The Brief

This story was originally published by The LA Local on Feb. 11, 2026.

The longtime home of Papa Cristo’s in Pico Union could be demolished to make way for a self-storage facility, across the street from another storage facility.

The Greek market and restaurant closed its doors last year, after seven decades in the neighborhood. Now a Redondo Beach-based developer, who are in escrow over the property, said if they are able to move ahead with their project they would honor Papa Cristo’s in some capacity.

During a community meeting on Tuesday, some in the neighborhood were tepid about the proposal.

“I think everybody would like to see housing. It’s an important need,” said Stephen Post, manager of the Byzantine Latino Quarter Pico Business Improvement District. “I think there’s only so much the community can do to direct what they’d like to see. I’m glad that they want to include Papa Cristo’s. I know it’s been a staple in this community.”

An undated photo of Papa Cristo’s in Pico Union after the business closed its doors after more than seven decades in the community.

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The self-storage proposal would include a ground-floor retail space that could accommodate a scaled-down Papa Cristo’s presence if the family chooses to return to the restaurant business, but they have not spoken to the developers yet.

Brian Sorenson from La Tierra Consulting, who would lead development behind the project, said the space could also be used by the community.

Sorenson maintains the neighborhood is “heavily underserved” when it comes to storage. The area already has more than a handful of similar storage businesses, including one directly across the street from the proposed site on Pico Boulevard.

“Obviously, there’s already a storage facility a few blocks down on Pico, so from a competition standpoint, it will hopefully bring storage prices down for individuals in the area,” Post said.

Representatives for La Tierra Consulting said that storage costs would be market rate.

Still, La Tierra Consulting have presented their plans for the site to multiple community groups, like the Pico Union neighborhood council, and on Tuesday at the Byzantine Latino Quarter Pico Business Improvement District to get feedback on the project.

Other uses were considered for the site, including retail and industrial use, but none were as viable, the developers said.

Residential development would also be difficult on the relatively small lot because of parking requirements and high land costs, according to Post.

Last year, when Papa Cristo’s announced they would close their doors, the property was listed for sale on LoopNet for $5.2 million, according to Eater LA.

Papa Cristo’s was beloved in the community, in large part because of owner Chrys Chrys’s larger-than-life personality.

The restaurant also became famous for its rack of lamb, kebabs, and other classic Greek dishes.

At minimum, Sorenson said, the project would feature plaques, murals, or other public art honoring Papa Cristo’s legacy, and possible subsidized space for community groups.

Three design concepts were presented to the Pico Union Neighborhood Council in January, where the developers fielded questions from the community.

The initial proposal featured a more contemporary façade that some neighbors in Pico Union felt did not reflect the character of the area. In response, the design team developed alternatives inspired by nearby landmarks, including the local high school and surrounding historic buildings.

One revised concept incorporates brick and architectural motifs that echo the high school’s scale and materials, while keeping retail at the corner to help activate the street.

Another concept draws from the Huffington at Saint Sophia, the nearby Greek Orthodox cathedral, referencing its general shape and architectural details without directly replicating the chapel.

An artist’s rendering for the former site of Papa Cristo’s market and restaurant in Pico Union. Developers have proposed converting the site into a storage facility.

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A third option embraces a “neo-industrial” look inspired by revitalized historic buildings across Los Angeles, blending industrial elements with a contemporary update.

The company went back to the Pico Union neighborhood council with all of the designs in February and there were different opinions on the designs, but ultimately the council voted 10-0 to support the project. The Byzantine Latino Quarter also voted to support the project.

Vanessa Rivera, who has been a resident of Pico Union for more than 30 years and is the president of the Byzantine Latino Quarter Pico Business Improvement District, said she does appreciate Sorenson’s company did seek community feedback.

“The fact that they have multiple designs based on community feedback is not something you see all the time,” she said. “They could have been someone that just came in and said, ‘This is our idea. We’ve already got it. We don’t care what you think,’ but they’ve come at it from a very community based perspective.”

Under all versions of the proposal, the upper floors would be dedicated to storage, with retail and potential community-serving uses on the ground level.

Customer access would be located at the rear of the property, where vehicles — including moving trucks — would enter a covered loading area built into the storage facility.

The project would also include a six-foot dedication along Pico Boulevard and Normandie Avenue to allow for wider sidewalks and potential future street improvements, along with a new bus stop.

The facility would operate during limited hours — generally from early morning to late evening — and include gated entry, keypad access, elevator controls restricted by individual codes, and 24-hour monitored security cameras.

Los Angeles Documenter, Aileen Mestas, contributed reporting for this story from the Feb. 2 Pico Union Neighborhood Council meeting. The LA Documenters program trains and pays community members to document proceedings at public meetings. Learn more about the program here.

The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week addressed growing questions about the presence of ICE agents during World Cup games hosted in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities this summer.

