The long-empty site of the old San Pedro courthouse is suddenly popular again, with Los Angeles County fielding fresh pitches for the downtown lot after an exclusive development deal quietly expired in December. Supervisor Janice Hahn said this week that school leaders, neighborhood groups and the local Business Improvement District have all jumped in with ideas that range from an arts-focused campus to a new hotel, putting a high-profile piece of downtown back in the middle of San Pedro’s ongoing waterfront makeover debate.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Hahn laid out the situation and urged residents to weigh in, stressing that the parcel falls under California’s Surplus Land Act and that “the prior agreement expired in December.” Her Facebook post includes photos and short descriptions of the concepts that county supervisors and neighbors are now kicking around.
A stop-start history with a developer
The county owns the 2.79-acre property and has been trying for years to get something built there. In 2018, officials tapped Genton Cockrum Partners to negotiate a mixed-use project on the site. Los Angeles County records spell out the exclusive-negotiation and option-to-lease agreements and show that supervisors signed off on several deadline extensions to keep the deal alive.
The old courthouse itself came down in early 2022 as part of that plan, clearing the site but not the controversy. Local coverage at the time highlighted ongoing fights over the future of the land, and LAist documented the demolition.
What’s being proposed now
Hahn’s post boils the current moment down to two very different visions. POLA High School is pitching a workforce-development and arts campus that would include a gym, theater and open-air amphitheater, with the idea that those amenities would be open to the public outside school hours. It is a school plan with a civic twist, aiming to function as both campus and community hub.
On the other side, the San Pedro Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District has floated a two-phase concept. The first phase would turn the lot into temporary festival space and parking. The second phase calls for a private hotel, additional parking and an event park that would slide neatly into the broader waterfront revival. According to Hahn’s Facebook post, POLA plans to hold a public information session next Thursday, June 18, in San Pedro to walk neighbors through its proposal.
Why the Surplus Land Act matters
The legal fine print may matter as much as the renderings. Because the parcel is governed by California’s Surplus Land Act, the county is required to prioritize proposals that deliver affordable housing and to follow a formal notice-and-negotiation process overseen by the state. Guidance from HCD explains that public agencies have to post a Notice of Availability and negotiate in good faith with eligible affordable-housing developers, which can limit non-housing uses if a qualifying housing plan comes forward.
That framework narrows the menu of options and tacks on a procedural hurdle that county leaders must clear as they weigh San Pedro’s pitch for an artsy school campus against the BID’s push for a hotel and event space.
What’s next for the parcel
Hahn has stressed that nothing is locked in yet and that county staff will be gathering community feedback while they sort through the legal and policy requirements. Past decisions offer a hint of how complicated that process can get. Los Angeles County documents show that supervisors have previously signed off on conditional extensions tied to financing benchmarks and site-safety work, so any next step will have to balance those existing obligations with Surplus Land Act rules and the strong opinions of San Pedro residents who are watching a rare piece of open downtown real estate hang in the balance.
