Location
Originally known as the Hoover/Hoover Expansion Redevelopment Project, the 574-acre Exposition/University Park Redevelopment Project is located just southwest of Downtown Los Angeles in City Council Districts 8 and 9.


History & Local Landmarks
The original project, established in 1966, covered 165 acres surrounding the University of Southern California (USC). The project was expanded in 1983 and again in 1989. Its name was changed to Exposition/University Park Redevelopment Project in 2005.

The local population is culturally and economically diverse. Major educational and cultural institutions include USC, Shrine Auditorium, and the facilities in Exposition Park—Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles Sports Arena, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California Science Center, and the California African American Museum.


Project Goals
To retain and develop additional affordable housing;
To improve community facilities within University Park; and
To promote economic development opportunities.


Conditions at Time of Adoption
By the mid-1960s, the community’s stately homes and once-thriving shops had deteriorated. Single-family residences had been subdivided and converted into rooming houses, and there was little commercial activity.

These conditions, together with the need to keep USC from relocating outside the City, led the City Council to create the Hoover/Hoover Expansion Redevelopment Project.
The original CRA/LA plan called for expanding the USC campus and developing new housing, shops, office space, and hotels. Land would be acquired, existing buildings would be demolished, and the infrastructure (streets, sewers, etc.) would be upgraded.

When the project boundaries were expanded in 1983—to include neighboring areas that had declined both physically and economically—a new plan was created. Redevelopment would now specifically benefit low- and moderate-income families, and would be accomplished in phases. Existing buildings would be kept and upgraded. The project boundaries were expanded again in 1989 to allow for the development of a community shopping center.


Our Key Accomplishments
Housing. Since the beginning of the project, CRA/LA has assisted in the construction of more than 1,023 residential units for senior citizens, low and moderate-income families, and university students. A total of 168 residential units have been rehabilitated.

Construction of Wisconsin III, 26 units of affordable family housing, was completed in 2002. (“Affordable” means that a working family would spend no more than about 30 percent of their income on housing.) The Menlo Historic Homes Senior Housing development was completed in 2001. Construction of the 140-unit Vermont Senior Complex between 39th Street and 39th Place is expected to be completed in 2009.

Commercial. CRA/LA has assisted in diverse commercial developments, including University Village Shopping Center, Adams-Vermont Shopping Center, a hotel, and an office building. In 2002, CRA/LA provided financial assistance to refurbish 12 business facades along the Vermont Avenue commercial corridor and prepared designs for another eight, as well as for a small shopping center.

Public improvements. CRA/LA assisted the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation in its second phase of public improvements—which included creating landscaped road medians—as part of the strategic economic plan for the Figueroa Corridor.

Community and USC. The 130,000-square-foot Family Service Center was completed in 2001 as part of the Exposition Park West Targeted Neighborhood Initiative (TNI).

The USC Galen Center, at the southeast corner of Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard, was completed in 2006. The facility is the home of USC’s basketball and volleyball programs. It also houses athletic offices, merchandise stores, and community meeting spaces.

CRA/LA has also provided assistance to the mixed-use University Gateway Project. This off-campus housing development for USC students, at the northwest corner of Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard, will include a fitness center, shops, and restaurants. A future Metro Expo Line station will be located nearby. Construction started in 2008, and is expected to be completed by fall 2010.


Five-Year Goals
Between 2009 and 2014, CRA/LA plans to further improve the Exposition/University Park neighborhood by:

• Making Exposition Park a recreational and cultural resource for the community as well as for the entire City, and continue to provide financial and technical assistance to park facilities;
• Completing renovation of the soccer fields in Exposition Park;
• Finding ways to encourage growth of the Central Business District along the portion of Figueroa Corridor that is located within the Project Area;
• Promoting business activities in the Vermont Avenue Commercial Corridor;
• Beautifying the commercial facades along Vermont Avenue;
• Creating more parking for businesses that serve the neighborhood;
• Rehabilitating existing buildings and public improvements; 
• Building new housing and commercial structures; and
• Continuing to provide technical assistance to developers of housing and commercial properties.