The Ratkovich Co. And Jerico Unveil New Plans For San Pedro Public Market

Harking back to its history as a commercial hub for the fishing industry, the design of the San Pedro Public Market will have fishing sheds that once could have lined the Los Angeles waterfront.

The JV between The Ratkovich Co. and Jerico Development unveiled new plans Tuesday for the much-anticipated $150M redevelopment project at the Ports O'Call Marketplace in San Pedro.

The three-quarter-mile waterfront promenade will be a social destination featuring retail, dining and entertainment, officials said.

“We want to embrace San Pedro’s fishing and military history,” The Ratkovich Co. President and CEO Wayne Ratkovich said. “We want to do something that is respectful of the past present and future … and, along with our designers we will create a wonderful future for not only downtown San Pedro but the Los Angeles waterfront.”

Rapt Studio is leading the project’s design team, which also includes James Corner Field Operations and Adamson Associates serving as executive architect. 

"In celebrating the rich, real-time theater of the working Port of Los Angeles and the diverse population and cultural fabric of the San Pedro region, we set out to design a series of architectural moments that were simple and powerful," Rapt Studio CEO David Galullo said in a news release.

Though the master plan for the site had been approved nearly a decade ago, the JV did not receive final approvals until 2016 when the Los Angeles Harbor Commission and the Los Angeles City Council gave the JV a 50-year ground lease for the 30-acre waterfront site.

Ratkovich expects to break ground on the first phase by the end of 2019 and open in January 2021.

The San Pedro Public Market will feature waterfront restaurants, shops and a food hall, he said.

Ratkovich said the companies are in negotiations with several local restaurants to be tenants, such as the San Pedro Fish Market and Restaurant, Ports O'Call Restaurant and J.Trani's Ristorante. The JV also struck a deal with an entertainment company that will provide entertainment and summer concerts on the site.

“This is a great waterfront site no matter what you put on it,” Ratkovich said. “The development of this property will be a stimulant to downtown San Pedro. Its time has finally arrived.”