By Kate Callahan, Senior Director, Client Services & Engagement
Nestled within the historic Goodyear Tract in South Los Angeles, The Beehive has been transformed from a former industrial site to a thriving hub of community, culture, and sustainability. Spearheaded by SoLa Impact, a real estate firm working to provide the black and Latinx communities of South LA with access to education and affordable housing and demonstrates how adaptive reuse, social impact, and green building standards can converge to create resilient community ecosystems.
Los Angeles, California
Before its redevelopment, the site included warehouses and was used for industrial operations, with much of the infrastructure in a state of disrepair. The space reflected a broader pattern of disinvestment that has historically affected many neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. Most would overlook this space, but SoLa saw what others did not: the potential for adaptive reuse to spark cultural restoration.
SoLa’s renovation centered on adaptive reuse, conservation, and sustainable design. Much of the original masonry was preserved through seismic retrofitting and sandblasting, exposing the texture and character of the historic brick. New features, including a stormwater management system with bioswales and permeable surfaces, were thoughtfully integrated alongside a pollinator habitat designed in collaboration with Bee People, a local non-profit. Reuse was prioritized throughout the project: reclaimed pallet wood, salvaged fixtures, and custom hardware fabricated by graduates of an on-site welding program gave the space a distinctly personal and regenerative identity.
The Beehive Courtyard
The Beehive’s impact extends beyond its design, as it is now home to California’s first Black-owned craft brewery, a Black-owned art gallery, and a Technology and Entrepreneurship Center. It serves as a cultural venue, hosting Live Nation concerts, community food and art festivals, and small business markets like Black Market Flea. The SoLa Foundation, headquartered on site, offers STEAM education for underserved youth with courses in cybersecurity, e-sports, graphic design, entrepreneurship, and more. Equity and opportunity are built into the foundation of The Beehive.
This is the type of innovation the Green Building Initiative’s Activate Community Collaboration to Elevate Sustainable Solutions (ACCESS) program was designed to support. ACCESS provides complimentary Green Globes certification and the expertise of a Green Globes Professional (GGP) to community-benefit projects making measurable social and environmental impact. The Beehive was selected as the 2023 ACCESS recipient for embedding environmental justice, community uplift, and resilient design into every element of the project’s redevelopment. The Beehive achieved Two Green Globes under GBI’s Green Globes for Existing Buildings certification, due to its thoughtful design selections and operations. The project achieved impressive scores throughout the different environmental assessment areas, particularly in Site, Indoor Environmental Quality, Water, and ESG Management.
The Beehive was GBI’s 2023 ACCESS recipient
From the community-focused stormwater systems to the inclusive programming, The Beehive represents a living example of what sustainable, community-led development can achieve. The hexagonal Beehive sculpture at the center of the campus embodies these values – resilience, diversity, and unity. The Beehive is more than a successful redevelopment; it’s a testament to the power of resilience, both structural and social. In the built environment, resilience is designing spaces that withstand environmental, economic, and social stressors while continuing to serve their communities. At The Beehive, that concept is lived out daily – restored masonry stands as a physical reminder of endurance, while the campus itself adapts to meet evolving community needs. That same resilience is mirrored in the people The Beehive serves. When buildings are created or reimagined with care, intention, and equity in mind, they don’t simply last, they also uplift. The Beehive shows that resilient design and community resilience are not parallel goals, but deeply intertwined – both rooted in the belief that places and people can thrive when allowed to grow together.
