City leaders Wednesday unveiled a $100 million plan that re-imagines San Pedro’s Ports O’ Call Village, a 30-acre waterfront dining and retail complex, as a public market featuring an amphitheater and the Red Car trolley.
One of the first planned changes is to rename the area the San Pedro Public Market, which developers envision as being displayed in large block letters in a style similar to those above Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Ghirardelli sign in San Francisco.
The marketplace would include shopping, restaurants and office space, as well as a half-mile promenade and the amphitheater, according to renderings released by The Ratkovich Co. and Jerico Development.
The developers also plan to include the Red Car trolley, using vintage and replica Red Cars that were part of the Pacific Electric Railway that ran in the early 1900s around Los Angeles.
Councilman Joe Buscaino said harbor communities have long looked forward to seeing the Ports O’ Call Village get redeveloped. The proposed market would be the “defining jewel” of the Los Angeles Waterfront and a “game- changer” spurring economic opportunities in the surrounding San Pedro area, he said.
Developer Wayne Ratkovich said he looked around the country and the world for a spot to build what he calls a “a park that pays for itself, a development that is financially self-supporting, but offers the characteristics of a public park,” before settling on San Pedro.
“The project we are proposing will occupy a unique place in Southern California,” Ratkovich said. “It is one of the few places where the city of Los Angeles touches the Pacific Ocean and the only place where you can witness the enormous scale of international commerce while dining and shopping.”
Mayor Eric Garcetti said the proposed public market would “serve as the centerpiece for all of the redevelopment we’re doing in San Pedro.”
Construction is anticipated to begin in 2017, concurrent with $52 million in upgrades that are expected to be taking place at the Port of Los Angeles.
The plan must still be approved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners and the Los Angeles City Council.
The commission and developer will hold a community forum about the plans at 6 p.m. at the Warner Grand Theater.
—Staff and wire reports