Ocean-Front Sites Offered in Palos Verdes
Developers of Lunada Pointe, a 35.5-acre community in Rancho Palos Verdes, are offering the only ocean-front bluff home sites currently available for sale on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
And the sites are among the last, because the City of Rancho Palos Verdes’ coastal plan restricts single-family development of land seaward of Palos Verdes Drive West, said Tim Burrell, vice president and general counsel of Burrell Ltd., who had spent five years negotiating for permission to subdivide the property.
The $27-million project is a development of Watt Palos Verdes Inc. and Burrell Ltd.
“Fourteen of the home sites, with a total sales value of $13.7 million, already have been reserved by South Bay residents who spotted the development activity early on,” said developer Ray Watt.
He added that 11 sites, costing from $1.1 million to $1.4 million, are still available.
Located on a knoll overlooking the Pacific Ocean, each of the 25 lots, commands a sweeping view of Santa Catalina Island and the South Bay shoreline. Each site is at least one acre or larger, with building pads ranging from 7,072 to 14,100 square feet.
The $27-million Lunada Pointe community will have architectural controls requiring homes to be a minimum of 3,000 square feet in size, with tile roofs and three-car garages.
Building heights have been set to preserve view corridors within the community and to ensure unimpeded ocean views from Palos Verdes Drive West, according to Larry Schmidt, president of Watt Palos Verdes.
Burrell Ltd. began processing the project plans in 1979 in joint venture with the Berry Trust established by the Berry family, which had owned the property since 1943.
The late Ernest V. Berry purchased the parcel and an adjacent hillside from the Vanderlip family, and Berry’s widow, Marguerite, still lives in the area overlooking Lunada Pointe. Marguerite Drive, the north-south street running through the community, is named for her.
Permission in 1984
City permission to subdivide was granted to the owners in 1984, but site development did not begin until the Berry Point Partnership of Watt Palos Verdes and Burrell Ltd. bought out the Berry family interest in December of 1986.
Burrell was chief negotiator for the project from 1979 to 1984 with the Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission, City Council and the State Coastal Commission.
Lunada Pointe will include a recreation center with clubhouse, private park and tennis court. The 1,800-square-foot Mediterranean-styled clubhouse is under construction and will be completed in the fall. The homeowner association fee is set at $311 per month.
A sales office trailer for the project is on the site at 3330 Palos Verdes Drive West.
Related story on Page 4.
