Hollydale Expected to See Change as Various Projects Begin

The final quarter of the 2020 has ushered in the newest face lift to South Gate’s Area 5. From new multi-use residential areas to long overdue street updates, here are some of the projects coming to this small part of town:

Construction on New Living Spaces

PATHs located on Imperial Highway [IN CONSTRUCTION]

• PATH Villas at South Gate will be a 60-unit affordable apartment community that includes studio and one-bedroom apartments. There will be 31 studio units, 28 one-bedroom units and 1 two-bedroom manager’s unit with a focus on housing Veterans and men and women with fragile health moving out of homelessness. The original date of completion was slated for Spring of 2020 but seeing as how that date has long passed it is now looking to be completed sometime in 2021.

Jefferson on Imperial [IN CONSTRUCTION]

• Jefferson on Imperial has also begun construction and is scheduled to be available for first occupancy in spring 2021. Jefferson on Imperial is billed as a 244-home luxury community whose overall design is inspired by the nearby downtown Los Angeles arts district consisting of four residential stories including mezzanine units. According to the developer's website, "Residents at Jefferson on Imperial will enjoy a comprehensive array of high-quality amenities including a resort style pool and spa with cabanas, a poolside turf lounge, an outdoor lounge and seating area with flat screen TV, two-sided indoor/outdoor fireplace, and BBQ grill area with ample seating, a dog park with dog wash stations, a Zen courtyard with seating area, a large courtyard with ping pong and outdoor fireplace, and secondary courtyard with Adirondack chairs around an over-sized fire pit."

Downey Homes for Veterans [IN PLANNING]

• This development is anticipated to begin construction in December 2021 as a mixed-use development combining supportive and affordable housing for chronically homeless Veterans and Veteran families with 100 new affordable homes. There will be as of now, 14,000 sf of open space and a 4,400 sf Workforce Development Hub serving both the residents and the community at-large with job search assistance, employment training, and skill building services. Residential amenities are planned to include a 1,500 square foot resident center, four case management/resident services offices, and a Veteran’s memorial public art located at the corner of Gardendale and Garfield.

LA County RLA Project [IN PLANNING]

• The largest development while not in Area 5 is located directly on the border line in neighboring Downey at the site of the old Rancho Los Amigos Campus, also known as the Poor Farm or as some call it incorrectly, “Hollydale Asylum” (There is no evidence to suggest this was ever used as an asylum, sorry to burst the bubble of the local tall tale) The County proposes to develop three new County administrative buildings (total of approximately 65,000 sf) in the Development Area on the Project Site, including the Internal Services Department (ISD) Headquarters, Probation Department Headquarters, and a County Office Building. Along that, there is a proposed Sport Complex planned in the area that will include soccer fields and parking structure.

Planned Street Updates

According to a press release from the city of South Gate, plans are underway to begin construction of street improvements that will be performed on two major roadway corridors in Area 5 (Hollydale) so anticipate traffic in the coming months : (1) Garfield Avenue, between Jefferson Avenue and the South City Limit, (2) Imperial Highway, between Los Angeles River and Old River School Road.

• Proposed improvements for all of the project segments will include pavement rehabilitation; sidewalk, curb, gutter and driveway approach repairs; new street furniture and improvements needed for ADA compliance.

Additional improvements are proposed in each segment as follows:

• On Imperial Highway, improvements include new raised center medians with landscape and hardscape, landscape up-lighting, traffic signal modifications, new bus shelters, new signing and stripping and resurfacing at rail-road crossing.
• On Garfield Avenue, the improvements include new landscaping and up-lighting, decorative street furniture, and an infiltration well.

Naturally, there are many opinions that come along with construction of so many new buildings in Area 5. The increase in population and the number of new visitors to the area has had residents asking the city council of both Downey and South Gate to consider a substation for Area 5, with some concerned about the transitional homes being placed near schools, libraries, community centers and parks. With so many multi-story buildings another obvious concern is that of traffic and a drastic increase of population density in the neighborhood. Hollydale had previously been an area reminiscent of the quite suburban neighborhoods that are hard to come by in an increasingly urbanized county of Los Angeles. Whether or not the neighborhood is ready, it has begun the process of becoming part of the fast paced urban Los Angeles atmosphere.

Special thank you to Virginia for keeping me in the loop and up to date with all this information!