The redevelopment agency agreed to allocate $42.5 million in public funds to the 22-acre development, which is at the site of the former Santa Barbara Plaza in the city's Crenshaw district, next to the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza Mall.

A joint venture between Capital Vision Equities of Los Angeles and football star Keyshawn Johnson's Keyshawn Capital Development LLC, Marlton Square will include a 140,000-sf community shopping center, 140 single family detached homes, 180 units of affordable senior apartments and 1.8 acres set aside for a park or other public use.

The Lee Group of Marina del Rey is a partner for the single-family housing portion of the project.

The $42.2 million public investment package approved by the redevelopment agency includes $8.2 million in Mello Roos bonds, $16.5 million in federal HUD grants, $14.5 million in federal HUD loans, and $3 million in project generated local tax increment

.The development team will provide equity capital totaling $40 million and obtain conventional loan financing for the remaining $42.8 million.

Christopher Hammond, CEO of Capital Vision Equities, called the development "one of the most significant real estate opportunities in Los Angeles" because Marlton Square represents "a large, underused site" in a densely populated area where residents have significant discretionary income. More than 1.2 million people live within a five-mile radius of Marlton Square, with an average household income of nearly $50,000.

The development will be on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. between Marlton Avenue on the east and Buckingham Road on the west.

Football star Johnson, who played for the University of Southern California and is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League, said he grew up in the neighborhood near Marlton Square and hopes to help spur the economy there.

Capital Vision and Johnson previously teamed in the development of Chesterfield Square, a 250,000-sf community shopping center at Western and Slauson avenues. At the time of its construction in 2000, it was the first major development in South Los Angeles in a decade.

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Redevelopment Agency Approves $125M Retail Project

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