The Story of Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center
[A chronological summary of documents from the Hawthorne Historical Society’s collection, including information abstracted from Hawthorne Today, “published quarterly by the City of Hawthorne for the information of its citizens” and other sources, as noted, followed by a short interpretation]
Spring 1965: March 8, 1965: Hawthorne City Council adopts Ordinance 823 activating a local redevelopment agency and designating City Councilmen as members. Purpose is to conduct planning and feasibility studies of a redevelopment of a commercial area of Hawthorne. A special election has been set for June 15, 1965 to confirm the Ordinance. At City Hall public information meetings the City Council states there is no intent to redevelop residential areas. The designated area is bounded by Hawthorne Blvd, Birch Ave, El Segundo Blvd and the Pacific Electric Railway [right-of-way]. Studies over the last five years indicate the need for redevelopment into a major shopping center easily accessible for residential sections of the city. The Council feels sales tax revenues are vital to the continuing policy of reducing general property tax rates. The Council works to keep the commercial district up-to-date and convenient with Hawthorne Blvd center-strip parking an example. It encourages removal of obsolete and outmoded commercial buildings. The Ordinance will enable the City, cooperating with the Home Housing and Finance Agency, to acquire and dispose of the designated area to private enterprise for commercial development following a plan prepared by the city without using property taxes. Sales tax revenue from the project could further lower city property tax rates.
Fall 1966: The City will award contracts to make certain improvements to Hawthorne Blvd between Imperial Hwy and Rosecrans Ave to implement an agreement with the State to decommission the boulevard as a State highway.
Spring 1967: City administrators are concerned that sales tax revenues are not keeping pace with population growth, unlike other South Bay cities. This shows Hawthorne residents are making more purchases outside the city. Hawthorne needs sales tax revenue for capital improvement programs, good city services and lower property taxes. The City Council continues improvements to the shopping district. It can now alter State-decommissioned Hawthorne Blvd to better serve Hawthorne residents. The Council calls for additional studies and seminars to determine how to redevelop Hawthorne Blvd for shopping. The Council is viewing an in-depth study by architectural/engineering firm, Hiram J. Hamer and Paul Hunter proposing a semi-mall development for Hawthorne Blvd from El Segundo Blvd south to 142nd St (reduced to four lanes, directed to one side); north of El Segundo Blvd, a complete shopping complex which might include an office building, hotel, restaurant, major department stores, transportation center, theatre, satellite stores and service units. A theme design, such as a circular view restaurant atop the hotel or office building, is proposed. The plans will be included in a feasibility report presented to the Council this Spring.
[HAWTHORNE . . . city on the move (1967 brochure, p. 9)]
“Phase I, a proposal for the physical development of the commercial area, was completed last year. . ( . the City Council recently ordered Phase II of a study encompassing the entire business district . .). This proposal is now being studied to determine whether or not it is economically sound. This phase of the study must clearly outline the market area to be served and the potential buying power of the residents and workers in that market area. Sales tax revenues from such a development could well hasten the total elimination of Hawthorne’s property tax.”
Summer 1968: The Council adopts a budget allocating $540,664, representing cigarette taxes and business license fees, to the operating budget of the Hawthorne Redevelopment Agency, newly-created by Ordinance 910. The Agency approves up to $25,000 to retain nationally-known firm, Marshall Stevens, to appraise the properties within the redevelopment area. The Council then creates the Community Redevelopment Commission. The Agency refers the area (now expanded northward to 120th St) to the Planning Commission for redesignation as the “Hawthorne Plaza Project” {Resolution 538}. The Agency establishes headquarters at 12612 Acacia Ave.
Winter 1968: The City Council retains Victor Gruen Associates, planning/architectural firm (pioneer designer and advocate of shopping malls) to prepare plans for the Hawthorne Plaza development. Victor Gruen has already completed Del Amo Financial Center, South Coast Plaza, Topanga Plaza and Inland Center in San Bernardino.
Spring 1969: [Headline: Major Developers Sought for Hawthorne Plaza]. The City Council accepts the Victor Gruen Associates report and proposed plan for the Hawthorne Plaza Project. The Council retains Larry Smith & Associates to prepare an economic feasibility study for the project. Their study identifies an unserved market area in the central South Bay which the Hawthorne Plaza would engage. As proposed, it would be the largest multi-use regional center in the South Bay. The study points out that among the benefits, the project would generate a quarter-billion dollars in retail sales. Indirect benefits to the area would include increased values of buildings/parcels when offered for sale, improvement of buildings/parcels to higher use, higher rents and fewer vacancies. Tax increment financing is proposed for the development, that is, taxes on land and improvements in the project area will be redirected to the Redevelopment Agency to pay the costs of the development. There would be no financial obligation on property owners outside the Hawthorne Plaza area.
