM Group principal and co-founder, announced the company had signed a purchase and sale agreement to pay more than $100 million for the property, located at Crenshaw and Martin Luther King Jr. boulevards and would reposition the property by ditching prior plans for residential use to instead renovate the 869,000-square-foot mall into office and other commercial uses.
CIM plans to scrap at least the residential portion of Capri Capital Partners’ massive redevelopment plan for the 40-acre property, which was to add nearly 1,000 residential units, a hotel, office space and more retail.
