Category: a-South Bay
The Marriott Residence Inn and a Hilton Garden Inn are set to start construction on the site of the former Malibu Castle mini-golf course located at Marine Avenue and the 405 San Diego Freeway in Redondo Beach. The two hotels will take about 5 acres total of the site and will have combined 320 rooms in two new 4 story buildings. The cost will be around $60M. Everyone connected with the development is happy to see the whole thing starting to move forward after suffering a 2 year set back Read More
The New York Times published this … If you are considering a loan modification or a short sale, you will need to proved a HARDSHIP LETTER. Writing the “hardship letter” Homeowners having trouble paying their mortgage are often required to write a hardship letter when applying for a loan... Read More
JUST A NOTE: Manhattan Beach has let Malibu know for sure that their city can no longer get sand from Manhattan Beach as they have done in the past. Read More
Tips: #2-1 DRY OUT TOILET BOWL AND TANK: Before I have to do any work on a toilet, I use a wet vac to suck out all of the water from the toilet bowl and tank. No more messes. #2-2 ON RE-PLANTING GRASS SEED: Put a window screen over a spot in your lawn that you're reseeding and you won't have to worry about birds eating the seeds. #2-3 FIX A DRAIN CLOG: The plumber couldn't budge the clog in our upstairs bathtub drain, so he said we'd have to tear out the ceiling below in order to get at the pipe. But a contractor we know had another idea that made a lot more sense. He stuck the nozzle of a wet-dry vac into a roll of electrical tape to get a tight seal against the tub's drain, and covered the tub's overflow hole with a flexible rubber pad. Then he turned on the vacuum and, voilà: the clog was sucked out of the pipe, saving our ceiling—and our bank account. #2-4 NO MORE STUCK OUTDOOR LIGHT BULBS: Screw-in bulbs in outdoor fixtures can corrode and become stuck in their sockets over time and will often break when you try to twist them out. Rub Vaseline on the bulbs' threads before screwing them in and you'll never have a problem replacing the bulb when the time comes. Read More
How many of us have often wondered about the name of The South Bay town we live in and where it came from? Well, we'll solve that problem for you. Here are some of the Origins for the names of some of the South Bay cities. As we find more, we'll let you know. * CITY OF HAWTHORNE: Named after the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne * CITY OF GARDENA: This one is tuff as there are many different stories as to where this name came from but most agree that it came from "Garden Spot" which one of the original founders called it because it layed in a beautiful green and lush valley. * CITY OF CARSON: Named after the son of the the developer of the South Bay who was also head of the Dominguez Water Corp., John Manuel Carson. * CITY OF EL SEGUNDO: Named by the executives of Standard Oil in 1911 when they were searching for a location for their second refinery. In Spanish, El Segundo means second. * CITY OF HERMOSA BEACH: Named in 1907, Hermosa means beautiful in Spanish. * CITY OF LAWNDALE: The founder, Charles B Hopper named it that in 1905 after a Chicago suburb as a way of attracting more settlers from the east. * CITY OF INGLEWOOD: The story says that a new resident of the area named Inglewood after the town he had just moved away from, his home town. * CITY OF MANHATTAN BEACH: Named by developer Stewart Miller after his hometown in New York * CITY OF PALOS VERDES: Means "green sticks" in Spanish, and probably named after Canada de Los Palos Verdes, a wooded area near the current day Machado Lake in Harbor Regional Park. * CITY OF REDONDO BEACH: Named after the nearby land grant 'Rancho Sausal Redondo' (“Ranch of the Round Clump of Willows”). * WILMINGTON: Named by developer Phineas Banning after his home town of Wilmington, Delaware. * SAN PEDRO: Named by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino in honor of St. Peter. Read More
FLASH As we speak Redondo Beach is filing suit to block Nordstrom from moving to Torrance. Center of Controversy Announced recently are plans to renovate and further develop the north and west sides of Del Amo Fashion Center beginning in 2013. The owners of the mall; Simon Property Group and J.P. Morgan announced their plans on December 11th along with Torrance Mayor Scotto. Nordstrom will be moving into the mall when all renovations are completed between 2013 and 2017.. Nordstrom will be moving from their present location in the South Bay Galleria. The exterior of the mall will be remodeled and re designed, the food court will be completely renovated into a garden environment, many parking spaces added along with other improvements. The older buildings on the west side of the mall will be torn down and replaced with the new home for Nordstrom. The goal is to return the mall to its former title of the biggest shopping center in the nation. The new mall is expected to add an additional $2-$3M in revenues for the city of Torrance when completed. Read More
