San Pedro was Los Angeles’ worst long harbor town — a sleepy, blue-collar neighborhood better known for longshoremen, fishing boats than luxury homes and waterfront restaurants.
For years, developers, investors and real estate buyers have been betting that San Pedro’s long-awaited waterfront revitalization will finally come.
That bet is already priced into the market, according to real estate agent Gary Krill.
“People have been speculating — we’ve been talking about that river — for over 10 years,” Krill, of Selling San Pedro, told the California Post. “I feel like it’s already built on heritage.”
But now with a new wave of mega-bucks investment, driven by massive waterfront redevelopment, pandemic-era migration and a tightening housing market in other parts of the city, one thing is clear: San Pedro will be the next big thing in LA wealth.
Over the past 10 years, single-family home prices have risen from about $700,000 to about $1 million, according to Krill. Meanwhile, public and private investment money is pouring into the South Bay.
“It’s one of the best-kept secrets in Los Angeles,” Eric Johnson, president of Jerico Development, the company behind the $500 million West Harbor project, told The Post.
But that secret is getting harder to keep, and the revolution has fundamentally changed who wants to live there.
“It’s really changing,” Alex Valente, a principal at institutional development giant Trammell Crow Company, told The Post.
Valente’s firm has placed a big bet on the area, launching the construction of its first project in late 2022 and breaking ground on a comfortable 281-unit building in early 2026.
“We see it in our buildings,” Valente said. “We have people living here working at SpaceX in Hawthorne, waiting for their multi-billion dollar IPO. We have aerospace engineers from Boeing and Raytheon, Tesla employees, and soldiers from two nearby Air Force bases. El Segundo is the heart and soul of space defense, and we’re only 20 minutes away.”
Despite rising prices, for these high-wage workers, San Pedro offers a lifestyle unmatched by LA’s Westside yet. Residents can hike the rugged cliffs of neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes, visit the posh Terranea Resort, and buy or rent luxury homes near the water for a fraction of what it costs in Santa Monica or Venice.
For example, a two-bedroom, 1,200-square-foot condo in Santa Monica can cost $1.4 million, while a two-bedroom condo near the waterfront in San Pedro is listed at $480,000.
For generations, San Pedro was defined by fishing boats, canneries, and the Port of Los Angeles – the busiest port in the country. The port remains the economic backbone of the area, but today it is helping to drive a remarkable transformation by investing hundreds of millions of dollars in improving public access to the water.
That includes West Harbor, a 42-acre entertainment and dining district rising from the former Ports O’ Call Village.
The project will eventually include restaurants, a 6,200-seat theater, pickleball and paddle courts, parks, a marina, a 164-foot Ferris wheel and more.
West Harbor is expected to open for preview this summer, when it will host the official FIFA World Cup fan base. By fall, Johnson expects about a dozen tenants to open, with more to follow next year.
Developer Valente said the company has one 137-unit building currently leased and another 281-unit project under construction — both near the water and across West Harbor. The new project is expected to be completed before the 2028 Olympics.
“We’ve seen what comes with West Harbor and all the investment in public space,” Valente said.
However, Krill says many of the thanks aren’t just driven by West Harbor. Instead, he points to the pandemic and the remote work revolution. When people no longer need to go to work every day, many are reportedly starting to look south.
“They can get an oceanfront home in the South Shores for a fraction of what they would pay in Santa Monica or Marina del Rey,” Krill said.
San Pedro’s relative accessibility compared to nearby neighboring communities continues to attract buyers.
“Affordable waterfront is the kind of unicorn that doesn’t exist,” Johnson said.
Historically, this area once had a “tough town reputation,” the smoke from the shipyards and the smell of the cannery helping to keep waterfront property prices lower than those in the mountains.
“We’ve had this weird dynamic over the generations that the closer you get to the water, the lower the cost of housing,” Johnson said.
With people moving out of the city and wanting to be “downtown,” prices in lower San Pedro have increased. Some describe it as “win-win gentrification,” arguing that many longtime families benefit from selling their properties that have gone up in value.
Krill said the change is most visible in the former industrial areas near the city and the port.
The nature of the local economy is also improving. AltaSea, the port’s marine research and green technology hub, has transformed old industrial facilities into a campus focused on marine innovation, science, aquaculture and marine technology.
The rapid transformation raised an obvious question: Can San Pedro become a waterfront hot spot without losing the small-town grit that made it unique?
Currently, San Pedro sits between its past and its future – still a working port community, but increasingly home to luxury apartments, waterfront restaurants, research campuses and local entertainment.
