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Those of us who have lived in the South Bay for a large portion of our lives have seen both the boom and bust in real estate.  The TRW track for example was a forclosure nightmare when the aerospace industry had to lay off thousands of high paid employees.  Many homes went vacant and many people turned their keys over to the bank very similar to what is going on around the country today. 

360 at South Bay has become the posterchild of getting caught when the bubble burst.  360 is located just inside an area of Hawthorne that saw a huge increase in median home prices during our latest real estate boom.  Unfortunately this same area that saw the greatest boost has now seen the greatest drop in home prices.  A quick look at the prices 360 is hoping to fetch its pretty easy to see that this project is going to go unsold for many many years.  Its hard to sell a young professional to buy a 500k studio flat (957 ft2) when they can purchase a single family home in the Redondo Beach area for not much more. 

So what does 360 offer?  A lifestyle, gym membership, dog run and other amenities.  What do these cost you?  On average your HOA fees are going to be over $500 a month * and if you factor that into a traditional 30 year fixed mortgage that gives you an additional 100k in purchasing power!  So that 500k mortgage plus HOA fees will end up matching a 600k traditional mortgage.  We feel that 360 needs to take a step back and realize that their long failed endevor is in desperate need of redirection.  Lets turn 360 into a 180 and do something different.  Young professionals entering the workforce these days are not going to have the 20-30% down that the new lending practices require.  We feel that 360 would be better off starting its construction project and turning the facility into luxury apartments.  Young professionals making anywhere between 60-100k a year are going to be looking for a place that fills their lifestyle needs.  Long term the project will pay much greater returns then selling individual units and would be leased out in a tenth of the time. 

The Beat

Photo Courtesy of Jake Rome: 360 at South Bay Gallery

* HOA fees are approximations based upon previous fees associated with first registration