For decades, we’ve worked hard on the future of downtown and on what it will take to truly bring it back to life.
We’ve watched storefronts struggle, restaurants fight to survive, and small-business owners work tirelessly to preserve this town’s character, even as the spotlight increasingly shifts toward the waterfront.
Now, one of the most important redevelopment opportunities in Downtown San Pedro, the courthouse site, may soon be decided without public input or consultation with the businesses that will be most affected.
The current proposal involving Port of Los Angeles High School (POLAHS) includes plans for a new gymnasium/auditorium, additional Career Technical Education (CTE) classrooms, a Visual & Performing Arts building, and a small amphitheater for events and outdoor performances.
POLAHS is one of the best high schools in the region, with programming you can’t find at most other schools. I support them offering expanded curriculum that prepares students for jobs in the trades and for the future of work in a world of AI. However, I believe this particular location is simply too valuable and too strategically important to local business to become a fenced-off institutional campus.
Downtown San Pedro needs activation. It needs energy, foot traffic, and visitors spending money at local businesses, not just occasionally but every day. A high school complex surrounded by eight-foot security fencing does not accomplish that.
In reality, the site would likely remain inactive for most hours outside of school operations. Yes, there may be occasional basketball games, events, or open houses that draw some visitors downtown one or two nights a week. But that’s not the kind of sustained economic activity our small businesses desperately need.
That’s why I believe this site should instead be developed into something that actively supports the economic future of Downtown San Pedro. I believe the best possible use would be a hotel mixed with public space and parking.
San Pedro is on the verge of something transformational with West Harbor and the continued growth along the waterfront. Millions of visitors are expected to come through the Harbor Area in the coming years, especially as the cruise industry continues to grow.
But here’s the question we should be asking: How do we get those visitors off the waterfront and into Downtown San Pedro? Imagine cruise passengers staying overnight in Downtown San Pedro instead of in Long Beach. Imagine visitors walking to local restaurants, shopping in family-owned stores, attending events, and experiencing San Pedro’s authentic culture beyond the waterfront attractions.
A thoughtfully designed mixed-use project could also include public gathering areas, green space for community events, and structured parking that would benefit the downtown as a whole, not just a single institution.
Cities thrive when their downtowns feel alive, walkable, and welcoming. A hotel would generate activity throughout the day and into the evening. The courthouse property sits in the heart of Downtown San Pedro, arguably one of the most important redevelopment parcels we have left. Once it’s committed to a single-use institutional project, that opportunity is largely lost for generations.
POLAHS has an opportunity to deepen its partnerships with One San Pedro, AltaSea, the Port of LA, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the LA Harbor to provide the space they need more efficiently and to gain access to additional funding through collaboration.
San Pedro’s small businesses have carried this community for decades. Family-owned restaurants, local retailers, coffee shops, and neighborhood institutions are the heartbeat of downtown. As exciting as waterfront development may be, we cannot afford to focus so heavily on the harbor that we forget the businesses and people who built San Pedro long before West Harbor arrived.
We have to think beyond simply filling a parcel. We need to ask what kind of downtown we want 20 or 30 years from now. Do we want a downtown that attracts visitors, residents, investment, and small-business growth? Or do we want another inactive block that closes itself off behind fences most of the week?
Make no mistake, a hotel will be challenging to finance, build, and operate. I have asked the Port of LA to study the need and feasibility of building a number of hotels in San Pedro. Whether it’s a hotel or something else, I’m asking the County to hold public meetings to discuss options and provide full transparency for the courthouse site. This is too historic a decision to make behind closed doors or without public input, and we only have one chance to get it right. spt
Lee Williams is a local real estate expert, community advocate, and harbor commissioner at the Port of LA. He believes in smart growth and investing in community, culture, art, and history. He can be reached at lee@lamove.com.
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