Marlton Square left untouched, as of July 2010. (Creative Commons)

Marlton Square, long known as an eyesore of abandoned buildings, will be an eyesore no more, Councilman Bernard Parks announced in a press conference today.

Construction on one building in Marlton Sqaure is scheduled to restart, and the rest of the area will be demolished, Parks' office said.  

Marlton Square is a 22-acre area marked by abandoned, unfinished buildings. It sits next to the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Mall in South Los Angeles.  

"Developing Marlton Square into a respectable place for the community to enjoy--live, work, play and shop--has eluded elected officials, developers, investors and governmental entities for decades," wrote The Los Angeles Sentinel in 2009. "The property has become an enigma and an eyesore to the community." 

The city tried to redevelop Marlton Square in the early 2000's, but slipped up by partnering with a"check-bouncing, politically-connected developer," according to The South Los Angeles Report. 

Work on the project has been stalled since 2008, when the developer went bankrupt, according to the Los Angeles Times. The project is one of the biggest failures of the L.A. Community Redevelopment Agency, which is one of the many agencies of its type across the state that Gov. Jerry Brown has threatened to abolish.

But Parks' office announced Tuesday that the area has "emerged from bankruptcy, with a final settlement reached on December 29, 2010."

After the area is demolished, the Commercial Mortgage Managers agency plans to try to sell the property to a new developer, says a press release from Parks' office.  

One building in Marlton Square, an apartment complex for low-income seniors, was 90 percent complete when the construction stalled, according to Park's office.  

But the City signed a contract in 2010 to finally complete construction of the apartment building, Parks announced today.  

"Construction will commence pending approval from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development," says the press release.   

“To say I’m thrilled would be the understatement of the decade,” Parks says in his press release.   

A 2008 Los Angeles Sentinel investigation describes the shady history of Marlton Square.  

“The Marlton Square Project is a very sad case of what could have been.... hopefully a brighter future for the project is on the way," Parks told the Los Angeles Sentinel in 2008.  

Reach reporter Amy Silverstein here.