Here is an article that appeared in the Sunday edition of The Daily Breeze.

Threesixty project will remain vacant
By Sandy Mazza, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/06/2008 10:23:49 PM PST

More than a year after construction was halted on a high-end housing development on Hawthorne's west side, a black fence still surrounds the site and a sign informs visitors that the homes aren't for sale.

Threesixty at South Bay opened last year near Aviation and El Segundo boulevards with expectations that the development would attract young professionals and bring a nice chunk of property taxes to a city partially run down by thousands of cheap apartments.
But the houses didn't sell.

"There were essentially no sales when we had our grand opening in October of 2007," states a written proposal from the developer, William Lyon Homes. "The opening of the project last year was simply bad timing and market conditions continue to decline."

Representatives from William Lyon Homes did not return calls for comment.

Last week, the developer withdrew a plan it had submitted to the city's Planning Commission to lease the apartments in the face of opposition from homeowners groups and City Council members.

Dennis Wild, president of the Holly Glen Homeowners Association, said he and his neighbors take pride in having a community of single-family homes.

"When people ask me where I'm from, I always say Hawthorne - even though a lot of people say Holly Glen," Wild said. "I've always said one of the reasons why it's a nice area is because we don't have any apartments."

Mary Franklin, a longtime resident and member of the Holly Glen Homeowners Association, said leasing the units could cause the neighborhood to deteriorate dramatically.

"Recently, we have seen people selling homes in El Segundo and Manhattan Beach to live in Hawthorne," Franklin wrote in an e-mail. "Rentals will destroy all the past successes accomplished and will only spread the already high rates of domestic violence and crime."

Threesixty at South Bay's infrastructure and common areas - two pools, a spa, a wine room, a gym and meeting rooms - have been built, but only seven of about 80 residential buildings have been constructed.

William Lyon Homes proposed building nearly 200 of the least expensive one- and two-bedroom units, called The Flats, in the center of the property and leasing them for $2,200 to $3,200 per month. A timeline for building the remaining single-family homes and multiunit buildings was not set.

The Flats housing units were advertised last year as being cheaper than the other model units, while still offering private garages, access to the pools, a gym and other amenities, as well as design features such as balconies, wood floors, granite countertops and walk-in closets.

Before they were taken off the market, The Flats model homes were listed from $500,000 to $700,000. The most expensive single-family home model was listed as nearly $1 million.

Last week, residents complained to the City Council that the leasing proposal was too vague. The developer said leasing would only be a temporary option, but did not give a timeline. Nor did the proposal say how long it would take to build the first phase of the project, or when the entire 625-unit development would be finished.

Del Aire Neighborhood Association President John Koppelman said he could support a plan to lease the homes if restrictions are imposed.

"We don't want it to stay as a ghost town forever," Koppelman said. "We recognize the way the economy and housing market is. They say they want to lease it on a temporary basis, but they don't define what temporary is."

William Lyon Homes representatives told homeowners groups that they will answer their concerns before making another proposal to lease the homes.

City Councilman Gary Parsons said the developer probably has a more difficult time selling the idea of leased units to Hawthorne residents because the city already has so many rentals. Many residents fear having a "Moneta Gardens West," he said.

Moneta Gardens is a low-income neighborhood on the east side of Hawthorne packed with high-density apartment buildings and rife with crime.

"Moneta Gardens has a transient population that doesn't vote, doesn't get involved in improving the community. We have too high a renter population already," said Parsons, who is against the developer's plan. "We'd like to balance that with more homeowners that care about the community getting better."

But Parsons acknowledged that there is a danger the developer will neglect the property and wait for the market to improve if the leasing proposal is not approved. That could mean living with a nearly 40-acre, unfinished, dusty lot for years.

"The developer has to maintain the property in good condition and keep the weeds down and provide security so we don't have vandalism," Parsons said.

El Segundo swapped the land where the development now sits in 2006 in a plan to keep the Los Angeles Air Force Base from relocating to Colorado. The base was in danger of being closed because its facilities were deteriorated and seismically unsound. Both cities wanted to keep the base in the South Bay because about 50,000 jobs depend on it. The base was relocated across the street in a state-of-the-art facility, and its former lot was used for two housing developments - Threesixty and Fusion.

