City of L.A. Approves New Wholesale Mart
The city of Los Angeles has given the green light for more showroom space near the Los Angeles Fashion District.
City officials last week issued building permits for the Stanford Wholesale Mart, a 109-unit facility to be built at 813 E. 12th St., between Stanford and Towne avenues.
The developers—a partnership that includes Paramount Textiles executive Shawn Zackary and Action Investment Group Inc. partner Mayer Separzadeh—plan to build a seven-story facility specializing in women’s apparel. The units will be between 750 and 1,500 square feet each and will be available to wholesale tenants.
“We already have about 450 applicants, and it’s about 50 percent pre-leased,” said Zackary. “This area is hot right now. Everybody’s moving toward Stanford.”
The Fashion District’s Executive Director Kent Smith agreed.
“The push is heading east,” he said. “A great deal of the energy is being created by the San Pedro Wholesale Mart. With the city market to the west and the L.A. Unified School District land to the south restricting construction, the push is east.”
“The site is actually just outside the Fashion District’s border and may be an area to consider for annexation in 2008, when the Business Improvement District is up for renewal,” Smith said.
The Stanford mart is just east of the San Pedro corridor, which has garnered lots of traffic from retailers looking for in-stock discount juniors and women’s apparel and accessories. Many developers have been feeding off the traffic.
Zackary said the project is ontrack to open next June. “We’re doing soil compaction right now. In about a month, you will see more than 100 construction workers on the site,” he said. “It will be one of the tallest structures in the area at 70 feet.”
Zackary is negotiating for a bank along with convenience retail. The facility will feature mezzanines, upper-level parking and high ceilings. For more information on the project, call (213) 388-9990.
—Robert McAllister
