Hawthorne officials have obtained a permanent court injunction, requiring the owners of the long-vacant Hawthorne Plaza Mall to redevelop or demolish the property by Aug. 31, 2026.
The 35-acre shopping center, which closed in the late 1990s, once housed J.C. Penney, The Broadway and Montgomery Ward, along with a mix of smaller retailers. The property has also been featured in films including “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” and “Gone Girl.”
The property, owned by the Charles Company and affiliate M&A Gabaee, stretches along Hawthorne Boulevard from 120th to 126th streets.
Community members have long raised concerns about trespassing, vandalism, litter and safety issues at the site. City leaders say redevelopment is essential to revitalizing downtown and easing the burden on nearby neighborhoods.
If the owners fail to meet the 2026 deadline, the city said it will ask the court to appoint a receiver to take control of the mall and determine its future.
In 2017, developers introduced plans to convert the site into a mixed-use project with more than 600 housing units, offices, and about 500,000 square feet of commercial space, including a grocery store, food hall, gym, and movie theater.
Those plans never materialized.
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