As we approach the end of the 2022, I am excited to share my year-end blogs. Some of the topics you can come to expect are:
- Q3 California Housing Affordability Numbers (this will be hugely important)
- Black Friday Deals & Potential Great Buys
- The Best (and Worst) Performing South Bay Home Markets of the Year
- Recapping my 2022 “Fearless Predictions”
If you are a South Bay real estate enthusiast, I hope you will join me in all my platforms to close out the year. My goal is to help you hit the ground running in 2023.
I want to switch it up this week and talk about a section of the market that I rarely, if ever, cover on the weekly blog — commercial real estate!
South Bay Commercial Property
First and foremost, I am not a commercial real estate agent. If you know me, then you understand I am a South Bay home specialist who also works with income properties.
I like to keep a breadth of knowledge in South Bay real estate because it is key to understand the market from a wholistic standpoint. Commercial real estate from Manhattan Beach to Palos Verdes is its own unique animal. It is tough to compare its functioning nationally, statewide, and oftentimes even just in Los Angeles County.
I like to compare South Bay commercial real estate to buying a home on the Palos Verdes Bluffs or Manhattan Beach Strand. Its proximity to some of the most highly desired locations in California change the calculations for many buyers and sellers.
For the purposes of this post, I am not going to try to educate you on how commercial real estate works in the South Bay, but rather share listings to expand your knowledge of what is out there in our South Bay real estate markets.
This knowledge is almost like cross-training — it may not be applicable to the fitness or sport you are trying to master but working other muscles ultimately will be beneficial.
So let’s explore a small taste of commercial offerings throughout the South Bay!
Manhattan Beach
1300 Highland Avenue is a well-known office complex built in 2009. It is in the heart of downtown Manhattan Beach and offers one of the best locations for a small office in all of southern California.
1300 Highland Avenue #205
- 310 sq. ft.
- Asking: $675,000
The last MLS office condo to sell in this location was in December of 2021 at $680,000. Obviously, a lot has changed in the past 11 months and this condo has been sitting for the better part of six months.
If you prefer ground floor retail options at this complex, there are two condos #108 and #106 with asking prices of $800,000 and $825,000. Suite #109 sold for $710,000 just two months ago.
Hermosa Beach
Next up is Hermosa Beach — for this example I want to display how you can save if you don’t need to be in a premiere location like downtown Manhattan Beach.
Let’s explore a location just off PCH in Hermosa on 2nd Street:
727 2nd Street #205 & #205
- 600 sq. ft.
- Asking: $700,000
This building was constructed just two years earlier than our Manhattan Beach subject in 2007. As you can see, if you erase the premium location, you can get TWO office condos for the same price as one in Manhattan Beach.
Neither this example or the Manhattan Beach example is better or worse, it is more of an opportunity/decision for a perspective buyer to understand what is most important to them in an office.
Extra space or fabulous location? Each business owner would have a unique set of requirements.
The last sale occurred here in February of 2021 for a single condo in suite #107 for $325,000.
Redondo Beach
There are a lot of commercial listings to highlight in Redondo Beach since the city is so darn big. I’d like to use an example that might surprise readers:
122 N. Pacific Coast Highway
- 15,566 sq. ft., 1.5621 Acres
- Asking: $13,850,000
This massive combination of properties on PCH is a rare opportunity that many may not know is even for sale. The property contains a preschool, educational center, parish offices, and a large parking lot. The sale is part of the land owned by St. James Catholic Church in Redondo Beach.
A piece of land that large off PCH in South Redondo Beach is tough to find. That said, normally church properties sell as land value due to the building serving a religious use only and they are tough to re-purpose.
Look for this to sell to a developer — if it even sells at all.
Palos Verdes Peninsula
Last but not least, is the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Let’s highlight a new listing in Rancho Palos Verdes:
5702 Crest Road
- 1,614 sq. ft., 26,220 lot, daycare
- Asking: $2,899,999
If you have ever headed to the top of the hill on Crest Blvd off Crenshaw, then you have likely driven by the adorable little Hilltop Nursery School. It is a commercial lot amidst a dense R1 residential area.
While it will be difficult to convince the city of any other commercial use outside of school services, this will likely go down as a residential development.
Just a couple blocks west is the corner of Highridge and Crest that was re-developed by KB Homes in a two-house development. The fate of this subject listing would likely be the same.
For comp purposes, this was a sale of one of the KB developed homes in 2021:
29980 Highridge Road
- 3,015 sq. ft., 11,000 sq. ft. lot, build 2021
- Sold: $2,450,000
Can a developer make this pencil as another two-home development on a busy corner location? Only time will tell.
Final Thoughts
I hope this sampling of commercial property listings helps widen your knowledge of local real estate. If you have further interest in commercial real estate make sure to tune into my podcast next week where we are joined by our very first guest Case Dahlen, an industrial real estate expert at CBRE.
Have a great week!
Cheers.
Richard Haynes
DRE: 01779425
For more South Bay real estate insights, subscribe and follow Richard’s social channels below:
The Richard Haynes Real Estate ShowA leader in South Bay real estate for the better part of a decade, Richard thrives as an advisor to his clients with over $248 million in sales as a broker or investment principal at his boutique agency, Haynes. Richard is known for his keen local market insights which have been featured in the L.A. Times, The Street, and Forbes, along with his weekly South Bay real estate blog. [read more]