Councilman Danny Juarez said he wants the developer to turn the homes into housing for Air Force personnel. But that plan would not be profitable for William Lyon Homes, he said.

"I'm still convinced in my heart that the best way to deal with this is to work with the government, and maybe not put in the granite countertops. Make it a good place to live for the military," Juarez said.

On the northeast side of town near Van Ness Avenue and 120th Street, the Central Park 176-unit housing development also is stalled. Construction has begun, and homes were expected to hit the market around this time for $500,000 to $600,00, but none has been built.

A representative from Lee Homes, the Central Park developer, did not return a call for comment.

It is not clear when the housing and credit markets will return to a level that will satisfy developers, who bought when prices were high, to finish construction or sell, Koppelman said.

"I believe they should have some definition of what constitutes a better market for selling," Koppelman said. "They say they want to lease this until the market gets back. What does the market getting better mean? Is there a magic number?"
sandy.mazza@dailybreeze.com
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The article brought a fear the folks like me have if up to 1,196 units of non-age restricted condominiums are constructed at the Ponte Vista at San Pedro site.

If any number of units at the Ponte Vista site become rentals, leases, or have rented out rooms, that would create a potentially extremely bad situation of just about everyone.

If folks are going to spend One Million Dollars or more on a multi-bedroom condominium unit at Ponte Vista and then be in an area where units are rented out and the population becomes more transitory, I don't know if any of those folks who really want a large luxurious condo in northwest San Pedro would pay to live in a project similar to what could be at Ponte Vista.

During the time the U.S. Navy had members and their families living at the site, Dodson Junior High School, as it was known at that time, was the most transitory school in the entire LAUSD system. More students moved into and out of its area over a year's time that at any other school in the District.

Having rental units and leased units available at Ponte Vista would mean that Dodson Middle School would see a much larger increase in students enrolling and then moving away than they have seen since the Navy housing was abandoned.

The number and nature of traffic patterns also changes where there are less stable neighborhoods, in terms of folks moving in and out of the area.

Even if there were as few as 775 condominium units built at the Ponte Vista site that have no age restricted units and no low income units because a density bonus was not applied, it still means too many folks would be moving in or out of the site each year.

One of the insurances that must be provided for whatever is built on the 61.53 acre site is to find ways to discourage having rental units within the project's site.

One way of doing that is to include some senior housing, I believe. First, I do still believe there are some seniors in this area who would like to live in senior housing at Ponte Vista.

I think a senior housing section would also provide better population diversity and stability.

I think the population density of the entire site could be better impacted by having some senior units that would naturally have fewer people living in individual units rather than a project completely devoid of any restricted-age housing.

I watched the Hawthorne site transform for being the L.A. Air Force Station/Base, to starting to have residential structures built on the site. I picked up my work van very close to the site.

Now when folks drive by the area, it looks starkly vacant and there are just several buildings a ways away from El Segundo Blvd that have cropped up on the site.

If there is such a demand for housing in the greater L.A. area as Mayor V. and too many others repeatedly state, then (not withstanding the current market and economic conditions) are more housing units being provided?

Maybe the 'need' simply has vanished?

Actually, there still may be a real need for more low-income housing in the greater L.A. area, but the developer/speculators for the Threesixty and the Ponte Vista at San Pedro projects never indicated they were willing to accept that need and provide housing in their speculative projects that would feel even some of that need.

It was also interesting to note in the article that the Developer of Threesixty was also wanting to build some single-family houses on the mixed-type project.
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Now let's think about a related issue.

Just suppose the Developer of Threesixty worked much more closely with the U.S. Air Force to start work back up on building units at that site to provide housing for Air Force personnel and their families so much closer to the Air Force Base than in San Pedro?

Construction workers would be provided with jobs. There would be a lessening of traffic between El Segundo and San Pedro.

The Air Force would be able to get rid of its housing properties along 25th Street and more housing to members of the public would become available, in San Pedro.

Air pollution would be helped because fewer cars and bus trips between San Pedro and El Segundo would be necessary.

Time would be saved by many people.

I'm still looking for a down side regarding this idea.