Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Showing posts with label maria rivera. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Plaza Mexico Mall in Lynwood Used to be Montgomery Ward Shopping Center by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Plaza Mexico is the largest Mexican themed mall in the US located at 3100 E Imperial Highway in Lynwood, Los Angeles, California 90262. It was originally built in 1972 as a Montgomery Ward shopping center. In March 1986 Montgomery Ward closed because they were losing money. The city of Lynwood offered them financing to stay but they still closed. Montgomery Ward allegedly gave the property to the city of Lynwood. The city of Lynwood also owned the large vacant property next door which they wanted to redevelop into a shopping center.

The property became a clearance center store. Later part of Montgomery Ward was demolished. By 1990 it reopened by the City of Lynwood as the Lynwood Marketplace. It was then 100 shops in two stories with allegedly 800,000 sf per an LA Times article.

Starting around 2001 or so Korean immigrants Min and Donald Chae Korean began to turn it into the Plaza Mexico that we know today. The project reopened in 2002 after a $55,000,000 renovation. Per a 2005 LA Times article Lynwood Plaza Mexico replicated a traditional Mexican downtown. The plaza resembles Monte Albam, the ancient Indian ruins in Oaxaca. The shops have bold colors of typical provincial towns. There is a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Plaza clock tower replicates the facade of the government palace in Guadalajara. Stones and lamps were imported from Mexico. Tiles on the plaza contain occasional figures from loteria. The Governor of the state of Nayarit donated a statue in honor of Mexican mothers. Plaza México has replicas of the Angel of Independence of México City and the kiosk i.e. open-air structures denoting a raised platform enclosed by a simple hand-railing, and then covered with a roof to provide shade for the platform, of the Zócalo of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.

Chae stated he tried to make it into a Mexican "China Town." He hired Luis Felipe Nieto an archeologist and restoration expert from San Miguel Allender, Guanajuato, to advise him on Mexican designs and colors. Nieto passed away in 2024. Jon Jerde was the architect. Jerde was an architect for theme malls including Universal City Walk, Bellagio and the Wynn hotel. He passed away in 2015.

"Plaza Mexico is an iteration of a Jerde-influenced commercial center. This heavily Mexico-inspired outdoor shopping center, reaches for one of Jerde's most central placemaking ideals; to create authentic social engagement within a constructed, highly curated environment. Plaza Mexico's developer, M & D Regional Center LLC, two Korean brothers named Min and Donald Chae, attempted to build a culturally relevant, themed shopping center that would attract visitors and shoppers."

The Covid lockdown proved devastating to the destination theme mall. In 2021 Donald Chae's Plaza Mexico mall filed for bankruptcy right before a foreclosure sale. Property was sold in bankruptcy in 2022 for $164,000,000 to the Sterling Organization who owns it today.

Must sees at the mall.

The main entrance 33.92907608122274, -118.21479515463186
Fountain of Independence 33.929250716415645, -118.21448617989691
Carousel 33.92842989880324, -118.2135573785178
Aztec sun calendar stone next to carousel 33.92861835984562, -118.21352842649486
Pancho Villa statue and a few other statues in the outdoor corridors
Chapel de la Virgin de Guadalupe
Olmec head replica next to Ferris Wheel and Planet Fitness
Quetzalcoatl fountain
Kiosk

Eat at one of the restaurants. Don't eat at the food court unless you just want cheap lower quality food in a very loud gaming environment. Be sure to explore the outdoor mall area with the carousel, fountains and Aztec stone. Don't just visit the large indoor mall building.

Today Plaza Mexico hosts many Mexican and Latino events including El Grito de la Independencia, El dia 12 de Deciembre, Mexican Independence day, Dia de Muertos, Cinco de Mayo and more. Mexican politicians and the Consul General of Mexico of Los Angeles have frequent events at the mall.

Physical description: APN 6171-001-054 Legal description MODJESKA PARK VAC STS, BLK 15, 18 AND POR OF BLK 16. Three buildings. Two were built 1972 and the third was built 2002. 475,209 sf lot. 248,925 sf improvements. It's currently owned by Svap III Plaza Mexico LLC out of Florida. Property last sold in 2022 for $164,000,000.

Other articles

LA Times "Non Latinos Mine Southland's Mexican Markets" December 2025

Print Magazine https://www.printmag.com/design-destinations/l-a-s-plaza-mexico-is-not-just-a-mall-but-a-city-within-a-city/

New York Times Magazine https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/01/magazine/latino-mall-los-angeles.html

The old Montgomery Ward in 1986.

Photos taken by Mary Cummins the author 09/30/2025.

Replica of a famous China Poblana statue. The words state "Tenias que ser poblana, china mia, para llevar a Mexico en tu gracia, tienese, como la ardiente tapatia (women from Guadalajara), ojos de fuego y cabellera lacia." English: "You had to be from Puebla, my China, to bring Mexico into your grace. You have, like the fiery Tapatia, fiery eyes and straight hair."

Replica of a Mexican palace facade and clock tower

Aztec sun stone calendar reproduction

The below are the original Mexican buildings, structures which were recreated at the mall. They also recreated the calendar stone and the Olmec head.

Kiosk

Angel of Independence

Facade and clock tower of Mexican government palace

Map

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 42 years of experience.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Mexican Consul General Ambassador Residence 65 Fremont Pl, Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California by Mary Cummins

mexican ambassador, mary cummins, maria rivera, los angeles, hancock park, california, mexico, consulate general, ministry foreign affairs mexico, home, house, residence, paul williams, alfred davey, 65 fremont, fremont place

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico has owned the property at 65 Fremont Pl in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California since 1994. It's a 5,656 sf four bedroom, four bathroom residence on a 19,956 sf lot. The property is located in Fremont Place which is Los Angeles' first gated community originally built in 1911. Fremont Place consists of 73 estate homes on over 50 acres. The addresses are 21 to 136 Fremont Place.

The home was designed by famous architect Paul Revere Williams and built by F.B. Layne in 1930. It's a two story Monterey Revival home originally built for Alfred Davey.

"After investment counselor Alfred D. Davey acquired Lot 69 or a northerly portion of it in the late '20s, he hired Williams to design a modern dwelling that both prefigured and would come to represent the modern horizontal styles that were to firmly relegate Mediterranean notions of taste to the suddenly long-ago and musty '20s. A building permit for Williams's 12-room brick Monterey Revival variation for Davey was issued by the Department of Building and Safety on May 6, 1930."

It was built for $20,900 in 1930 on an approximately 90' x 180' lot. It was originally 12 rooms, wood frame construction, 78' x 72' "L" shaped, 25' tall with brick and wood veneer. A pool and spa were added later along with a greenhouse and gazebo. Per Building & Safety there have been no major renovations. The chimney and a wall were repaired after the 1994 earthquake. It was featured in Architectural Digest in 1931 Volume VIII Issue 3 1931, Pgs 116, 117.

The home has been the official residence of the Mexican Ambassador and Consul / Consulate General of Mexico since 1994. Consular receptions and events are commonly held at the residence including for Cinco de Mayo. There is a Mexican flag on the front lawn. It's generally adorned with a large "MEXICO" sign for events. The interior is updated original with original hardwood floors, French doors, original moulding and terra cotta tiled floors. It is in Fremont Place which is a gated community with restricted access and a 24 hour guard. The entrance to the community is from Wilshire Blvd through the pillared Fremont entrance. You must have permission from an owner or Fremont Place Homeowners Association HOA (714) 382 0728 fremontplace.org to enter. Home owners fees range from $300 to $425 per month.