Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza: 77 Years of Transformation from Pioneering Open-Air Center to Community Hub

The Crenshaw Center in Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, opened its doors on November 21, 1947, as the Broadway-Crenshaw Center, marking a significant milestone as California's first post-World War II open-air retail complex and one of the nation's earliest regional shopping centers designed for automobile access. The original complex, anchored by a five-story Broadway department store, a Woolworth variety store, and a Vons supermarket, spanned 35 acres with 13 acres dedicated to parking for 7,000 cars. The tweet by Brian Roemmele succinctly captured this historical shift, stating, "Crenshaw Center in the Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, 1947. It no longer appears this way."

This pioneering retail development, featuring Streamline Moderne architecture, quickly expanded to include more stores. By the mid-1960s, as African Americans moved into the Crenshaw District and Baldwin Hills, the mall evolved into a crucial economic and cultural center for the surrounding Black communities. Its success, however, faced challenges in the 1970s due to demographic shifts and competition from newer malls, leading to a decline in sales.

A major redevelopment in the late 1980s transformed the center into an enclosed, two-level regional mall, reopening in November 1989 as the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. This revitalization was spearheaded by then-Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who envisioned a major shopping center for the neighborhood. Subsequent additions, including Magic Johnson Theatres in 1995 and a Walmart in 2003, helped sustain the mall, though anchor stores like Sears and Macy's eventually closed.

In recent years, the mall has been at the center of significant community and development discussions. In 2018, the city approved plans for an additional 2 million square feet of mixed-use development, including apartments, condominiums, a hotel, and office space. After several contested sales, Harridge Development Group acquired the mall for approximately $111 million in 2021, with plans to modernize the center and build housing on the parking lot. The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza continues to serve as a vital community space, hosting events like the Leimert Park Book Fair and the Pan African Film Festival, while adapting to ongoing urban development and changing retail landscapes.