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The City of Inglewood announced on Monday that Elevate Inglewood Partners (EIP)
has been selected as the Best Value Proposer for construction of the Inglewood Transit Connector (ITC). The ITC Project includes design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of a 1.6-mile automated people mover.
Elevate Inglewood Partners is a public-private partnership consortium comprised of Plenary Americas US Holdings, Inc. (equity member), Tutor Perini Corporation (lead contractor), Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) (lead designer), Woojin Industrial System Co., Ltd. (automated transit system operator and supplier) and Alternate Concepts, Inc. (lead operations and maintenance contractor).
The ambitious $2 billion project will connect the Metro K Line and Inglewood’s new major employment and destination centers, including the Kia Forum, Sofi Stadium, YouTube Theater, and Intuit Dome, as well as housing and commercial destinations in the surrounding area.
“The announcement of the selection of a team to develop and operate the ITC is another key milestone in the process to make this transformative investment in our city a reality,” Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts said.
Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Inglewood) convinced key members of the House Appropriations Committee to pull funding from the project, to the tune of $200 million. Voicing her opposition of the expensive people mover, Waters wrote in her July 8 letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “The project “is not designed to benefit the local community and it will not provide convenient connectivity to employment or public services for residents.”
“Instead, the ITC is designed primarily to allow public transit users to connect the extra 1.6 miles from Metro’s K Line to sports and entertainment venues. Shuttle buses could most likely accomplish the same goal at a fraction of the cost, but have not been seriously considered as an alternative.”
Despite the Congresswoman’s late change of heart, Butts is confident funding will be restored.
“It’s unfortunate that our representative looks to destroy a project that will provide 17,000 jobs for the constituents in her district,” he said. Approximately 35% of those jobs are required to go to Inglewood residents, he added.
“Those middle-class jobs are the “best gateway for permanent housing,” said Butts, who denied the project will displace a “single long-term resident.”
Inglewood first proposed the Inglewood Transit Connector back in 2018 as an elevated automatic people mover that help mitigate traffic from downtown Inglewood to its various entertainment venues, residential and business developments
Inglewood wants to begin construction on the automated people mover next year and is aiming for a 2028 opening to coincide with the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Inglewood is hosting the opening ceremonies and swimming at SoFi Stadium, as well as basketball at the Intuit Dome.
But that timeline is contingent on the ITC receiving the $200 million from the federal government, as the first installment of a $1 billion grant backed by the Biden administration—funds that Rep. Waters has removed.
The mayor admitted that “Any reduction in the $2 billion we’ve assembled for the project, between state, federal and local money, would be the death of the project, but added that state senators are “100% in favor of this project.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to meet July 25 to discuss the Department of Transportation budget. The Senate will then meet with committee members of the House to negotiate budgetary differences.
So far, Inglewood has secured $1.97 billion in funding promises from local, state and federal sources, including $1 billion from the FTA. The city has secured land, relocated a water system and is in the process of finding new locations for businesses that will be displaced.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have all supported the project in the past.