Todd Lyons, the agency's head, said at a congressional hearing that ICE will play a key role in security for the tournament. But he said it would be ICE’s investigatory branch — not it's enforcement division.

The answer did not satisfy Congressmember Nellie Pou (D-NJ) of New Jersey. Pou asked Lyons to publicly commit to ICE pausing operations at FIFA matches and related public events.

"You realize that if they feel that they're going to be wrongfully incarcerated or wrongfully pulled out," Pou said of potential World Cup visitors. "That's going to hurt this entire process."

Lyons responded: "ICE is dedicated to ensuring that everyone that visits the facilities will have a safe and secure event."

Why it matters

The exchange laid bare growing concerns from some lawmakers and community groups about the combination of millions of international visitors coming to the soccer spectacle and aggressive immigration enforcement in L.A. and other host cities.

Kathryn Schloessman, L.A. host committee head, called the matter "above my pay grade" when asked to address concerns about potential ICE activity at FIFA's fan festival, which is scheduled for June 11 to 15.

" We are working very closely with our public safety and security partners," Schloessman told LAist. "That's their job to make sure we're delivering a safe and secure event."

It also underscores the lack of human rights action plans that every host city committee is supposed to release ahead of the games. Those plans should outline how the host city is planning to protect freedom of expression and handle security and workers' rights.

The lack of public plans, less than five month out, has some critics ringing an alarm.

" It's a very poor report card on turning in your homework for Los Angeles and all other host cities," said Minky Worden with Human Rights Watch.

FIFA declined to comment on the status of the local reports. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee said that the L.A. action plan is under review with community stakeholders.

What we know about World Cup security

The World Cup will be staged across Mexico, Canada and eleven U.S. cities including Los Angeles, where eight matches will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The tournament is expected to attract up to 7 million international visitors to the U.S., and the federal government has allocated $625 million in funding for security tied to the event.

At a briefing in December, Andrew Giuliani, the executive director for the White House's World Cup task force, told reporters that the Department of Homeland Security is "coordinating daily" with host cities on security for fan zones, stadiums and base camps — where athletes will train throughout the tournament.

Homeland Security's leading role in security for an event as massive as the World Cup is standard procedure — the department is also taking the lead for the 2028 Olympics. What's less clear is exactly the part ICE will play.

Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Feb. 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.

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What we know about ICE's role in security

Lyons, the ICE leader who addressed Congress this week, said it would be the agency's Homeland Security Investigations that would take on a key role. That's the department's criminal investigation unit, which is separate from its "Enforcement and Removal Operations" branch that has been conducting escalated immigration sweeps across Los Angeles — and the nation — since June.

That said, the federal government has not promised that immigration enforcement will stay away from the tournament.

“International visitors who legally come to the United States for the World Cup have nothing to worry about," Tricia McLaughlin, Homeland Security spokesperson, told the Athletic. "What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. — full stop.”

DHS did not respond to LAist's requests for more information on the role ICE specifically will play in World Cup security.

Human rights concerns

These open questions and the ongoing immigration raids have alarmed human rights advocates. A group of leading advocacy organizations in December called on FIFA and local host cities to commit to "ensuring effective protections against racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and unlawful immigration enforcement during the tournament."

Jamil Dakwar, the ACLU's human rights director, pointed to the deployment of the National Guard in cities including Los Angeles last year.

“The Trump administration has aggressively pursued a systematic anti-human rights campaign to target, detain, and disappear immigrants in communities across the US," he said in a statement. "We call on FIFA to honor its human rights commitments, not capitulate to Trump’s authoritarianism.”

FIFA put out a Human Rights framework for the coming World Cup in 2024. That guide, outlining a focus on inclusivity, workers rights, and a grievance procedure for human rights concerns, is intended to be a structure for each host city's own human rights action plan.

Details about the games in L.A.

L.A. will be the first U.S. city to host a World Cup match. The U.S. Men's National Team will play its first game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12, with a 6 p.m. kickoff.

A fan festival at L.A. Memorial Coliseum June 11 to 15 is expected to attract huge crowds of revelers.

Last week, Synergy Quantum Academy students joined regional walkouts protesting the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. But with the South L.A. school’s tall metal gate shut, some opted to climb and jump over it.

The school’s leadership wrote in messages to parents and staff that an “unauthorized staff member” then opened that campus gate — in conflict with Los Angeles Unified School District protocol.

That staff member, teacher Ricardo Lopez, said he acted out of concern for the safety of students who might have hurt themselves trying to leave the school.

He said the school fired him the same day. Now his dismissal has spurred further protests and raised questions about whose responsibility it is to ensure safety as students exercise their First Amendment rights.

Here’s what we know 

Thousands of students across Los Angeles walked out during the first week of February to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including students at Synergy Quantum Academy.

