This is a photo taken in July 1951 on Calle de Madrid - a street at the top of the Riviera (also considered the “Upper Hollywood Riviera.̶ 
It’s super cool - check out the cars! The man who took the photo was amazed at how you used to be able to see views from so many places in the Riviera before all the trees grew up! The trees in this photo are around 3 years old…as the homes in this photo were mostly built around 1948. I am going to post a picture of this same spot as soon as the next clear day comes around so we can compare the views then vs. now. Love the “woody” in the background!
There are currently 27 single family homes on the market as of today with the average Days on Market at 61. 11 of those actively listed properties have reduced their prices at least once. The highest price is $2,295,000 for a home in a gated planned community called Riviera Beach Colony
- it’s a lovely home just steps to the beach. The lowest priced home is $650,000 on Pacific Coast Highway - the service street.
As far as what’s in escrow currently - there are 9 homes pending sale and their average days on market was also 61. 2 of those properties reduced their price once before going under contract. The highest price pending home is $1,999,000 for a gorgeous new construction home with an ocean view on the corner of Calle Mayor and Via Pasqual. It’s not quite done yet and never hit the MLS as active; it just came on as pending. The lowest price pending property is $650,000 and it’s down on Highgrove and needed some work. 
As far as what’s sold this year - 2008 - we’ve got 16 sales so far. It’s a far cry from this time last year (2007 had 28 homes sold by now) as far as number of units sold. This year is off by 43% for number of units sold. A lot of people are clearly “waiting it out.” We do have the same number of actively listed homes though - but many of those have been on the market a long time….a couple for over a year! The only good news here for 2008 so far is that the average price is actually up 8% with the average price for 2008 sales coming in at $1,228K and average price from 2007 sales (same period January 1st - April 22nd) coming in at $1,129K. The most expensive home sold in 2008 so far was $2,425,000 and it was gorgeous with the most amazing views!! It is one of the most expensive homes ever sold here in the Riviera, short of the homes on the Paseo de la Playa bluffs. The least expensive home sold in 2008 was $605,000 on that same PCH service street as mentioned above.
One area to look at as well when mentioning the Hollywood Riviera is the difference in the Torrance side (90505) and the Redondo Beach side (90277.) See my article - “Hollywood Riviera - Where is that Anyway” for a map of the different sides. The Torrance side’s solds in 2008 average price was $958,00 (6 units) and the Redondo Beach side’s average price was $1,390,000 (10 units.) Big Difference here!
Stay tuned for next months update!
One of the comments I hear the most when holding open houses in the Hollywood Riviera has to do with the utility poles. Often the comment comes in the form of a question, “so when are the utility poles going to be undergrounded?”
My new response is “I used to think they would be undergrounded in “my lifetime”, but now I doubt that.” The Hollywood Riviera has its own Homeowners Associationthat has a link on their website to the City of Torrance Engineering Dept for further information. (I just went there though and the link no longer goes anywhere?) It will be very expensive this proposition. It would take a vote amongst the Riviera homeowners and for those owners that have been here for 50 years - ask me why they would want to pay an enormous amount of money for something they have been living with for a long time. It’s the new homeowners moving in today that seem to notice the poles and the wires that hang off of them. With the cable companies adding their mess of wires to the whole thing, it’s not pretty. For those homeowners with a view - it is those properties that are most affected by the wires/poles actually - they have the most to gain if the utility poles were to be undergrounded.
From what I hear, it would take a large majority of the people to agree to the vote - they usually do it street by street. Then there would be an assessment placed on your property tax bill that would be paid over a certain amount of time. There are other costs involved though - getting the new undergrounded utilities to your house…..if you have any kind of “hardscape” in the affected area this could be very expensive to re-route. Then the electrical box on your house would have to be updated to accept the new undergrounded electrical lines and cable lines coming in. Of course in the end, it sure would look prettier. One other thing to consider, when there is a “power outage” it is harded to fix from what I hear, then the power companies need to “find” the problem - which they can’t see without digging. As it is now, they can at least “see” the problem.
On the upside - if you were to find a positive spin on the utility poles - I have them in my backyard - you get to see all sorts of neat birds and squirrells hanging out on them! I like that part! 
Have you been to the Riviera Village lately? There are some cool new hot spots there. Food wise - Creme de la Crepe 
just opened near Hennesseys. It’s a cool french crepe store and the waiters are really french. The guy who helped us the other day was just learning english, but that didn’t hinder his good spirits - we had great service. We brought our own wine and they corked it for us…not a bad corkage fee. We had dinner crepes and dessert crepes. The dessert crepes were my favorite. The place was packed - I would recommend a reservation. They always seem to have a crowd a breakfast time too. The Riviera Village really needed a place like this. I am awaiting yet another new eatery that is supposed to be european in nature where the old Redondo Village Sports used to be. Guess he also owns the Playa store so he’s combining the whole thing into one location. Bottomline: the crepe store is a “yes, go do it!”
On a completely different note - but also new in the Riviera Village - we have the Ma Me Spa. 
Here’s an idea for you if you have children, especially young ones. Go get a manicure, pedicure, facial or massage and bring the kids and have them watch them for you at the same time! A true spa get away without the guilt! What a gorgeous boutique they have as well - fine organic products to take home and pamper yourself there as well as gorgeous baby & mommy gifts! They also do couples night out - the two of you get a night out or a pampering spa treatment for two and babysitting all in one place..not bad!
I was out the other night in the Village at Friends of the Vine - they are not new - actually think they’ve been there quite a while now. What a great place - great atmosphere, great service, great food (hors d’oerves) and of course, great wine! You can go and buy wonderful wine there as well as wine accessories if you need a nice gift for a wine lover. Seems like you always run into someone you know there, so head on down and enjoy an evening at Friends of the Vine in the Village!
