Giving Crenshaw a new look.

For the Crenshaw Corridor, rehabilitation has been a slow and stunted ordeal. But developer Abe Shofet last year opened the Coliseum Center--an adaptive reuse project that has jump-started the process.

The corridor along Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles was once a booming center of local African American culture, but since the 1992 L.A. Riots, it has been largely ignored by large developers with the money and vision to revitalize the area. The Coliseum Center was the first new large retail center to open on the street in years.

But for Shofet, co-owner and chief executive of Axiom Real Estate Investments Inc., the project was a challenging first stab at adaptive reuse.

Shofet said he is pleased with the $18 million development, which took six years to create and includes a Starbucks franchise in a former bowling alley coffee shop.

"We had to sort of make our way through the maze of regulations to try to find out how we could create a viable project," said Shofet, who admits he often butted heads with preservation advocates over the Holiday Bowl.

Shofet is no poster boy for historic preservation. He worked with the City Council and the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission to reuse the coffee shop. which was designated a historic structure, but the bowling alley was razed. Holiday Bowl closed in 2000, the same year Shofet went into escrow to purchase the building from a partnership of local landowners. He did not close on the property until 2003 because of the complex preservation process that needed to be worked out with the city'.

The end result, even if it has not thrilled preservationists, has been a hit with the community and its leaders.

"The development is very important when you realize what it replaced," said City Council-member Bernard Parks, who represents much of the area. "We had a bowling alley barely hanging on. The community is overjoyed to have a sit-down restaurant and a combination of stores that gives a great deal of variety. It is a beautiful looking center the way it has been designed."

The 64,000-square-foot retail project at 3730 Crenshaw Blvd. opened March 30 with anchor tenants Big 5 Sporting Goods, Walgreens, a locally-owned Denny's franchise and the Magic Johnson Starbucks, among others. The Starbucks franchise preserved the original facade of the coffee shop, which opened in 1958 and features distinctive Goggle styling, a futuristic architecture that become popular in the post-World War II era.

"At the end of the day it turned out to be a beautiful project and a wonderful asset for that part of that town," said Hamid Behdad, former Director of Adaptive Reuse Projects for the City of Los Angeles. "I could see how thrilled the neighborhood was."

The development also features a preserved neon sign from Majestic Pontiac, a car dealership that was once at the site. This neon sign served as the basis for the shopping center's architectural motif.

Local activists and developers say that Shofet should be commended for sticking with the project when he faced opposition. Several community members said that Shofet did an excellent job of balancing preservationist aims while providing the community with a much-needed retail development.

LEADER

Abe Shofet

Born: Iran, 1949

Position: Co-owner and chief executive of Axiom Real EState Investments Inc.

Accomplishments: Axiom has developed over 30 retail, residential and office projects in Los Angeles County since the mid-1980s, including the recently opened Coliseum Center in South Los Angeles

Quote: "We are looking for another adaptive reuse opportunity--it is a matter of finding a proper project. I will definitely go for another again."