Lopez said that after the walkouts on Feb. 4, he heard several students talk about injuring themselves climbing over the metal fences that surround the South L.A. school.

On Thursday morning, during his academic prep period, Lopez said he saw students trying to climb over the metal gate on the north side of the campus.

“When I saw one of my [AP U.S. History] students climbing the fence and jumping…and like almost falling, I started rushing towards the gate,” Lopez said. “ I opened the gate for them so other students wouldn’t get hurt like the day before.”

Guidance from the ACLU of Southern California related to student walkouts states “locking exits to the school can pose serious health and safety concerns for students and staff.”

Lopez said he opened this gate on the north side of Synergy Quantum Academy and Maya Angelou Community High School's shared campus after watching students attempt to climb over Thursday Feb. 5.

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Lopez said within an hour, Synergy’s human resources department informed him that he’d been terminated for insubordination. Lopez said there was no hearing or additional meeting where he was able to defend his actions.

“What hurts even more was that they escorted me out like I was a — I felt like a criminal,” Lopez said.

The contents of his classroom were later boxed and sent to him via a third-party delivery service.

Lopez said it’s still unclear to him why he was fired. He said staff received an email earlier in the week telling them not to participate in student protests, but there was no mention of any policy related to the gate.

“ I wasn't participating [in the protest],” Lopez said. “To me it was about protecting students from getting hurt.”

What has the school communicated? 

The school’s public justification for terminating Lopez intersects with a longstanding source of friction in Los Angeles schools — the co-location of independent charter schools on the campuses of traditional district schools.

Synergy Quantum Academy shares a campus with Los Angeles Unified's Maya Angelou Community High School. Synergy is an independent charter school with a separate staff overseen by a board of directors outside of the district.

In messages to parents and staff, Synergy's principal said opening the gate conflicted with LAUSD protocol.

Synergy Quantum Academy enrolled 564 students in the 2024-2025 school year and is one of several charter schools operated by Synergy Academies.

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Synergy Academies CEO Rhonda Deomampo confirmed Lopez is no longer employed at the school.

In response to LAist's inquiry about which protocol was violated, Deomampo wrote in an email that Maya Angelou Community High School’s safety plan “clearly outlines the authority of the principal or designee in situations like these.” She also said “to date, the school has received no reports of student injuries related to student protests.”

The excerpt provided from the 206-page safety plan states it is the responsibility of the principal or designee to “maintain adequate safeguards to ensure the safety and welfare of students” during a walkout. The plan states “if students leave campus, school site administrators do not have a legal obligation to protect the safety and welfare of the students.” The document provided does not explicitly prohibit a staff member from opening a gate.

How is LAUSD involved? 

A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said while independent charter schools are expected to follow district policies related to walkouts, the district does not weigh in on personnel decisions.

“Independent charter schools are responsible for the supervision and management of the charter school employees,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Lopez said at Synergy, like many charter schools, he was an “at-will” employee, which means he can be terminated with or without cause and does not have the additional protections associated with union membership.

Community calls for teacher’s reinstatement

Lopez said he has a shared background with many of his students as the son of undocumented, working, immigrant parents who didn’t have an opportunity to pursue higher education themselves.

“That's one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher because a lot of things that I learned [in college] really helped me grow,” Lopez said. Teaching was a way to pay forward that knowledge.

“ I really miss my students, you know, I miss being in the classroom,” Lopez said. “ I just want to be reinstated, you know, and just keep, keep doing what I'm doing, teaching and supporting my students and protecting my students.”

Lopez said he is also worried that the termination could jeopardize his teaching credential or ability to get future jobs as an educator.

On Tuesday, dozens of students from both Maya and Synergy joined with organizers from Unión del Barrio and the Association of Raza Educators to rally for Lopez’s reinstatement.

Ayleen was a junior in Lopez's AP U.S. History class. “ When he sees that a student's not OK, he asks them personally and he doesn't embarrass them in front of everybody," she said.

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Synergy junior Ayleen said she didn’t participate in Wednesday’s walkout, but heard about peers who’d jumped the fence and gotten hurt. Ayleen requested to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy.

“We truly believe that he shouldn't have been fired for protecting a student,” she said. “That's his number one priority as a teacher, protecting his students, and he's the only one that upheld that that day.”

Lopez was Ayleen’s AP U.S. History teacher. AP classes culminate in a rigorous test where students can earn college credit.

“He has this way of teaching that he helps so much because he re-words questions,” Ayleen said. “It sounds simple, but so many teachers don't do that. He genuinely helps us to learn.”

Ayleen’s mother, Mary, said she supported her daughter’s decision to join the Friday walkout in protest of Lopez’s termination and would like the school to bring him back.

According to an Instagram post, students from Maya and Synergy plan to participate in another walkout Friday — still against ICE, but now also in support of their former teacher.