Fall 1969: The Council accepts a proposal by the Hawthorne Plaza Associates to prepare a comprehensive development plan for a portion of the project area to refine the Redevelopment Plan adopted by the Council (a two department store regional shopping center, an office building, medical office space, a hotel {and motel units} to meet expected 1985 demand, ancillary facilities {a theatre, a quality restaurant}. This proposal includes creating a planning/economic/legal/financial team, a precise plan for the development and a general plan for the remaining areas within the project. If approved, the Council (as Redevelopment Agency) will schedule public hearings.
Spring 1970: The City receives a letter from J. C. Penney Co.’s regional real estate manager acknowledging previous meetings, stating they are impressed with the quick and effective progress of the project and stating there is an apparent need for a full-line Penney unit in the area. Mayor Page states Penney and a second department store plus all additional specialty shops are expected to generate $388,000 total sales tax revenue, virtually assuring the total elimination of city property tax by the end of the 1970s.
[Hawthorne Today 1971, 1972, 1973 are not part of the Society collection at this time]
[from Hawthorne, California by the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce, copyright 1973]: (advertisement) “We are especially proud to be playing a major role in Hawthorne’s downtown redevelopment program.” Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., General Contractors-Developers, Home Office: 2311 W. El Segundo Blvd, Hawthorne, California 90250. (page 26, extract): Hawthorne’s long-awaited Central Business District Redevelopment Project is destined soon to make this southwestern Los Angeles area a prime shopping center, certain to attract people from a wide area to an ultra-modern 36-acre mall complex. Scheduled for a start in the spring of 1974, the redevelopment project (will include a) central mall complex, its parking structure and office/financial center structures on the east side. Supplementary parking areas and auto-service centers on the west side. Heart of the project will be three leading department stores. Completion is scheduled for the fall of 1975. A cluster of free-standing structures, including an eight-story office building, two bank branches, a savings and loan office and a family restaurant also are planned. Parking will be available for 4800 cars.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune, “Countdown to 1976,” Thursday, Jan. 23, 1974]
“The Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center was set into motion {Monday} when City officials {placed a time} capsule just east of El Segundo Blvd at Plaza Square {containing} historical photos and documents, gold and silver commemorative medallions from the city’s 50th anniversary and a scroll signed by all the ceremony’s participants and spectators. Hawthorne Plaza may possibly be completed as early as spring, 1976.
[accompanying photo caption]: “Officials participating in capsule burying ceremonies marking the official dedication of construction of the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center . . . Councilman Jack Moore, Mayor Joseph Miller, William M Bryant, president of Urban Projects, Inc., Ernest W. Hahn, Jerome F. Lipp, president of Broadway Hale Properties, Inc., Councilman Robert Reeves and Sandy Noxon” {of Urban Projects Inc. Associates, a Century City-based development consulting firm specializing in urban redevelopment projects. Source: following article}.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune “$50 million development – Hawthorne makes history,” Jan. 24, 1974] [much the same narrative as the preceding article] ” . . at the corner of Acacia Street [sic] and Plaza Square . . to open in the fall of 1976. The capsule will eventually be removed and installed in the cornerstone of the project’s new office tower where it is to remain until reclaimed and opened as part of Hawthorne’s 100th anniversary celebration in the year 2022. ” {Attendees} development coordinator Jack Spencer, Jerry Lipp of Broadway-Hale Properties, Inc., “shopping center development subsidiary of the department store chain.” Mayor Miller “recalled the first thoughts made toward the development of a local shopping center some seven years ago.” “First structure set for construction will be the twin office towers located on the southwest corner of the site. Designed by Charles Kober Associates of Los Angeles, project architect for the entire complex, the 110,000 square-foot office area will be composed of two, seven-story towers rising from a common one-story financial core and lobby. The ground floor will be home for a pair of financial institutions. One of the towers will become the new corporate offices for the Hahn development company.”
Winter 1974: Construction to start on the new $50,000,000 Plaza Center. The first phase is already underway as city officials report land acquisition has been completed. As construction continues on the erection of two seven story office buildings at the corner of El Segundo and Hawthorne Blvds, the Community Redevelopment Agency is on schedule in land acquisition activities. More than half the property needed to complete the development was acquired by the first of this year. The Council appreciates the efforts of Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., the co-developer. The Plaza Center will be a tremendous asset to the community providing shopping convenience, a boost to the city economy, employment opportunities and sales taxes revenues to use to improve city services.
Holiday Edition 1974: Tilt up concrete slabs are being used at the Plaza Regional Shopping Center to construct the $4 million, five story office complex which will house general offices {Hahn, Inc.}, a restaurant and two financial institutions. The office complex is planned to open in September, 1975, while the regional center is expected to be completed in Fall, 1976.
