April 21, 2022 | Marc Brown, ABC 7 Los Angeles

It was five days that changed Los Angeles - civil unrest triggered by the "not guilty" verdicts for four LAPD officers who beat Rodney King.

At the intersection of Vermont and Manchester avenues, a lot that was set ablaze almost 30 years ago has remained abandoned.

"I saw this lot burning April 29, 1992. And that began the downward spiral of economic development and economic investment in this neighborhood," said Mark Wilson, who grew up in South L.A. and is part of the Coalition for Responsible Community Development.

He recalls the area was a place where his family and neighbors shopped.

The unrest stretched over five days - 63 people were killed, thousands of jobs lost, businesses destroyed.

After the unrest in 1992, the four-acre lot at Manchester and Vermont sat vacant - a blight on the community. But now it's rising out of the ashes.