Old Metlox Pottery Lot Set to Be Sold for Development
The city and an unidentified buyer are in the process of purchasing the old Metlox Pottery site--a vacant plot of land adjacent to downtown Manhattan Beach.
The city is set to buy the 65,000-square-foot south parcel from the Santa Fe Railroad Co. A developer is set to buy the north parcel, which is owned by a private investor.
Though there are no formal plans on how to develop the land, city officials hope that the two plots will be combined. City Manager Geoff Dolan said residents favored a hotel or retail space during a 1996 strategic plan the city conducted.
Metlox went bankrupt in 1989. Mike Dunn, the broker selling the north parcel, said the property was sold in 1991 to a developer who wanted to build condominiums. But the city placed a moratorium on residential developments downtown.
The sale of the south property had been held up by litigation with heirs of the Redondo Land Co., which had granted an easement to the Santa Fe Railroad. The heirs believed a part of the land belonged to them, but the California Supreme Court ruled for the city last year.
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