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| Two single family homes to be demolished on San Jose St with the bowling alley on the left possibly being saved and the former Ralphs supermarket on the right being developed and the remainder of the shopping complex possibly staying the same. |
I had to read this hearing notice several times as I was surprised to learn that the Googie designed Mission Hills Bowling Alley by LA architect Martin Stern Jr. will be saved as part of a new commercial development that will include a mix of retail, restaurants, medical office, gym, warehouse, and bank uses spread over one and two story buildings. Readers may recall that the bowling alley announced their closing in April 2015 which officially closed on May 31st.
The hearing notice doesnt go into great detail (notice at the bottom of the post) about the final design at the shopping center located at 10310 Sepulveda Blvd sandwiched in between the 118 Freeway and Devonshire Blvd. However there are some clues including the fact that the bowling alley and next door Ralphs supermarket are both empty while the other stores on the property are still operating. The hearing notice also states that two single family homes near the bowling alley will be demolished which I will go into detail later. And there is a small graphic at the developer's website shown below which might possibly show where the current bowling alley and Ralphs supermarket stand.
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| Image courtesy Google Maps |
Another surprise is that this development has been long in the making since 2007 where the property including the single family homes were purchased by Primestor Mission Hills LLC on December 19, 2007 for $29,250,000 from the Pond Family Trust, Isla Jane Frantz, Dorothy J. Bollard Trust, and Ann M. Quinn. The property was later transferred to Prime/CRDF Mission Hills LLC on January 16, 2013 for $21,500,000 which might be a joint ownership with Primestor and another interest but not sure.
Primestor has been around since 1992 developing properties throughout the LA area who recently purchased the
Panorama Mall in an off-market deal earlier this month.
The two single family homes included in this development are nearly identical mirror image 3 Bed/2 Baths at slightly under 1500 sqft built in 1956 located 15348 and 15342 San Jose Street. There is also a separate parking lot entrance at 15354 San Jose St that measures 7,067 sqft and was built in 1966.
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| 15342 San Jose Street, image courtesy Google Maps. |
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| 15348 San Jose Street, image courtesy Google Maps. |
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| 15354 San Jose Street, image courtesy Google Maps. |
One of Primestor's beliefs is that "Community Stakeholders and area residents are integral partners to designing and planning for its regional and neighborhood shopping centers." So lets hope that stays true and the Mission Hills Bowl is preserved as it sounds like it will be.
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