{"id":428072,"date":"2026-08-09T13:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/428072\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:08:10","slug":"inglewood-is-bulldozing-a-shopping-center-with-more-than-20-businesses-for-a-stadium-shuttle-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/428072\/","title":{"rendered":"Inglewood is bulldozing a shopping center with more than 20 businesses for a stadium shuttle system"},"content":{"rendered":"

This\u00a0story\u00a0<\/a>first appeared on\u00a0The LA Local.<\/p>\n

Lavern Upton isn\u2019t ready to move.<\/p>\n

For 15 years, the Inglewood local has been styling hair in a cozy, pink-walled salon in the shopping center at Market Street and Florence Avenue. But soon, Upton and all of her neighboring businesses will have to leave.<\/p>\n

The city plans to take over and bulldoze the shopping center \u2014 home to more than 20 businesses from restaurants to a jeweler\u2014 through eminent domain<\/a> to make way for one hub of a new shuttle bus system connecting the nearby Metro K Line station to Inglewood\u2019s stadium district.<\/p>\n

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re upending my livelihood,\u201d Upton said while on a break at Inglewood Beauty Salon.<\/p>\n

Mayor James Butts told The LA Local the Inglewood Transit Connector<\/a> project is for the greater good of the city. Still, he said, city officials have empathy for the businesses that are being displaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city feels for the people that don\u2019t want to relocate,\u201d Butts said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Inglewood plans to build a bus plaza and parking in place of this shopping center on Market Street and Florence Avenue. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Isaiah Murtaugh Barish<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

The LA Local<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

More than 20 businesses face the bulldozer<\/p>\n

Inglewood has recently redoubled efforts to boost the flagging Market Street commercial corridor<\/a>, one link in a chain of rapid redevelopment that started when the city approved the construction of SoFi Stadium in 2015.<\/p>\n

Along with the shuttle bus system, the city is putting $8.5 million into streetscape improvements and business renovation grants along Market Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear exactly when the shopping center will be shut down. Multiple business owners told The LA Local they expect to be out this fall. Sanjeev Shah, an engineer for the transit connector project, wrote in a February LA Superior Court filing that the city needs to take over the land on Oct. 1 and start construction by Oct. 21 in order to wrap up in time for the 2028 Olympics.<\/p>\n

Butts, though, said he did not know the exact timeline for the shopping center\u2019s demise, and neither the city\u2019s development services director nor a project consultant responded to inquiries about the takeover date.<\/p>\n

Already, several of the shopping center storefronts appear empty and papered over. There are still businesses hanging on, including Red\u2019s Flavor Table and House of Tacos. Upton is also trying to stick around as long as she can, even though she\u2019s found another, more expensive, salon to relocate that\u2019s about five minutes away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to get out of here in five years,\u201d said Upton, who has an eye on retirement. \u201cNow, I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city plans to build a parking structure and bus loop<\/p>\n

The Inglewood City Council set eminent domain proceedings in motion in February<\/a> covering eight different parcels and this summer won court orders to take over parts of the property as early as October. The city budgeted $125 million for purchase costs and to help businesses relocate.<\/p>\n

In place of the Market Street shopping center, the city plans to build a parking structure and a bus loop with bus bays that will pump concert and game attendees south to SoFi Stadium. The complex will take up almost an entire city block, according to project designs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Inglewood Transit Connector project is set to replace a shopping center on Market Street and Florence Avenue with parking and a buz plaza.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy Inglewood Transit Connector<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

The project also calls for two more shuttle hubs at La Brea Avenue and Hillcrest Boulevard and at Hawthorne Boulevard and 111th Street, as well as a second bus route running north to the stadium from Lennox.<\/p>\n

The Inglewood Transit Connector has been in the works since 2018, first envisioned as an automated rail line. The city and Metro first teamed up to pitch a $2 billion automated rail line, pulling in a $1 billion federal grant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Inglewood plans to set up a shuttle bus network to ferry people to the stadium district from the Metro K Line and Metro C Line. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy Inglewood Transit Connector<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

But then the project hit a wall. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters came out against the automated people mover in 2024, calling it \u201cridiculous\u201d in an interview with the LA Times<\/a> and saying she\u2019d do whatever she could to stop it. Waters did not return an interview request for this story.<\/p>\n

Butts told The LA Local this week that the billion-dollar federal grant was frozen, though the city hopes to eventually apply for the funds again.<\/p>\n

As the project stalled last year, and the Olympics loomed, the city pivoted to a shuttle bus network. Planners say they want to bring the automated rail line back in the indeterminate future.<\/p>\n

City officials say the transit connector will help manage visitors<\/p>\n

City officials tout the project as a way to manage the flood of visitors on event days while boosting foot traffic to businesses further down Market Street.<\/p>\n

Julia Walker, a hair stylist who works alongside Upton at the Inglewood Beauty Salon, said she wants something to be done to alleviate the game day crowds that sometimes spill into residential neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Still, she doesn\u2019t want to see the shopping center disappear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going to be missed is this platform,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Unlike Upton, Walker hasn\u2019t yet found a new place, and she\u2019s not the only one. The Martin family, owners of Fiesta Martin Bar & Grill and Inglewood Pedicab, said they\u2019ve been working with the city on a relocation plan but haven\u2019t yet locked in new digs for the five different spaces they rent at the shopping center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at it personally, it\u2019s going to affect our businesses, it\u2019s going to affect the people that work with us,\u201d Christian Martin said. \u201cWe try to see the best in the future of this city. We\u2019re trying to find a happy medium.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butts said the city is making every effort to help businesses relocate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This\u00a0story\u00a0first appeared on\u00a0The LA Local. Lavern Upton isn\u2019t ready to move. For 15 years, the Inglewood local has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-428072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}