[unidentified newspaper article, “Broadway Circle Park yields to Plaza Center,” Feb. 5, 1975]
“Oldtimers in Hawthorne have had a great time reminiscing about the good old days since the clearing of land for the Hawthorne Plaza Regional Shopping Center got underway. . . Aside from the Castle, which is one of the most modern structures in the entire 32-acre development area, Broadway Circle is the only other development which many persons have sought to be retained in some manner. Numerous requests have been received by the city to allow the circle to remain as is, or to take the palm trees and plant them elsewhere. Neither suggestion will be carried out.”
Summer 1975: The Hawthorne Redevelopment Agency, Broadway, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Ward and Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. signed a Reciprocal Easement Agreement. Excavation is already underway for the subterranean section of the Plaza which joins the parking structure. Work crews are to begin construction of the two-level enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall with major stores and 130 shops with 4,329 parking spaces.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune, Aug.7, 1975, “Study shows heavy plaza use”]: Estimates of expected use of the Hawthorne Plaza by exclusive leasing agent, Coldwell Banker Commercial Brokerage Co. are 25,000 persons on weekdays, 30,000 persons on Saturdays. A majority of shoppers will travel less than six miles from Hawthorne, Westchester, Inglewood, Manhattan Beach, Lawndale, Gardena, Torrance and unincorporated LA county. “We don’t have to rely on population growth – 500,000 persons reside within a five-mile ratio {sic} of the site,” says James Burke, executive vice-president of “the Hahn company.” Demolition of existing structures has been completed and construction is underway on the 34-acre site. The Hahn firm will manage the center when it opens in the fall of 1976.
[unidentified newspaper photo caption, Sep. 17, 1975]: The parking structure located at 120th St and Birch Ave, due for completion by June or July, is in the foundation and column stage. The Montgomery Ward tire/battery/accessory facility will be accessible from the street.
Fall 1975 (photo caption): Foundation and masonry work are underway. The complex will open in fall, 1976.
[unidentified newspaper photo caption, Oct. 1, 1975]: Workers are pictured pouring cement at a three-level parking structure at the northeast {?} corner of Birch Ave and El Segundo Blvd with about 429 spaces. The entire Center will have 4,533 parking stalls on five levels. Jim Mitsch, project coordinator, confirms Center construction is progressing on schedule.
[a newspaper article with captioned photo, “Hawthorne – Lawndale”, Dec. 18, 1975] The Hawthorne City Council will tour the site today in lieu of a report on the state of construction from City Manager Don Mansfield. More than one third of the retail area is now committed for lease according to the exclusive leasing agent. In addition to a Broadway, a JC Penney, a Montgomery Ward and local merchant stores, a 7,480 square foot Security Pacific National Bank, a 6,000 square foot Citizens Savings and Loan and a 5,000 square foot Miki’s Restaurant will be located on the site. “The Hawthorne Plaza project is being undertaken in accordance with the California Redevelopment law. The land was acquired by the city’s redevelopment agency, the tax base was frozen and the difference between the increased value of the project upon completion and the frozen tax base goes toward retiring the bonds which were sold by the city of Hawthorne to finance the site acquisition and relocation of existing occupants on the site. Under this method of “tax increment” financing, there is no obligation to the city’s general fund. Hawthorne is one of an increasing number of California cities which is utilizing the state redevelopment law to revitalize its downtown retail core area.”
Winter 1975 (photo caption): Hahn construction superintendent, Roger Gonzales, indicates that (Shopping Center) construction is on schedule.
[unidentified newspaper photo caption, Dec. 24, 1975]: (reference City Council tour, above) “representing Hawthorne were Mayor Jack Moore, councilmen Joe Miller, Champ Clark, Bruce Gies. and Robert Reeves, City Treasurer Howard Wohlner, City Clerk Kenneth Keel, property director James Yanni, director of public services Kenneth Jue, City Attorney Kenneth Nelson and assistant city engineer Jim Mitsch.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune, Jan. 8, 1976]: Operators of businesses on the west side of Hawthorne Blvd opposite the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center construction site are irked by little traffic and reduced parking resulting from delayed completion of new roadway serving the Plaza site that was scheduled for Dec. 15. Completion is now projected for Feb. 1, with Copp Paving liable to daily city fines after mid-January.
Spring 1976: American Multi Cinema (AMC) announces the construction of a six theatre multiplex on the Birch Ave side of the Hawthorne Plaza, designed by Matthew Starkman & Associates, Beverly Hills. A Security Pacific National Bank branch, a Citizens Savings and Loan and Miki’s Restaurant will also be on the site. Co-developer and project general contractor, Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. states the project is scheduled to open in the fall. Carter Hawley Hale Properties, Inc. and Urban Projects, Inc., both of Los Angeles, are development partners with Hahn, Inc. The project architect is Charles Kober Associates; Coldwell Banker Company is the exclusive leasing agent.
