Thursday, July 05, 2007

South Bay/Beach Cities: 360 at The South Bay

Grand Opening is July 28, 2007 from 10:00-5:00 pm



Entrance to 360 at South Bay

I've been seeing a lot of searches on my site for information on 360 at The South Bay so I thought I would provide a first look at what happening on the site.
The development is located on the old LA Air Force Station in El Segundo or SAMSO as it was called by most residents. In a complicated landswap deal the base was moved to new headquarters and the old base area was sold for housing to the William Lyon Company.



It looks as if 360 South Bay will be a very nice community although a bit more inland then many people may realize. Truthfully I don't know whether it will be considered El Segundo or Hawthorne because of the landswap that occurred. Technically it is in El Segundo but the school district will be Wiseburn not El Segundo.

I did notice that on the 360 site they are very careful not to mention a city. The same thing happened with Fusion which is in Hawthorne but across the street from Manhattan Beach.. it was also designated as Fusion South Bay rather then showing a Hawthorne address. The main reason is of course South Bay sounds like beach even though it is a few miles from the beach and definitely not in Manhattan Beach which is what a lot of people thought when they first hit the market.



The are building fast and furiously to get some models up and open sometime this summer. I don't know what the prices will be but am guessing there will be a fairly wide variety of prices with a few entry level units and others priced significantly higher. a lot of the units will be large.. over 1600 sqft which is nice for families or those who need more space.
There are 5 models that vary in design and size. The units will range from studios to 4 bedrooms and will be 957 sqft to 2729 sqft. I think they will be many similar elements found in Playa Vista in the Marina.
As I receive more information I will continue to post it here along with more pictures as the building moves forward








16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am curious about this new development as well. Is it definitely going to be El Segundo schools and not neighboring Hawthorne? The school district would certainly make the housing more attractive.

Kaye said...

Yes.. El Segundo School district would add significantly to the price tag..
This would probably fall into the Wiseburn district in Hawthorne which while good doesn't compare to the premium from El Segundo..
I will post the information when I find out the answer..

Anonymous said...

I checked with the El Segundo School District and the person I spoke to said anything east of Sepulveda is Wiseburn.

Kaye said...

Thank you.. I didn't have a chance to call today..I suspected that would be the case.. too bad.. but it will make the housing prices a bit lower..
Looks as if they are looking for an early to mid Fall opening..

Anonymous said...

1) The "360 South Bay" development is now within the city of Hawthorne. El Segundo ceded the land to Hawthorne in 2003 before home construction started. Readers are correct in that the land is part of the Wiseburn School District. Had El Segundo kept the residential land, it would have still been responsible for police, fire, and sanitation services. El Segundo had nothing to gain by keeping the residential land.

2) As of Friday February 22, 2008 the www.360southbay.com website says "Sales opportunities are temporarily unavailable while we give the market time to improve." My wife and I visited the development on Sunday. A sign still says the Information Center is open but the guard and the information center attendant told us "sales stopped". The development has about 6 fully completed buildings that were used as model homes, but they were all locked. The rest of the site has partially completed foundations but no wood or metal framing installed. No construction equipment was visible anywhere on the 39 acre site. Most of the site did not have roads or sidewalks. If they don't do something soon, the dirt is going to really blow in the summertime without landscaping.

3) With the collapse of 360 South Bay, William Lyon Homes and the City of Hawthorne will be in a world of hurt. Lyon Homes already paid approximately $115 million dollars as part of the deal to build new facilities for the Air Force Base on the El Segundo side of Aviation Blvd. The buildings were completed in 2006. Lyon Homes was going to make their profit in 2008 through 2010 when they sold the 625 units at 360 South Bay. But now they have an empty lot, a cancelled project, and are probably making interest payments on that $115 million. They have no product to sell. Hawthorne City probably made future spending plans based upon expected property tax revenues. In 2003 Hawthorne City planned to float a $25 million tax-increment bond for this site. I'm not sure if it was approved, but I suspect it would lower property taxes in the present to get people to buy the property without "sticker shock" at how much the property taxes are. It would then incrementally increase taxes paid to the city to finance the bond.

Kaye said...

I haven't been there for a few weeks.. but I received a notice from them a few days ago that they were not offering sales at the present time..

What is curious is that I believe they would have sold properties at a reduced price.. as you note Hawthorne not El Segundo had they priced the properties to reflect that fact..

