Honda of Downtown Los Angeles broke ground recently on an expansive dealership on a previously vacant one-acre site in the 700 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The $30 million project, which will feature a five-story, 210,000-square- foot building, is located in an emerging, once-blighted retail-commercial area near Exposition Park that will soon include Banc of California soccer stadium, USC Village and The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
The new dealership is expected to add about 100 jobs, many to be provided to residents of the immediate neighborhood, according to the dealership.
Ninth District City Councilman Curren Price Jr., whose district includes the project, said it will positively affect the area in a number of ways.
“This project aligns with three key priorities for my district — economic development, job creation and neighborhood revitalization,” Price said. “The facility is being constructed on a previously vacant lot that was dark and uninviting and will greatly improve the streetscape of this part of the neighborhood.”
Honda of Downtown plans to donate $100,000 to Los Angeles Trade- Technical College to help stimulate education in automotive service-tech fields and will donate $50,000 to the new business improvement district.