[unidentified newspaper photo caption, Mar. 24, 1976]: “The first businesses will open beginning in the fall with the mall opening planned for February of 1977, developers said.”
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune, Apr. 1, 1976, “Plaza designers ‘think small'”]: According to Charles Kober Associates “the shopping center represented a carefully orchestrated set of solutions to hundreds of intricate problems.” The Ernest W. Hahn/Charles Kober Associates partnership has emerged as one of the nation’s most successful development/planning teams of regional shopping centers, including (for Kober) nearby Del Amo Fashion Square and Northridge Fashion Center. With Hawthorne Plaza, Kober has entered the era of enclosed shopping centers in suburban downtowns, rather than on much larger pieces of land. Hawthorne Plaza has 10% less retail and parking space on one third the usual acreage in a long, narrow configuration. Further challenges are melding the shopping center’s proportions with smaller commercial buildings in the surrounding district, managing increased traffic and parking requirements and creating an alluring shopping environment in an area surrounded by large retail complexes in neighboring cities. Solutions include the two-level, head-to-head “Y’s” floor plan with ‘hanging garden’ interior and exterior landscaping, numerous parking structures/areas connected to the retail area by 17 bridges, grooved exterior block to create a changing aspect during daylight and precisely angled skylights.
Summer 1976: Construction on the bank, savings and loan, restaurant and multiplex has begun. The three department stores will open February, 1977.
[unidentified newspaper article with photo, Jul. 28, 1976, “Helicopters used in construction”]: Two helicopters chartered from Wright Airlift of Los Angeles lifted air conditioning ducts, housings and compressors weighing two tons to the roof of the of the shopping center building in one and one half hours. Restricted space within the construction site prohibited the employment of cranes for the task.
[Daily Breeze, article, “A bank, an S&L, dining entering final stages in new center” and photos, Sep. 19, 1976]: Construction is entering its final stage at the south end of the Hawthorne Plaza site on the Security Pacific and Citizens Savings branches and Miki’s Restaurant, all scheduled to open Nov. 15. The American Multi Cinema Corporation six-screen complex is also under construction and will open in December, says a spokesman for Hahn, Inc. Security Pacific will include two drive-up teller stations and a satellite branch in the mall. The Citizens Savings branch will have 4,000 square feet of floor space plus 2,000 square feet of leasable space. Santa Barbara-based Restaurants, Etc. will operate Miki’s in conjunction with their other sites in La Jolla, CA, Mesa and Phoenix, AZ, and Independence, MO, when it opens in October. The architectural treatment of the three units, also designed by Kober Associates, will complement that of the mall structure. Kansas City, MO-based AMC Corp. will open the theater complex as their 75th venue. The developer notes that approximately 71% of the project’s total retail space has been leased.
Fall 1976: The Council appoints Councilman Bruce Gies to chair the Redevelopment Agency.
[unidentified newspaper article, “Plaza Openings Begin,” photo and site map, (Wednesday,) Nov. 17, 1976]: The first businesses opened Monday: the two free-standing financial institutions at the southern tip of the development. Security Pacific has a special pneumatic tube which allows merchants in the Mall to send cash to the bank inner offices, a secluded area for merchants, safety deposit boxes and an automatic teller within the Mall. Miki’s Restaurant will open Monday with two dining areas and counter service available 24 hours a day. (the captioned photo shows completed alterations to Hawthorne Blvd and the completed Plaza complex from the JC Penney facade at the southwest corner northward to Montgomery Ward)
[unidentified newspaper article and photo, “Plaza nearly completed,” (Thursday,) Nov. 18, 1976]: A press tour of the Hawthorne Plaza on Friday revealed “a nearly empty cavern draped with ribbons of bare metal struts,” but crews need only to install drywall, floor and ceiling panels to create the stores in 60 days for completion of the center in February. Merchants will transfer cash to Security Pacific via a 200 yard pneumatic tube from a booth just north of the JC Penney store. The completed mall will feature the world’s longest parking structure and be the only shopping center with a railroad track running through it. An abundance of hanging plants and many interior visual angles will disguise the center’s boxy exterior. Leases have been signed for 14 shoe stores, 25 restaurants and food stores and others offering clothing, fabrics, arts and crafts, cards and gifts, books, jewelry, records and entertainment equipment, toys and pets. Fred Collings, manager of the center, says that about 75% of the mall space is leased. It will include a barber and beauty shop, an optometrist and an electronic amusement games center. Collings wasn’t sure what impact the plaza will have on other Hawthorne Blvd stores, but noted that more people will be coming through the city to the shopping center. About 2,500 people were employed in constructing the Plaza; about 1,000 people will operate the stores when the Plaza is opened. “Tenants were chosen who will provide the ideal mix by industry standards. For every men’s store, there will be two women’s stores as 83% of the shoppers are female. If all goes well, the center should gross $100 million in sales per year,” said Collings.
