A rendering of a revitalized HAWTHORNE PLAZA. A massive redevelopment was approved by The City of Hawthorne in November 2016. The abandoned shopping mall was to be razed and replaced by a mixed-use complex of retail, office, entertainment and residential components.
Drawing from The Charles Company

HAWTHORNE PLAZA
Hawthorne and West El Segundo Boulevards
Hawthorne, California

Los Angeles County's thirty-second shopping mall was conceived as part of a plan to revitalize a "South Bay" center city. Plans for an open-air retail complex were submitted to the Hawthorne Urban Renewal Commission and were approved in April 1969. By 1972, the plan had been amended into a prospectus for a fully-enclosed shopping facility.

This would be built on a 35-acre tract, located 9 miles southwest of the Los Angeles urban core, in the bedroom community of Hawthorne. Construction commenced on the HAWTHORNE PLAZA project on June 1, 1975.

When completed, the 2-level shopping complex encompassed 835,000 leasable square feet and housed 130 stores and services. It was designed by Los Angeles' Charles Kober Associates firm and developed by a joint venture of El Segundo-based Ernest W. Hahn, Incorporated, Los Angeles-based Carter-Hawley-Hale Stores and Urban Projects, Incorporated.

HAWTHORNE PLAZA was built on top of a single-level, subterranean parking garage. This ran the length and breadth of the mall and connected with a 4-level parking structure running along the east side of the complex.

Anchoring the retail hub were a 3-level (159,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway, 2-level (158,500 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 2-level (169,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. The mall's first three tenants, Security Pacific Bank, Citizen's Savings and Miki's Restaurant, opened for business in November 1976. The Broadway was dedicated February 14, 1977, with J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward opening their doors on February 20th.

Sixty stores and services were in operation at the formal opening of HAWTHORNE PLAZA, which took place February 21, 1977. The ceremony was attended by Ernest W. Hahn and Bruce Geis (Mayor of Hawthorne). Music was provided by the Hawthorne High School Band. By mid-year, the 50 million dollar mall was fully-leased.

Charter tenants included Karmelkorn, Chess King, Orange Julius, B. Dalton, Gallenkamp Shoes, Kinney Shoes, English House of Seafood, Chicken & Beef and two Thom McAn Shoe stores. At the south end of the complex were a freestanding Broadway Tire Center and American Multi-Cinema Hawthorne 6 multiplex. This venue showed its first features on February 23, 1977.

Major shopping malls in the HAWTHORNE PLAZA trade area included MANHATTAN VILLAGE (1982) {2.7 miles southwest, in Manhattan Beach} and SOUTH BAY GALLERIA (1985) {3.3 miles south, in Redondo Beach}.

A minor renovation, costing 420,000 dollars, was performed in 1990. The dark "earth tone" exterior of HAWTHORNE PLAZA was brightened with a white finish and new signage and landscaping were installed in interior spaces.

The end of the Cold War resulted in a massive decline of the aerospace industry, which had been a major economic generator in the South Bay suburbs. The repercussions of this decline were soon being felt. By early 1994, HAWTHORNE PLAZA had eighty-seven operating stores, out of an original total of 130. This number had declined to just sixty-five by late 1995.

Federated Stores' acquisition of  Broadway Stores in August 1995, resulted in the shuttering of The Broadway at HAWTHORNE PLAZA. It became a Macy's Clearance Center. This store shut down on December 24, 1997, accompanied by the closing of Montgomery Ward. The final anchor store to fall was J.C. Penney, who pulled up stakes on June 27, 1998.

A joint venture of Southern California businessmen headed by Danny Bakewell had acquired the struggling mall in December 1996. Known as Arden Group Partners, they proposed a major renovation of the property, perhaps making it into an open-air venue, but never followed through on any proposals.

The anchor abandonment of 1997-1998 had resulted in a virtually vacant North Wing (near the old Montgomery Ward), an exodus of national mall merchants and proliferation of mom & pop-type retailers. In February 1999, the mall was shuttered.

In August 1998, work had started on a redevelopment of 10 acres at the south end of the mall site. The 6-plex cinema was razed and a 101,000 square foot strip center built in its place. Anchored by a combo Albertsons supermarket and Sav-On Drug, HAWTHORNE PLAZA VILLAGE was dedicated in September 1999. Meanwhile, the HAWTHORNE PLAZA structure sat derelict and decaying. It was utilized for location shots in the films "Evolution" (2001) and "Minority Report" (2002).

The moribund mall had been sold to Arman Gabay, of the Charles Company, in February 1999. In 2002, a redevelopment scenario was announced. As proposed, it would renovate the mall into an office complex known as SOUTH BAY CENTER ONE. The Montgomery Ward building was reconfigured as a Police Training Center. However, the remainder of the mall was left as it was.

The City of Hawthorne and Arman Gabay wrestled back and forth for years over his redevelopment proposals for the HAWTHORNE PLAZA property. A lifestyle center prospectus was submitted -and rejected- in 2008. In 2014, a plan for a "destination outlet mall," known as STYLE OUTLETS AT LA, was also put forward...and rejected.

The most recent revitalization plan was announced in February 2016. It advocated that the entirety of the mall, save for a parking structure, be razed and replaced by a mixed-use complex. This open-air facility would have encompassed 500,000 square feet of retail, 800,000 square feet of office space and 600 residential units. The City of Hawthorne gave their stamp of approval for said plan in November 2016. However, demolition and construction work never started. The project had been abandoned by February 2018.

Sources:

The Los Angeles Times

The Daily Breeze (Hermosa Beach, California)

The Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, California)
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
www.cinematreasures.org