Erewhon is moving ahead with plans to drop a major new outpost into Downtown Los Angeles at 940 S. Hill Street, turning a long-vacant commercial building into a flagship-scale market. The concept pairs a sizable grocery floor with an expanded cafe program and plenty of seating, bringing the chain's signature prepared foods and smoothies to South Park's growing residential core.
Plans and permits
According to a filing with the L.A. Department of City Planning, the market is slated to occupy roughly 17,500 square feet and provide seating for up to 120 diners. The application, logged as case ZA-2026-736-CUB, also seeks a conditional use permit to allow alcohol sales and would keep an existing rooftop lot for up to 46 parking spaces. The case is now parked in City Planning's review queue, where it will work its way through the usual bureaucratic obstacle course.
Design and space
Design work by studio AO calls for reconfiguring the structure to add two extra tenant bays alongside the main market. Plans outline a roughly 5,826-square-foot space at street level and an 8,446-square-foot area in the basement that would sit next to Erewhon's core operations. An Erewhon-linked entity bought the property earlier for about $13.5 million, and reporting indicates the rooftop parking will be preserved for customers and staff.
As detailed by What Now, the company intends to program the location with its familiar mix of grocery aisles, grab-and-go options, and hot-food offerings, only on a scale that suggests this will be a serious DTLA statement piece.
Site history and legal baggage
The Hill Street parcel arrives with some political mileage on it. It was once entitled for a 20-story apartment tower linked to developer Dae Yong Lee, a project that later became entangled in the federal corruption probe surrounding former City Councilmember José Huizar. Lee was accused of paying cash to influence approvals, according to Courthouse News, and has since been sentenced, per a Department of Justice release.
This is not Erewhon's first flirtation with the block. A 2018 proposal to land a store at 9th and Hill ultimately fizzled, with the deal abandoned by 2020, according to commercial real estate reporting from RENTV. The new plan effectively gives the chain another shot at planting its flag in the neighborhood.
What comes next for neighbors
The latest filing now heads into City Planning's public review process, where the alcohol request will be weighed under standard Conditional Use Permit rules or, if it qualifies, through streamlined administrative review. The city's Restaurant Beverage Program can speed approvals for certain sit-down restaurants in specific areas, but a traditional CUP typically comes with conditions, environmental review, and a public hearing that can determine operating hours, service rules, and other fine print, as outlined by the L.A. Department of City Planning.
Urbanize LA notes that there is no public construction or opening schedule on file yet, so neighbors should expect more information to surface as hearings are scheduled in the coming months. For now, South Park residents can safely assume that their next hyper-local grocery upgrade is inching its way through City Hall.
