New businesses coming to Lakewood

City governments of course can’t demand that a particular private business locate in their community.

But one of my top priorities and that of my colleagues on the Lakewood City Council is doing all we can to create and support a healthy business climate in Lakewood so that interesting and attractive businesses will choose to locate here. Equally important, we want to do everything possible so that our existing businesses can thrive and even expand.

The past few years have been challenging for businesses all across the country, and businesses in Lakewood have not been immune to those challenges, including those posed by the pandemic and the growth of Internet commerce. Several local restaurants and other businesses have closed…although other Lakewood businesses have thrived.

We are fortunate that our economy is not based on tourism, like some in Southern California, but instead on local consumer spending, which didn’t decrease as projected during the pandemic, and in some instances actually increased, such as for home im- provement projects.

Amidst all the churn in the national and local economy in 2022, Lakewood still saw substantial commercial growth and improvements this past year, which is good news.

Farmers & Merchants Bank continued with their major investment at Lakewood and Del Amo, which included a $10 million-plus renovation of their building. Their continued renovations will include a multi-million-dollar array of solar-charging shade covers for their parking lot.

Over 200 new businesses opened in Lakewood in 2022, including many independent restaurants, like Str8Up Tacos at Pioneer and Centralia, which has been getting so many good reviews that they are in Yelp’s Top 50 taco spots in the nation. Nostalgia Gorditas also just opened at Bellflower and South and is owned by Lakewood residents using their family’s traditional recipes from the Coahuila region of northeastern Mexico. east of Walmart. It will include four buildings, totaling 75,000 square-feet—called The Drive—and its 13 tenants will include retail, medical, industrial and commercial businesses.

Over 4,300 construction permits were issued for commercial and residential work in 2022, which is the highest yearly total in the past 15 years. Building and remodeling activity, especially on the commercial side, declined sharply after COVID began, but clearly it has now rebounded strongly in Lakewood.

And more commercial development and new businesses will be coming to Lakewood in 2023…more in fact than in recent memory.

A creative, new quick-serve restaurant will be coming to the space on Candlewood St. formerly occupied by Souplantation. Demolition of the old building should start in April…and in its place will be Hart House—a restaurant founded by comedian Kevin Hart—that will feature all plant-based foods, including plant-based burgers, sandwiches and nuggets…along with salads, fries, tots and milkshakes.

Another interesting new business will be the Sender One wall climbing experience. The former Office Max on Lakewood Blvd. will get a $2.4 million renovation and be expanded with a second story to create this new facility for climbing enthusiasts and families. There will be a section devoted to children with state-ofthe-art tethers to allow them to safely climb 20-30 feet in the air. Construction should start this summer.

We’ll also see a large, new development come to the empty parcel on Carson St.

And Harbor Chevrolet & Hyundai on the Lakewood portion of Cherry Ave. has a new owner, and they will be making a major investment there, with entirely new showrooms.

Clearly, Lakewood is doing something right to be an attractive location for so many entrepreneurs to invest their time and money.

Timmons Subaru, which located here in 2021 and built a large new facility, complimented the City of Lakewood for being prompt, professional and helpful in the city’s review of plans and in generally facilitating Timmons’ opening in Lakewood.

I think that our city’s reputation for safety, well-maintained streets and other infrastructure, and our generally attractive and warm community atmosphere also play a role in making business owners feel like Lakewood is a good place to locate.

We, of course, would like to see even more businesses or some favorites that each of us might have come here. But, like I said, we can’t force these businesses to locate here…and they have each their own business formulas for what sites will work for them, including whether they have an existing location nearby.

This past year, my colleagues and I on the City Council approved our contract hiring of an economic consulting team that can provide us with expert analysis and advice on how we can deal with the economic challenges in Lakewood and maximize the opportunities we have for economic growth. Business attraction and economic development will be very high priorities for all of us on the City Council this year.

It looks like 2023 and 2024 will see a significant number of new and interesting businesses open up in Lakewood. And stay tuned for even more news as the economy continues to evolve and we in community leadership positions in Lakewood do all that we can to make sure that it evolves in a good way for our city. ♦