‘Ocean Place’ construction continues

The park on First Street may open next year. The model homes being built at “Ocean Place” (the former DWP propoptery on First Street), are expected to be completed in December, according to Amna Gaafar, community represenative of Shea Homes.

Gaafar said Saturday, Oct. 5, that the property developers anticipate completing the park during the first quarter of next year, but the work could be completed later than that. She indicated mid-summer was a possibility.

Gaafar said the on-site sales office was getting “pretty good foot traffic, considering the models aren’t ready and we’re not advertising much right now.”

For years, city officials reported that the property developer would need to complete the passive park before building houses.

Escrow closed on the former DWP property on Monday, June 11, 2018.

As reported in July 2018, the Bay City Partners sold the property to Shea Homes for $36.6 million, according to CoreLogic.

(For a history of the property, visit https://www.sunnews.org/park-construction-on-former-dwp-land-to-begin-in-november/.)

According to Shea Homes sales literature, the Ocean Place homes range in price from a low $2 million to a “mid-high” $3 million, depending on the purchased plan.

The available plans are called Residence One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Eight. All of the plans are for two-story houses. (As previously reported, Seal Beach limits houses to two stories, with certain exceptions such as the “Gold Coast” on the beach side of Ocean Avenue.) For example, at the lower end of price ranges is a three-bedroom, 3,262 to 3,336 square foot “Residence Two.”

At the higher end of the range is a three-bedroom, 3,798 to 3,814 square foot “Residence Three.”

The homes all include either a rooftop or second-floor deck.

In late September, CoreLogic reported that August 2019 real estate data “for all homes sold in the [Southern California] region dipped 1.2% year over year, while total median price paid was stayed consistent at $535,000. This could be due to a change in market mix, meaning a shift toward a higher share of sales occurring in some of the region’s more affordable areas.”