[unidentified newspaper article and photo, “Broadway plans February opening”]: The new Broadway Hawthorne, including the Chafing Dish Restaurant, will open Feb. 12, 1977 according to J. Lyon Hart, chairman and CEO. The store is accented by a smoked glass entrance, 30 feet wide, rising from sidewalk to roof.
[unidentified newspaper article, advertisement and column, “”Preview Party for Plaza,” Jan. 26, 1977]: Sponsored by Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. and presented by the the board of directors of the beneficiary, the Hawthorne Community Hospital, a Champagne Preview Party will take place at the Plaza on Thursday, Feb. 10 from 6:30 to 10:30 PM featuring Les Brown and His Band of Renown, with unlimited Hors d’oeuvres and champagne. Proceeds from the $5 tickets will go to the Hospital.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune captioned photo, “Plaza preview packed,” Feb. 17, 1977, handwritten notation: “We Went”]: “Several thousand people attended the Champagne Preview Party of the Hawthorne Plaza Feb. 10.” (supported by the photograph)
[unidentified newspaper article, “$50 million Hawthorne Plaza to open Monday,” Feb. 18, 1977]: The Hawthorne Plaza shopping center opens to the public on Monday, February 21. The 9:45 a.m. grand opening marks completion of the project which replaced “a blighted commercial strip.” The center was developed by Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., Carter Hawley Hale Properties, Inc. and Urban Projects, Inc. in cooperation with the Hawthorne Redevelopment Agency. JC Penney and Montgomery Ward will open Feb. 20. In his remarks, Ernest Hahn said the Plaza will have a “strong opening” with nearly 80 of the mall shops, as well as the three department stores participating – the highest percentage of the 23 regional shopping centers Hahn, Inc. has developed. Bruce Gies, Mayor and chairman of the redevelopment agency, said the opening culminates many years of effort by the council, city staff and citizens of Hawthorne.
[Grand Opening Activity Schedule, a 5-1/2 X 4″ handout]:
9:45 AM Ribbon Cutting Ceremony hosted by our own “Count Nate Hawthorne”
(a costumed comic mascot)
Nate’s special guests will include:
H-B-H Associates-Hawthorne, Developer
Bruce Gies, Mayor of Hawthorne
and FEATURING:
The Hawthorne High School Band
The Hawthorne Boy Scout Color Guard in a
salute to the Boy Scouts of America’s 60th Birthday
(and so on)
tag motto: YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!
[a two-color folding map of the mall floorplan with a store directory, 8-1/4 X 18-1/2″, on the cover: “COUNT” Nate Hawthorne, the tag motto: “the center of all your tomorrows” and the Plaza logo, “Hawthorne Plaza” in deeply-shadowed capital letters with three intertwined deeply-shadowed octagons suspended from the space between the words, undated]: “From outside to inside . . . Hawthorne Plaza is designed to please you . . . Colorful tiles accent the restful seating and planter areas of the central courts, which are also designed to accommodate a wide variety of mall events, ranging from fashion shows to musical entertainment and community events . . . your community center with 133 climate-controlled stores . . . there’s plenty of room to park, stroll and windowshop along our walkways, or just sit awhile and watch the passing parade. You can count on it . . . we’re the center of all your tomorrows.”
[unidentified captioned newspaper photo, “Unwrapping the Plaza,” Feb. 24, 1977]: “Appearing Monday morning for the ribbon untying ceremonies . . . were Mayor Bruce Gies, Plaza character Nate Hawthorne, Miss Hawthorne Donna Schmidt and Ernest Hahn, developer.”
