The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The shuttered courthouse surrounded by fencing in preparation for a Feb. 9, 2022, demolition, in San Pedro on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The shuttered courthouse surrounded by fencing in preparation for the start of demolition on Feb. 9, 2022, in San Pedro on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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The county-owned former courthouse property in San Pedro on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Going by earlier plans and timelines, San Pedro’s long-vacant courthouse property renovation, which was set to bring multistory housing and a food court, was to be finished sometime from 2025 to 2026.
But the county-owned parcel at Sixth and Centre streets remains vacant and will now be the focus of a relaunch in planning, according to Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn.
“Right now, I’m taking a fresh look at all the options for this site,” Hahn said in a written comment. “I want to broaden the scope, consider uses beyond housing and make sure what we land on is a welcome addition to Downtown San Pedro.”
A Dec. 2 letter sent by the county’s Real Estate Division to the developer indicated that the option agreement was set to terminate on Dec. 31. Plans for a transition back to the county were moving forward at that time.
A meeting with the outgoing developer, Genton Cockrum Partners, would be planned soon, the letter added, to discuss fencing, utilities and landscaping.
A Hahn aide confirmed on Friday, Jan. 23, that the developer was now out of the project. That developer, who had been shepherding the plans, was traveling and could not be reached for comment on Friday.
But in June 2023, he said the project had been challenging in the years following the pandemic.
“We’re working hard at it,” said Bill Cockrum, senior managing partner and president of Genton Cockrum Partners. “Our goal is to start construction by the end of summer, probably in September. There’s a lot to get accomplished but we’re driving toward that deadline.”
The project hadn’t been easy, Cockrum said.
From the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and, later, with high construction costs, staff shortages and an uncertain economy with rising interest rates, the challenges had been many, he said at that time.
More recent challenges in the development world have been the financial uncertainty posed by some of the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Before Genton, Holland Partner Group was previously selected to build a 250-unit complex on the property after a request for proposals process in 2016. But the Vancouver, Washington, company was unable to reach final terms with the county, according to an article on Urbanize Los Angeles.
The project to convert the site, 505 S. Centre St., formally launched in 2017 when Los Angeles County supervisors approved purchasing the property for $5.2 million. Envisioned was a medium-to-high-rise, mixed-use project with amenities for a public gathering space and cultural, retail, restaurant and residential uses.
Most recent plans for the property had called for a multistory mixed-use residential building with ground-floor space that would include a food hall and outdoor space for community events. The goal was for the space to serve as an anchor for downtown, within close proximity to the emerging new waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles.
Extensions had been granted by the county as construction — in light of the challenges, including securing financing — was taking longer than planned.
The courthouse, demolished in early 2022, operated from 1969 to 2014 and was among many county courthouses closed because of budget constraints. It handled criminal, civil, small claims and traffic matters in its six courtrooms and was opened to replace older courtrooms on the upper floors of the San Pedro Municipal Building.
The building was declared surplus property in 2016, opening the way for discussions to redevelop the 1.8-acre, block-long parcel in downtown San Pedro.
The focus for the ground floor retail space was for a large food hall, which would include full kitchens and room for food vendors, with separate inside spaces providing areas for live music, gaming and golf swing suites. The goal: to activate the corner of Sixth and Centre streets — creating an anchor tenant for the downtown.
Now, however, the future of the site is up in the air once more.