This could prove to be interesting...Thanks for the update..

Anonymous said...

I visited 360 @ southbay. I liked the design and quality of 2 of 3 of the townhouse buildings however I felt as it their asking prices were absolutely rediculous. Lyons Homes wants manhattan beach and El segundo prices for a Hawthorne address. One of the townhomes has a starting price at apprx 930K. Persanally, I think they would sell well if Lyons homes takes off about 150-200K. Possibly more in some cases. Fusion at southbay had to do it. I dont feel any pity for Lyons Homes. In my opinion they were going to attempt to extort people. For goodness sake, they dont even want to make it known what city these homes are actually in. I hope other areas see new developments reduce prices or give up. Its time for these prices to come down. I grew up in los angeles and live in manhattan beach now. Its a shame that good hardworking people with incomes into the 6 figures can barely afford a home in a descent neighborhood.

Kaye said...

Anonymous 12:19,
I guess these guys have to learn the hard way that crossing the street means big money. Hawthorne is not El Segundo or Manhattan.

Anonymous said...

No postings here in a long time. It's now March 2010 and units are finally available for sale again. I drive past this development every day (I work at Aerospace Corp), and in the few months that they've been for sale I have seen absolutely no activity there. There is no indication of renewed construction of any facilities, nor have I seen a car go in or out of the site. Although their prices have come down a lot, they still look high. I can't see buying a home there where no progress is being made toward completion of the facilities. Good luck to them.

Kaye said...

Anon 7:35,
There are newer posts that you may have missed.

The most recent Grand Opening was a few weeks ago. They are opening in phases and will not start construction until they have a certain number of reservations on units with deposits. I don't think you will see any units completed until mid September at the earliest.

I believe that you will see prices drop fairly quickly if they don't see sales happening. I doubt they want to sit on this project much longer.

Anonymous said...

I would rather buy home in El Segundo instead of Hawthorne...The city of El segundo will really add attraction to the buyer..Why they already finalized the city this is "Why" the reason Im no longer intirested to 360...EL Segundo would add significantly to the price tag....

Anonymous said...

Is theres a way they can lower the price of HOA? 350 dollars or plus really a huge amount, considering the area( Hawthorne)the HOA is quite expensive. Hopefully the management can lower the HOA, limit some amminities etc. im sure these could attract more buyers to invest...

Kaye said...

Anon 9/21,
The HOA dues may change after buyers start moving in and the HOA is activated.. or they could be higher.

The big issues with a large association like this one is liability insurance, especially with a pool, general ground maintenance plus making sure the reserve is high enough to cover future costs.

Anonymous said...

there is nothing like 360 around..with the amenities and added secured buildings...and Wiseburn is an award winning school district which attracted many of the El Segundo teachers to leave it for Wiseburn...In Nov. there is going to be a vote to build a high school there which will really drive properties up if it passes and they have the bonds to help it pass. I see it as a great investment now. and I see the HOA's as a health club membership and not having to do yard work....plus it's just plain beautiful inside...I'm sold.

Anonymous said...

I have been there several times looking measuring and talking to a few ppl that have moved in. The $300 a month HOA quote will elevate shortly to $400 due to security plans and increase in insurance. Too Much for a new HOA..Next few years wil be even more..Lyons Developmrent lost 12 million last year and 8 million this year how much longer can they hold this property? Don't believe me look up Lyons on your computer and see their finacial sheets last three years. Last , units are not selling 600 to be built prices as low as they will go and only 75 sold in 1.5 years sice their second opening not a good sign..HOw do they save the development ..lower HOA fees and guarentee for 5 years ..lower prices due to risk factors and give upgrades for free or more incentives or they will lose the project based on price per sq foot its at the top of southbay market and its not MB or ES city ..at these prices fees and when you consider taxes etc not a very good investment and you will never be able to sell it for at least 10 years ..

Anonymous said...

This project has been under development for several years. Has been closed twice due to poor sales and financial problems. It is a secondary location and re sale would not be that easy. The prices are about 100-150,000 too high for the area and for this development couple that with the high and going higher monthly HOA at 400+ a month. Theres a reason the development hasn't been selling good since its inception..buy here and take a big risk a buyer would be much better off finding a single family home or condo in the city of El Segundo ...Buyer beware of this development resale will be impossible unless you want to take a big loss..