Spring 1977 (photo caption): Ribbon Cutting at Hawthorne Plaza Opening (no text; pages 2 and 3 are a montage of construction and opening ceremony photos)
[unidentified newspaper article, “Plaza notes successful opening,” Mar. 24, 1977]: About 100,000 people attended the grand opening on Feb. 21, Fred Collings, Plaza manager, reported to the Hawthorne City Council, meeting as the redevelopment agency on Monday. About 25,000 people have been visiting the center on weekdays; 60,000 – 70,000 per day on weekends. The project “intended to uplift a blighted area and generate extra tax revenue for the city.” So far, 81 of 130 stores have opened. Nearly 7,000 people attended the Champagne Preview Party on Feb. 10, though only 3,000 tickets were sold. The event raised $40,000 for the Hawthorne Community Hospital. Councilman Joe Miller said senior citizens were disappointed that there was no post office annex in the mall. He asked Congressman Charles Miller to assist and suggested the placement there of a mobile postal unit. Colłings noted that other postal annexes were designed-in before construction and no Plaza shops could be effectively converted. Mayor Gies has discussed the installation of a direct phone line with Hawthorne Yellow Cab for the convenience of seniors whose taxi fares the city subsidizes. Councilman Jack Moore said people were reluctant to use the parking structure because they were unsure whether space was available. Collings said the Plaza will begin a campaign to educate the public on using the parking structure and provide additional signs to direct drivers toward the stores they want to access.
[green handout, mall directory, 6-1/2 X 6-1/2″]:
mall hours: mon.-fri. 10-9:30
sat. 10-7:00
sun. 11-6:00
[promotional letter to residents from Fred Collings, CSM, General Manager, Jun. 17, 1977, surmounted by a faux check to the addressee for $500]: When presented at the Information Booth in the center of the mall, the faux check might identify the addressee as the winner of a $500 Shopping Spree (one winner per week for six weeks). The letter is accompanied by a simplified diagram of the Parking Structure to acquaint shoppers with the closest parking to their favorite stores. The Parking Structure was designed for shoppers’ convenience: over 4,000 spaces, well-lighted, covered, with bridges to key areas in the mall. Underground parking is also available beneath the entire mall with with elevator and escalator service to the interior.
[Hawthorne Press-Tribune, captioned photos, “Santa rolls in,” (Thursday,) Dec. 1, 1977]: Santa arrived at the Hawthorne Plaza last Friday in the caboose of a Southern Pacific train. He proceeded to the “Hawthorne House” on the mall floor where he greeted the first of his visitors. Children may visit Santa there Monday through Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m., where they will get a free coloring book and be photographed with him.
[full color 16-page booklet (with individual store messages), “Christmas Happens First at Hawthorne Plaza,” December 1977]: “Considered a special shopping center by its developer, Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., Hawthorne Plaza is currently constructing a community room which will soon be available for local clubs and organizations to conduct luncheons and/or business meetings. Currently, Hawthorne Plaza is extensively involved with area schools on such projects as the Christmas trim-a-tree program, high school dances and career day programs. Shopping Security: “Hawthorne Plaza is one of the largest regional shopping centers in Southern California . . . and one of the safest. Plaza management puts forth every effort to keep it that way. Twenty full time security guards are constantly on the move. Their equipment includes three motor vehicles and a modern two-way radio system with a direct link to Hawthorne Police Department. Spending approximately five times the shopping center industry average on security, management requires that each security officer receive many hours in security training and orientation, as well as in criminal procedures. Such training better enables the officers to assist customers in locating stores in the Plaza, finding lost children, handling stalled automobiles and dealing in general problem situations. Hawthorne Plaza . . . a safe place to shop.”
[from the Wikipedia article “Hawthorne Plaza”]
The initial popularity of the mall is marred by two shootings.
–
Late 1970s: An energy crisis triggered by an OPEC oil-embargo against countries
supporting Israel brings on slowed economic growth, high unemployment, high inflation and high interest rates.
[Hawthorne Today]
Spring 1979: Governor Brown signs Senate Bill 55 into law enabling the City to establish a special assessment zone within the Hawthorne Plaza area. The assessment will allow the City/Redevelopment Agency to recover property taxes lost by the recent passage of Proposition 13, to avert default on tax increment bonds totaling about $24 million issued to finance construction of the Plaza’s three-level parking structure. In Sacramento, Mayor Joseph Miller and Mayor Pro Temp Bruce Gies lobbied key assemblymen and senators to support this law. The City will begin to determine the amount of the assessment based on the degree of benefit the property owner within the Plaza complex receives from the parking structure.
Fall 1982: The Hawthorne Police Department will open a Community Service Center within Hawthorne Plaza, rent-free for the coming year by agreement with Ernest W. Hahn, Inc.
[No further mention of the Hawthorne Plaza is made in the issues of Hawthorne Today in the Society’s collection. Additional Hawthorne Today issues are not part of the Society’s collection]
[Wikipedia]
1980s-1990s: The mall suffers further decline from the collapse of the area’s aerospace industry, white flight and competition from other nearby shopping centers.
