Marina del Rey: an artificial harbor celebrates real success.

Marina del Rey: An artificial harbor celebrates real success By Morris Newman

Marina del Rey, the man-made harbor with a name that calls up images of swinging singles, Polynesian theme restaurants and soaring real estate prices, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

A quarter century ago, Los Angeles County decided to convert the local wetlands into the largest artificial marina in the country, with the intent of creating an embarcation point for pleasure craft.

In the intervening years, the 804-acre community, whose land and harbor are still wholly owned by the county, has taken on a distinct identity as an exotic, if somewhat ersatz, resort community inside greater Los Angeles. Sleek, high-rise buildings on the ocean front recall Honolulu and Miami more than neighboring Santa Monica Monica and Venice.

Because it is out of the way -- the Marina can only be reached via Lincoln Boulevard and the Marina Freeway -- the area seems set apart, like a tropical atoll in America's second largest city.

The appeal of living by the sea, and the youth-oriented culture that the sea attracts, has made the Marina a real estate phenomenon. To borrow a phrase from architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, the Marina is a "condo city." In a community that has virtually no single-family homes, nearly 11,000 people live in the Marina's apartments and condominiums -- as well as in fully equipped homes on houseboats in the 6,200-slip harbor.

The chief inhabitants of the area are singles and young couples in their 30s, including the group known as "dinks": double-income, no kids couples.

David Naccarato, who lives in the Marina and commutes to his Compton furniture factory, says a common passion for sailing has created a sense of community in the area.

"I have friends who are millionaires and friends who are so poor they can barely pay their slip fees, but they all wear the same white shorts and tee-shirts and hats. They all look alike." But popularity and a resort atmosphere do not come cheap. Condominium prices average about $250,000, with many running above $500,000. Rental rates for a two-bedroom apartment can run between $950 and $1,450 monthly, according to the Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce.

As in other resort areas, weekends are the busiest times in the Marina, when the local population can swell to 35,000, according, to the Marina chamber. Not surprisingly, tourist and recreation business are the biggest games in town -- at least after condominiums. The chamber claims the Marina's 36 restaurants give the oceanside community the highest density of eateries in the country, outside Manhattan.

In commercial development, hotels are currently the hottest items in town.

Two major hotel developers are building major hostelries within a few blocks of each other, with each planning to start construction in the fourth quarter of this year.

Marina-based Real Property Management Inc., which already owns 80 percent of the area's hotel rooms at the Marina Beach, Marina del Rey and Marina International hotels, is scheduled to start construction on a fourth inn, the 300-room Marina Plaza at Via Marina and Tahiti Way.

Katherine Lourie, president of the hotel division of Real Property, predicts that the new hotel will attract business travelers primarily. "We find that people would rather stay in the Marina than on the runway of (the Los Angeles International Airport)," she says.

Meanwhile, Ritz Carlton Hotel Co. of Atlanta, Ga. is planning to build another 300-room hotel at the 4300 Block of Admiralty Way. The hotel is expected to be modeled after on the hotel chain's Laguna Beach hotel.

In comparison to resort and residential real estate, office space is comparatively scarce, with a market base of 1.27 million square feet. Tenants tend to lease small spaces, averaging about 2,500 square feet apiece, compared to the average 3,800-square-foot lease in West Los Angeles, according to Stan Gerlach of Coldwell Banker.

As in other South Bay locations, office tenants in the Marina tend to be computer-related, high-tech businesses, as well as medical-industry companies and small law firms, according to Gerlach.

"The stuff leases pretty well, but it's hard to find places to lease -- especially large, contiguous floor areas," he says.

Currently, office vacancy rates in the Marina are running about 11 percent. Office space runs up to $24 per square foot yearly in the Marina, slightly higher than in neighboring Culver City.

The beach is the biggest magnet for many Marina office tenants, Gerlach says. "A lot of professionals want to be near their houses, their boats and the water, so they're willing to pay more" for Marina office space.

But some office tenants might avoid the Marina precisely because it is so attractive, according to Bill Whyte, a Cushman & Wakefield vice president. "It's an exciting environment, but not a standard business environment like Century City," he says. "If I were an executive concentrating on the bottom line, I would not want to place my company next to the beach."

Because the Marina is almost built out, observers do not expect sudden changes or growth spurts. "That's it. There's no more room," said a spokesman for the Marina chamber.

Those who seek homes or office suites near the beach are likely to find more availability in the Playa Vista project, a 957-acre mixed-use development proposed for the strip of land to the immediate south. Playa Vista has won preliminary government approvals, although the project remains embroiled in litigation with an environmentalist group, the Friends of the Ballona Wetlands, over the use of 400 acres in the costal zone. (Although the developer, Summa Corp., has dedicated about 250 acres as a wildlife preserve, environmentalists would like the preserve enlarged by another 100 acres.)

Summa Corp., with local headquarters in Culver City, plans to build 6 million square feet of commercial and office space and 8,800 residence over the next 15 years. The Playa Vista developer also plans a 900-slip expansion south of the Marina del Rey harbor.

How will Playa Vista affect Marina del Rey?

"I know a lot of people who are worried about environmental factors, but it can't do anything but help," said Real Properties' Lourie. "The development will create internal movement, with companies relocating from the Marina to Playa Vista," said Cushman & Wakefield's Whyte. "You'll see more retail development (in the marina) in response to the demand for urban amenities from hotel users," said Coldwell Banker's Gerlach.

The general consensus, however, is that the Marina will remain little changed, and is likely to remain a "bedroom" for South Bay professionals and singles. For the Marina, the development wave has already crested.

Photo: In a sea of masts: Marina office space is relatively scarce