Counter-intuitive South Bay play: Warehouse-to-residential in Gardena

Local multifamily investor Cityview and San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Partners have teamed up on plans for an apartment complex in the South Bay.

The firms bought a site at 12850 Crenshaw Boulevard in Gardena that’s fully entitled for a 265-unit complex, according to a joint announcement on Monday.

Records show the duo bought the site for $22.3 million from Raven Construction. The property is currently home to a 25,000-square-foot warehouse, built in 1958. Cityview and Stockbridge are planning to build a range of studio, one- and two-bedroom units, along with a pool, spa and gym area.

Dubbed South Bay X, the complex is set to be finished in early 2025, with construction starting later this year.

The firms are planning to bring “market-rate workforce housing.”

Workforce housing is a term often used to describe apartments restricted to those making between 60 and 120 percent of the area’s median income–typically in return for some form of public financing for the owner.

The term “market-rate workforce housing” suggests Cityview and Stockbridge will not use public financing, aiming to draw middle-class tenants without locking into any restrictions on rental rates.

The proposed complex appears to be well situated in terms of a local workforce that can afford market rates–it is about half a mile from the headquarters of SpaceX and Amazon’s Ring unit.

Not far away, in the neighboring municipality of Hawthorne, Standard Communities and the California Statewide Communities Development Authority recently purchased a 230-unit complex at 12530 Crenshaw Boulevard for $140 million. The deal comes under a formal “workforce housing” structure, where Standard Communities will lower rents at that apartment complex for qualified residents who make between 80 and 120 percent of the area’s median income.