A request by Los Angeles County to acquire four acres at the corner of Vermont and Manchester avenues in South Los Angeles that had been vacant since the 1992 riots through eminent domain has been was approved by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge.
The county sued in December 2017 to condemn the property on the east side of the 8400 and 8500 blocks of South Vermont Avenue from owner Eli Sasson, who had left the property largely undeveloped, according to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
The ruling by Judge Daniel Murphy clears the way for development to begin on the project that will include housing, retail, a Metro transit plaza and a boarding academy to be developed and operated in partnership with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to train students for careers in the transportation industry.
“South LA has waited for a fresh start on Vermont Manchester for 26 years,” Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said. “Over the course of almost three decades, residents endured crime, blight, violence and neglect, all while waiting for empty promises and false starts to produce something real. Now, a longstanding injustice has been resolved.”