[March 27, 1985, “Then . . . And Now,” unidentified newspaper article by Tim Doran, Correspondent] Sam Weiner, owner, Sam’s Place, Hawthorne Blvd: “At first Weiner thought the mall might uplift the area, but now he doesn’t think it’s done much. He thinks there are too many kids running around the mall, and he is concerned about crime there. He and his wife now avoid the adjacent parking structure because of their fear of crime. Jerry Hartzler, owner of Silver Slipper Shoe Repair, said that in the past there have been muggings in the parking lot, and he worries about women going there alone. He thinks the plaza has helped the appearance of Hawthorne Boulevard but it’s not helped businesses across the street. Hartzler does not think the plaza has brought in anything helpful for the community. According to Patricia Manning, (Hawthorne Plaza) marketing director, the merchants in Hawthorne Plaza contribute a lot to the city (and to the community). While crime is a concern for residents across the street, it is not as much a concern to the plaza management as it once was. What would the street be like if (Hawthorne Plaza) were not here? Gerald Mirkin, owner of Mirkin Volkswagen, said he would do anything for the plaza, but he said he liked the town better before the plaza was built.”
[Sam Gnerre, Daily Breeze]
1991: The property is bought by Arden Group Partnership of Florida for renovation.
[Wikipedia]
1992: The mall suffers heavy damage during riots engendered by the verdict in the trial of LA police officers charged with the beating of Rodney King.
–
1994: By this year, mall occupancy is reduced from 130 stores to about 87 stores.
[Sam Gnerre, Daily Breeze]
1995: The property (approximately 30% vacant) is sold to Danny Bakewell, proprietor of the largest minority-owned development firm on the West Coast.
[Wikipedia]
1997: The former Broadway, converted to Macy’s Clearance Center when purchased by Federated Department Stores, closes.
[Daily Breeze advertising supplement, caption]
1997: Artist’s rendering of the remodeled Hawthorne Plaza. Construction to begin in Fall of this year.
[Wikipedia]
1998: The last remaining anchor store, J. C. Penney, closes.
1999: The mall closes. Some detached buildings in the south portion still house viable businesses (fast food, groceries). Some space in the northern portion is used for civic purposes (a tenant: Los Angeles County Welfare Fraud Division).
[Sam Gnerre, Daily Breeze]
2001: The property is sold to The Charles Co., owned by Arman Gabay [sic] for $7 million.
[Wikipedia]
2002 – 2020: Some TV productions and music videos are shot on the premises. Plans to revitalize or re-purpose the facility are occasionally announced, some by the City, including demolition for replacement by a venue like Farmers Market, Los Angeles.
[Sam Gnerre, Daily Breeze]
2008: The Hawthorne City Council opposes Gabay’s plan to convert the unoccupied portion of the structure to a “lifestyle center,” containing condominiums, offices and shops.
[silver&wrightlaw.com]
Nov. 24, 2021: Hawthorne City Attorney Robert Kim, assisted by outside counsel Silver & Wright, LLP, and responding to numerous, continuing complaints of neighbors and other interested parties, files a suit against mall owners M & A Gabaee, LLP, for abatement of hazardous conditions resulting from dozens of building-, plumbing-, electrical- and other code violations which pose a significant threat to those who enter the property – including children. These violations resulted from unpermitted structural work, the conduct of illegal business on site and insufficient maintenance. A further safety threat is posed by repeated break-ins of transients and children.
[Wikipedia]
2022: The central entrances that served the former Broadway and J.C. Penney are heavily damaged by arson. All plans are on indefinite hold.
[Los Angeles Times, Dec. 15, 2022, “Beverly Hills developer gets 4 years in prison for bribing L.A. County official,” by Michael Finnegan] Armand Gabaee, co-founder and -manager of the Charles Co., a Hollywood-based development firm, pled guilty in US District Court to charges that he gave L.A. County official, Thomas J. Shepos, monthly cash payoffs from 2010 to 2017 in return for county leases, attractive rental terms and confidential information. In 2016, he offered to buy Shepos a million-dollar house in Northern California’s wine country in exchange for a $45-million, 10-year County lease on space in Gabaee’s Hawthorne Plaza. Gabaee immediately moved to sell the property, claiming that the long-term governmental lease increased the value of the shopping center from his purchase price, $17-million [sic], to $500-million. Beginning in 2016, Shepos cooperated with FBI investigators to soften penalties for lying to the FBI and filing a false tax return. Wiretapped conversations captured Gabaee’s offer of bribes. US District Judge, George H. Wu, sentenced Gabaee to four years in prison and a $1.1-million fine. He called the case an example of “systemic” public corruption.
[City Attorney Robert Kim’s office]
Sept. 11, 2025: City Attorney Robert Kim’s office has announced that the City has been granted an junction against The Charles Company and affiliate, M&A Gabaee, owner of the Hawthorne Plaza mall, which requires that the property be redeveloped or demolished by August 31, 2026. If the terms of the injunction are not satisfied by that date, the City will appoint a receiver to take control of the property to abate the safety and health hazards, code violations and illegal activities that the shopping center has attracted since its closure in 1998. The present owner acquired the property in 2001.