A $21M design for the much awaited Torrance Transit Center was announced this week according to the Daily Breeze. The will be constructed on over 16,000 square ft. former industrial land near Del Amo Blvd. and Crenshaw Blvd. Some plans are still ongoing. Those plans include a possible linking to the Torrance Transit Center with the Green Rail Line. Since much of the money going toward the Transit Center is being provided by the transportation taxes collected, there is a good chance to see the rail line extension eventually approved and built. A huge parking lot will be built and a retail building was originally planned but was slashed at the last minute. Location of Transit Center Many local developers are interested in building a retail complex. Experts are looking for an environmental impact report on the possible retail complex by the end of the year. Metro Rail is working to solve any problems with bringing the Metro line to Torrance and hopes to announce something positive soon, or when funding for the line can be solved. Read More
Originally over 7 square miles of trees and dirt roads, Lomita California has survived natural disasters, boundary disputes, world wars, civil wars, some oil booms, and more. On top of all the disputes and wars, Lomita found that it was slowly being gobbled up by the neighboring cities, all anxious to annex everything until the little community literally was no more. After many attempts to incorporate as a city, Lomita finally made it happen in 1964 and that was to stop the booming development and continuing annexation attempts. Now only 1.87 miles square Lomita began to start controlling its own future by taking over the children's schooling and the local water district. What started out as a rural quiet community, with only a simple ranch house and some out buildings and barns on the old Narbonne property, a few dirt roads, a couple of fruit orchards and a narrow gauge electric railroad that stopped on Western Avenue, Lomita has grown into a modern city with warm and welcoming residents and still retains it's quiet rural atmosphere and standard of living. Read More
Watch this beautiful Video of the South Bay and you will understand why sop many reside here. Housing sales are starting to go up, building starts are up, condo and townhome sales are setting new records in some areas. And we are seeing an upswing in South Bay real estate. Mortgage rates are still at an all time low. Lenders say they have money to lend. Lenders have tightened up their processing and underwriter guidelines, which is slowing down overall processing and funding times. Experts say that if there is no unforeseen crisis in the near future the trend should continue with gradual increase in sales. Foreclosures and lack of inventory is affecting many markets across the country at the present time, and that should start improving gradually. One factor that is helping to fuel the gains is heavy buying by investors, many paying cash for hot properties. Flipping houses is again being advertised heavily which causes some concerns. Many experts feel that “flipping” along with other factors was a major cause of some of the real estate problems of recent years. The pace of building is picking up as well, with housing starts in some states like Washington, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and South Carolina are likely to near the levels last seen in the 2000-2003 period, by the end of this year. Construction industry experts are predicting a possible 17-20% increase in new housing starts. General increases in building permit applications are already being seen in some “hot market” areas. So what’s the down side of all of this? The unknown possible tax hikes coming in January and some other possible worsening economic factors coming out of Europe and Asia that could affect more than just the real estate industry. Read More
This December another South Bay landmark will go the way of Marineland, Torrance and Vermont Dirve Ins and the infamous Ascot Raceway. El Camino's Murdock Stadium is scheduled to be demolished. This local stadium opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1949. The new facility with a price tag of $37.2 mil will be completed by 2014. The project is paid for by your school bond money. Read More