By the end of 2025, a key part of the South Bay’s legacy and historic relationship with the oil industry will shutter.
The Phillips 66 refinery, a massive complex with two sites in Carson and Wilmington, announced its closure earlier this year.
And the news that Phillips 66 would cease operations at its Los Angeles County refinery complex drew mixed reactions, primarily concerns about the closure’s impact on the local and national economy, as the refinery is among the largest fuel providers and in the nation and employees hundreds of local workers; and what would happen to the land once the refinery is officially shut down.
But now, a pair of companies hired by Phillips 66 have introduced a potential vision for the future of the Wilmington portion of the company’s refinery — a massive mixed-use project, featuring retail, outdoor space, indoor sports complexes, and much more, dubbed Five Points Union.
Plans for the project — which is still in the very early stages of development and is years away from completion, should all go according to plan — were submitted to the city of Los Angeles for approval in July, according to Heather Crossner, Cattellus-Deca’s senior vice president. Catellus-Deca, LLC, is a joint venture between Emeryville-based Catellus and San Francisco-based Deca, two leading real estate development firms hired by Phillips 66 to lead the project.
That initial application, Crossner said in a Friday, Oct. 24 statement, is currently available for public review and comment. Two public meetings to solicit public feedback were already held in August of 2025.
“This process, which initiates the city’s environmental review, will take several more years to complete and include many additional opportunities for public input,” Crossner said.
Five Points Union, meanwhile, would span a whopping 440 acres of land in Wilmington that is now currently occupied by Phillips 66’s refinery in Wilmington, and the adjacent Rancho LPG property that’s been a public safety concern in the community for decades because it houses liquid butane tanks.
“While Phillips 66 does not own the (Rancho LPG) property, in direct response to community requests, Phillips 66 worked with the Rancho LPG owners to incorporate the property into the project’s redevelopment plans,” a company press release from Monday, Oct. 6 said. “Upon approval of the Five Points Union project, the Rancho LPG site will be redeveloped along with the rest of the project.”
While the Carson portion of Phillips 66’s refinery, about five miles away from the Wilmington site, will also shutter and be redeveloped in the future; that property isn’t part of the larger Five Points Union proposal.
The Five Points Union project, officials said, was developed with plenty of community engagement and feedback. Catellus-Deca had hundreds of conversations with community groups, neighborhood councils, nonprofits, schools, parents, students, and residents in Wilmington that would be impacted by the project, Crossner said.
“The project stands out not just for its scale, but for how deeply community voices have shaped its identity,” said Crossner in the company news release. “From the outset, the Five Points Union team asked local residents, stakeholders, and organizations for their wish-list of uses for the properties. Hundreds of these conversations informed the Five Points Union Project now being proposed.”
And with that feedback in mind, the plans for Five Points Union are indeed grand — and focused on providing Wilmington with essential economic, community, cultural, and outdoor space the neighborhood has historically lacked.
The development, as proposed, would feature a 400,000-square-foot Town Center for shops, restaurants, and cafes, adorned with outdoor spaces like playground and walking paths, the company said. One of the playgrounds, according to a community presentation, would also include an homage to Smiling Jack — the iconic jack-o-lantern painted on to a Phillips 66 storage tank to celebrate Halloween each year since the 1950s.
The Town Center would also feature “flex space” to accommodate pop-up events and farmers’ markets, alongside community meeting and work space, a local artist showcase, a grocery store, and more.
Five Points Union would also create new places for sports, including two soccer fields and a 60,000-square-foot indoor sports complex on a plot of land adjacent to Ken Malloy Park.
“I’ve witnessed firsthand how deeply our community has needed safe, accessible spaces where youth and families can gather, grow, and thrive,” said Toberman Neighborhood Center CEO Lupe Rivera in the release. “Union Project represents a transformative opportunity to fill long-standing gaps in recreational and social resources, while creating an environment that inspires hope, connection, and possibility.”
Five Points Union would also make some changes to how pedestrians experience two major corridors: Anaheim and Gaffey Streets. Anaheim Street, the company said, would be reconstructed and set back from the street and get new trees for shade; while Gaffey Street would get a new sidewalk to make it easier for pedestrians to access Ken Malloy Park and surrounding areas.