An interpretation by the writer – an Hawthorne Historical Society member, 2022:
In hindsight, the mall was a wishfully-conceived, overly-ambitious, ill-timed answer to changing economic- and societal conditions that were developing throughout the country and that continue to affect downtown commercial districts (including Hawthorne’s) into present times. The project’s potential was misjudged, its inception was sluggish, its execution was lagging, its success was brief and its vulnerability was broad. On balance, it did, for a while, serve the people of the South Bay area and stand as object of pride for the citizens of Hawthorne. Powerful forces beyond the control of-, and unimagined by its creators, collaborators, owners and operators found the weaknesses in the concept on which the Plaza was built and contributed to its demise. This is all in hindsight.
For nearly three decades, successive City Councils pursued the creation of non-infrastructure public facilities such as city service buildings, libraries, parks, etc., while incrementally reducing assessments on residential property taxes. The successes of this policy were regularly brought to the attention of the homeowners it benefitted while reflecting favorably on incumbent council members and city managers.
In the early 1960s, a decline in revenue from sales tax – an important resource in supporting this policy – was noted. Interested parties sought the cause of the decline and a means to correct it. Some nearby South Bay cities were not experiencing a similar decline. It was felt that this could be attributed in part to the development of popular regional shopping centers, like South Bay Center in Redondo Beach (1959) and Torrance’s Del Amo Fashion Square (starting with the Broadway, also in 1959). In an age of widespread car ownership, local residents were comfortable driving to these modern, attractive venues to shop.
Hawthorne’s downtown shopping district consisted largely of small, individually-owned businesses in buildings ranging in age from pre-incorporation to early postwar (WWII). They could not compete well with the handsome outlets of national chains in the shopping centers. The success of modern shopping centers was appealing to the interested parties in Hawthorne and both the federal- and California governments had created agencies to assist in funding urban renewal.
In March, 1965, the City Council committed to renewal by creating (itself as) the Redevelopment Agency and providing substantial funding for its activities. A lengthy series of (expensive) studies was funded and the concept of a shopping center was already being favored. The decision to sacrifice the original center of Hawthorne’s community life was implicit in that commitment.
The format of a shopping center actually evolved from ideas first employed to renew the flagging attraction of urban shopping streets. Vehicular traffic was eliminated or strictly confined to create an area where shoppers could walk with safety and comfort in direct approach to the stores. Several amenities were added to serve the shoppers and to encourage them to spend time in the area: pleasant landscaping, easy pathways, seating, pedestrian services. The leap to the shopping center came with the idea to enclose these amenities indoors within encircling stores, surrounded by large fields of parking. Consequently, shopping centers were built on large tracts of open land at the edge of urban areas. New roadways were often created to transport eager shoppers to these facilities.
Hawthorne would have to de-construct this format to gain a mall. Built-up land would have to be acquired and cleared of existing businesses and residents. Existing transportation corridors and infrastructure would have to be modified to accommodate the new facility. The Plaza would have to be made compatible with the urban area it adjoined. And there were the numerous financial, legal and social aspects that had to be addressed to get the project underway. It had been claimed that the Plaza would be developed without using City general funds and that it might soon generate revenue sufficient to retire local property tax assessments.
Fancifully, groundbreaking took place with the interment of a time capsule on the site in January, 1974, but excavation for the parking beneath the mall structure was not made until the summer of 1975 – ten years after the creation of the Redevelopment Agency, and shortly before the once predicted opening of the Plaza. Construction progressed steadily and, at last, the Grand Opening attracted some notoriety in February, 1977.
From the beginning, some concerns were revealed in oblique discussions about mall operations: the unpopularity of using the City-financed parking structure, the concern for shopper safety, the worry about full occupancy. Downturns in the national economy, in lucrative employment by the local aerospace industry, an apparent rise in crime, destructive social disruption and other forces weakened the trade in the mall and lessened its appeal. It continued by having become established as a shopping option for the local population.
Fourteen years after its opening, with diminishing occupancy and diminishing levels of merchandise, it was purchased as a potential subject for renovation. Twenty-two years after opening, its last internal store closed and it became a ghost mall. In the interim, other owners and interested parties have floated concepts to bring the Hawthorne Plaza into new life. They have all submerged.
Forty-five years after its opening, the Hawthorne Plaza is a somewhat notorious derelict. The land that supports it, and perhaps the mall itself, is waiting through the passage of time on the geologic scale to be put to an appropriate and worthy purpose.
“Politicians, ugly buildings and prostitutes become respectable with age”
-Mark Twain