Norwalk Approves 32-Acre Transit Housing Village

The City of Norwalk has greenlighted a plan to turn a former state youth jail into a 32-acre retail village.

The Gateway City approved a specific plan to redevelop the former California Youth Authority prison into Norwalk Transit Village at 13200 Bloomfield Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.

While Norwalk had proposed acquiring the state-owned property two years ago, it wasn’t clear if the city bought the rectangular property from the state. Both Norwalk and the state are engaged in a legal dispute over a city ordinance banning homeless shelters.

Plans call for demolishing the low-slung prison buildings “to rehabilitate a blighted state property,” according to the city. A potential developer for the project was not named.

The Norwalk Transit Village, designed by Chicago-based Perkins&Will, would create four city blocks of four- and five-story apartment buildings with more than 650 units, plus a row of 118 townhomes.

A 3-acre commercial center along Bloomfield Avenue would contain a 150-room hotel and 66,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.

The proposed project, located next to a 14-acre city park, would include a 1.6-acre central park and 2.7 acres of linear parks, pedestrian trails and open space.

At least 40 percent of the proposed apartments would be set aside as affordable. A minimum of 345 units would be rented at market rates. With the exception of the townhomes, parking would be offered on surface lots, curbside spaces, parking garages and even rooftops.

The proposed transit village lies near the Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs Metrolink Station and could eventually be served by an eastward extension of Metro’s Green (C) Line.

An environmental study has previously projected that the Norwalk Transit Village could be built in a single phase concluding by 2030, according to Urbanize.

The project, among several large developments Norwalk has permitted as a provision of its 2021-2029 Housing Element, was approved as the city battles the state over a controversial ordinance banning homeless shelters within city limits.

The state has sued Norwalk to overturn the ordinance, and moved to decertify its Housing Element, making the city subject to the builder’s remedy, opening the floodgate for developers hoping to bypass zoning rules.

In April, Norwalk hatched a 615-acre Heart of Norwalk plan to revamp its historic downtown through new zoning to spur the construction of more than 3,000 homes and 173,000 square feet of commercial uses in buildings up to five stories.

Two years ago, Culver City-based Primestor Development filed plans to build 350 apartments and 110,000 square feet of shops and restaurants atop a glade around Norwalk City Hall.

— Dana Bartholomew