“Both corridors will be improved into walkable, welcoming, and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes along the project’s frontages,” the company said.
Five Points Union would also see the construction of a Commerce Center directly behind the proposed Town Center and connected to the Port of Los Angeles. The Commerce Center, the company said, would feature eight large industrial buildings — ranging from around 230,000 square-feet and around 1.5 million square-feet in size — to support goods movement in and out of the port.
The Commerce Center, the company said, would be set back from Anaheim and Gaffey streets, and truck traffic into it would be limited to a single entry point — which would be accessible via new underpass beneath the 110 Freeway which is also a part of the development. That new underpass, which would provide trucks access to John S. Gibson Boulevard and the 110, would prevent trucks from entering residential streets and neighborhoods.
This center, the company said, would be a major driver for the local economy and could create thousands of jobs.
“The Five Points Union Project can serve as a major catalyst for local economic empowerment and job creation for our residents,” Wilmington Chamber of Commerce CEO Monica Garcia said in the news release. “This redevelopment is a chance to redefine Wilmington’s profile and make it a destination for visitors and businesses.”
But it’ll be years before this project comes to fruition, with much work to be done before construction could even start on the refinery’s old resting place.
Catellus-Deca’s submission of the project proposal to the city of L.A. is just the start — and will trigger an environmental review process, Crossner said, which will take several years to complete.
And once the environmental review is complete, there’s still the matter of demolishing the existing refinery structures, remediating the land it sat on for more than a century, and constructing the massive facility from nothing.
“Following comprehensive environmental review, community input and approvals from the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, removal of the refinery, cleanup and redevelopment would begin and take several years to complete,” the company said.
Remediation of the land, it seems, will be the biggest challenge for any redevelopment project. Refinery pollution and land contamination has long been a concern for people living in refinery-adjacent communities like Carson and Wilmington — which are some of the most environmentally-burdened communities in the country, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
And though Phillips 66 does have mechanisms in place aimed at protecting residents’ health and safety, the issue is still significant.
Last year, for example, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Phillips 66 for illegally dumping close to 800,000 gallons of toxic wastewater from the Carson facility into the Los Angeles County sewer system.
The L.A. Water Board, meanwhile, has had its eye on the Carson refinery since 1994, when a troubling discovery was made beneath the facility – a 13-foot deep “lake of oil.” Since then, Phillips 66 has been ordered to continue remediation efforts by pumping out the toxic waste and treating contaminated water.
Toxic levels of dangerous chemicals have also been found in both the groundwater and soil, creating a large plume spanning the majority of the property and producing benzene, a known carcinogen, in addition to gasoline chemicals.
And, in 2021, the L.A. Water Board required the reporting of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals because it’s impossible to remove them from the environment. Phillips 66 reported PFAS well above the EPA’s maximum levels, according to data compiled by the California State Water Resources Control Board — likely from foams used to fight fires at the refinery.
Phillips 66 has since switched to non-PFAS firefighting foams — though it’s a bit of a moot issue since the refinery is set to close in the near future regardless.
The company, meanwhile, has repeatedly outlined its commitment to fixing the problems it has caused — with Catellus-Deca noting that remediation is a major part of the Five Points Union development plan.
“Phillips 66 is committed to addressing environmental impacts from historic operations,” Crossner said. “Future redevelopment of the property will facilitate and accelerate additional cleanup across the property. Over the next several years, cleanup plans for future redevelopment areas and groundwater will be developed and reviewed by the (LA) Regional Water Quality Control Board.”
Despite the challenges, the proposed development could be life-altering for Wilmington and the surrounding communities, who have borne the brunt of environmental pollution in the Southland for decades.
“This project will bring real change to our area – new jobs, new energy, and a renewed sense of community,” Wilmington Neighborhood Council secretary Fabiola Garcia said in the announcement. “As a lifelong resident, I have waited for something like this that residents can be proud of and that will bring positive change to our community.”
Information about Five Points Union is available at fivepointsunion.com.
Staff writer Madeline Armstrong contributed to this report.