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• Jul. 16, 2007
From None to Tons of Grocery Options

By KEELEY WEBSTER
CREJ Staff Writer
Was it just a year ago that the influx of new downtown residents were wondering if they would ever have a grocery?
Now, the long-awaited Ralphs being developed as part of CIM Group's $247 million mixed-use South Village Project is slated to hold its opening ceremony July 20.

British retailer Tesco plans to roll out 100 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada, including one at the corner of Adams Boulevard and Central Avenue in South Los Angeles.

And Moinian Group, the developer of a 4.6-acre mixed-use project including 700 units in two high-rise residential towers named Figueroa Central, has reportedly signed a Whole Foods Market to anchor the 250,000 square feet of retail, according to Jack Kyser, executive vice president and chief economist at Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. The site, located at 11th and Figueroa streets, would look to benefit from the adjacent L.A. Live development.

Kyser said the grocery store is signed, sealed and delivered, but a Whole Foods spokesman denied that anything has been signed.
All that Shawn Glasser, the company's spokesman, would say is that Whole Foods has been looking at sites in downtown Los Angeles for years.
Talk of a Whole Foods in South Park near L.A. Live has taken downtown real estate watchers, who expected a Whole Foods at The Related Cos.' Grand Avenue project, by surprise, Kyser said.

The Related Cos. has yet to announce leases for the 450,000 square feet of retail planned in its $2 billion Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles that also includes 3,000 condominiums and 681,000 square feet of office space.
The earliest The Related Cos. would probably make additional announcements about retail planned for the Grand Avenue project would be later this year, coinciding with the October groundbreaking, said William Witte, managing partner of The Related Cos. of California.

It's not unusual for a project of this size with a three-and-a-half-year construction schedule to start without tenants in place, Witte added.
The Related Cos. executives have long talked about an upscale or specialty grocer such as Whole Foods, Gelsons or Bristol Farms, as one of the project's anchors.
"It's been clear that the space would accommodate a Whole Foods," Witte said. "But we have been talking about having a grocery store since the beginning."
The Related Cos. also might consider a middle-market grocery like a Ralphs or a Vons, Witte said, adding that those groceries have made a lot of changes in their offerings.

Whole Foods seemed like a lock after its success in The Related Cos.' Warner Center project in New York City. Based on the demographics near South Park, Kyser said he could see why Whole Foods would choose Figueroa Central over the Grand Avenue project.
"There is a larger residential base to draw from near South Park," Kyser said. "There is a lot of residential near the Harbor Freeway, especially along Wilshire Boulevard."
In addition to the new residential projects already completed in South Park, a grocery near L.A. Live would also benefit from proximity to the office workers in the Ernst & Young building at 7th and Figueroa streets and students at University of Southern California.

There is also nothing to say that Whole Foods couldn't open a store near L.A. Live and one at Grand Avenue.
While some groceries typically won't open two stores within a three-mile radius of another of its stores in fear of cannibalizing its customer base, that doesn't apply to Whole Foods, which plans to open 18 new stores in California.
"Site selection for Whole Foods Market is based on customer demand, not on specific geographic parameters," Glasser said.