Port of Los Angeles staffers and commissioners recently paid tribute to Wayne Ratkovich, a long-respected real estate developer who signed on early to head up San Pedro’s dream of creating a new waterfront.
Commissioners convened this week’s board meeting in his honor, following his death on Sept. 24 at the age of 82.
“From the foothills of San Gabriel Valley to the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles,” commission President Lucille Roybal-Allard said, “Wayne Ratkovich shaped Los Angeles for the better.”
Ratkovich, an Urban Land Institute trustee and founder of The Ratkovich Company, built a reputation for restoring many of the area’s historic properties, including the Wiltern Theater in L.A.’s Miracle Mile district.
Other projects he had a hand in were Chicago’s Navy Pier, Houston’s AstroDome and Atlanta’s Olympic Park.
But San Pedro came to know him for taking the lead in creating a new waterfront development.
“He’s the visionary who helped us really pull together the big idea that became West Harbor,” said Eric Johnson, president of Jerico Development in San Pedro, the firm that partners with The Ratkovich Co.
The connection was made through mutual friends as discussions ramped up for a new waterfront attraction, Johnson said in a recent phone interview.
“Certain aspects were right in our wheelhouse,” he said, “but certain aspects were not.”
The two multi-generational family firms came together over a decade ago, Johnson said.
“They were focused on getting it leased and financed and our focus was always on the delivery of the construction and operations,” he said. “The natural arc had them taking the lead at the front end and we rose as the implementer and the managing of the work.”
The vision for the new 42-acre waterfront development changed through the long process, drawing criticism from many in the community. Ratkovich, Johnson said, took it in stride.
“He appreciated that there would be some…
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