A dead mall
A visit to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza has always been in my plans. An urban center built on a much a much smaller parcel of land than its peers in the San Fernando Valley and Inland Empire, the tightly built, art deco structure on West Martin Luther King Boulevard actually saw decades of success until just recently.
The building originally housing The Broadway along Crenshaw Boulevard.
It was the final day of my recent trip to LA when I finally got a chance to see the streamline moderne classic for myself. The main portion of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza stands to the southwest of the intersection of West MLK and Crenshaw Boulevard. I rose up from the subterranean Martin Luther King Jr. subway station to see myself in the shadow of the former Broadway store. With its curved forms and nautical elements, the building displays the lines and movements of an old timey ocean liner or rail car.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza lease plan ca. 2002. View the full PDF version here.
I started with the former May company building turned Macy’s which is actually located to the north of MLK and connected to the main facility by a wide skybridge. The massive structure, though designed and built completely separately from the original Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza complex, actually matches the building to the south architecturally so that they look as if they were built as a single unit.
1 & 2- The southeastern face of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza and mall entrance. 3 to 6- The second level outdoor plaza on the mall’s Crenshaw Boulevard side. 7 & 8- The former Sears store.
After looping the former anchor and making my way across West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard again, I walked down the eastern facing edifice of what was once an original anchor at the plaza, The Broadway, admiring the wedding cake towers and spires, the translucent glass tiling and the rounded edges. It was a treat for the eyes.
As the anchor building was no longer occupied, there were no entrances to the mall on that entire side despite abutting busy Crenshaw Boulevard. It wasn’t until making my way past the former Broadway and toward the former Sears that I finally came upon what almost seemed to be an intentionally hidden entranceway to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza common areas.
1 to 7- The former Macy’s store on the north side of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is connected to the main facility by a wide skybridge. 8- The view of the first Macy’s location from its second location.
Before entering, I was happy to see the venerable retailer’s distinct red nineties logo still accessorizing the outside of the former Sears even though the store had ceased operations in early 2020. The rest of the façade abutting the parking deck, however, was not nearly as noteworthy as what existed closer to the main thoroughfare to the east.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza lease plan ca. 2011. View the full PDF version here.
The interior, though not nearly as deserving of one’s admiration as the historic façade, was brightly lit and modernized. The three anchor spots, most recently housing from south to north Sears, Wal-Mart and Macy’s, were all darkened. Even a majority of the storefronts had their gates perpetually closed, and those open were occupied by a mix of both national and mom and pop names.
1 to 6- The court area outside of the former Sears mall entrances. 7 to 10- The upper tier of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza main concourse.
Double tiered throughout except for the upper potion extending over MLK, I was pleasantly surprised to see, despite the numerous vacancies, there was still notable foot traffic inside of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. The TJ Maxx was still bright and open for business while even the food court was rather well attended and occupied.
It wasn’t long before I was on my way to my next destination, the hulking corpse of Hawthorne Plaza. But I have to say that I was mostly pleasantly surprised by the state of today’s Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. It seems that it’s just too easy to overlook the historical significance of these early retail destinations, both architecturally and socially, and dismiss them as just run of the mill dead malls.
The upper and lower levels of the main concourse between Sears and center court.
The open-air Broadway-Crenshaw Center officially opened in 1947 as one of the first automobile oriented shopping centers in the United States. As its conjoined name implies, the complex saw its beginnings in the post World War II forties as two separate centers consisting of a May Company focused portion north of what is today Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard while The Broadway portion to the south made up the other.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Mallmanac ca. 2019. View the full PDF version here.
The half-million square foot center was also home to a Vons Supermarket. They were soon joined by men’s clothing retailer Silverwoods as well as Desmond’s department Store. It was in the following decades when the bridge over MLK, called Santa Barbara Boulevard at the time, was constructed to connect the separate buildings into a single facility.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza’s center court from the upper mezzanine.
During the late eighties the Broadway-Crenshaw Center underwent extensive renovations which increased its gross leasable area to 870,000 square feet while adding its newest anchor, Sears. By the end of the decade of excess, the interior was completely enclosed. The new climate controlled shopping mall reopened in 1989 with its present day moniker, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
The nineties were the mall’s most recent high point. Magic Johnson had opened a branch of his theater chain at the plaza while May Company switched to Robinsons-May in 1993. Macy’s took over the original Broadway store just a few years later in 1996. This Macy’s location, however, closed for good in 1999 and was later usurped by Wal-Mart.
1 to 5- The lower floor of center court. 6 to 8- The food court located on the first floor just off of center court.
Macy’s returned to Broadway Hills Crenshaw Plaza in 2006 when Robinsons-May was taken over by the Federated brand. More changes, including an expanded food court, came in the early 2010s. Wal-Mart vacated their location around this time and the historic building has not been occupied since.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza Mallmanac ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.
The early teens also saw the addition of more national names, but Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza seemed to have turned the corner later the same decade with the departure of Sears announced in 2019. Though many of the smaller inline retailers vacated their spots soon after, Macy’s hung on until 2023 when they ended their tenure at the more than 75 year old center.
Inside the skybridge connecting the former Macy’s from the main portion of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza continues to serve its community well. Alternate uses have been proposed though many seem to be at odds with the nature of the surrounding African American community. Whatever is decided, I just hope it involves at least keeping a portion of the noteworthy exterior that makes the aged center stand out from its peers.
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