Abandoned For Decades, South Bay Mall Must Be Demolished Or Redeveloped By 2026: Court

HAWTHORNE, CA — City officials say a court recently ruled that a South Bay mall that's been abandoned for decades must must either be redeveloped or demolished by August next year.

The long-vacant Hawthorne Mall has become an ongoing community concern since it shuttered more than two decades ago, according to city officials, with people continusiouly trespassing, trashing the space and vandalizing it.

But Hawthorne city officials announced Tuesday that the owners of the mall, The Charles Company, and affiliates, M&A Gabaee, must either knock down the structure or move forward with redevelopmant plans by Aug. 31, 2026.

“The City appreciates the numerous community members who stepped forward to voice their concerns over the years,” Hawthorne City Attorney Robert Kim said in a statement Tuesday. “We were able to present those complaints to the court to show just how negative of impacts the mall has had to ensure we could get relief.”

The ruling also states the owners need to conduct structural and asbestos testing, install fencing to prevent trespassing, provide on-site maintenance and pay for security, according to city officials.

If the owners fail to obey the ruling, the property could be transfered to someone else at the request of the city, according to officials.

Plans to redevelop the property since its 1999 closure have never come to fruition. According to the Hawthorne Historical Society, one of the property's owners proposed a plan in 2008 to convert a part of the structure into condos, officers and shops. But the idea was opposed by the Hawthorne City Council, according to the historical society.

Nearly a decade later, one of its owners became embroiled in a scandal where he was accused of bribing a politician in a potential deal that would have made Los Angeles County the anchor tenant of the mall property. After pleading guilty in 2022, the owner was sentenced to four years in state prison and ordered to pay a fine of $1,149,000.