At a hearing last month, the El Segundo City Council voted unanimously to approve a plan from a team of local real estate firms to build new multifamily housing and commercial uses on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).

View of Pacific Commons South looking northwest on PCHPacific Commons Website

Pacific Coast Commons, a joint venture between Mar Ventures, Inc. and Continental Development Corporation, would rise a series of properties located on the west side PCH between Holly and Palm Avenues which The properties are currently used as parking for the neighboring Fairfield Inn & Suites and Aloft Hotels.

The approved plan will permit the construction of new multi-story structures containing a combined total of 263 apartments, 11,252 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and parking for 792 vehicles. A total of 32 of the proposed apartments and townhomes would be set aside as deed-restricted affordable housing, according to information published to a project website. That represents an increase from the 26 income-restricted units originally proposed by Mar Ventures and Continental Development.

Withee Malcolm Architects is designing the mixed-use complex, which calls for the construction of three new buildings standing five and six stories in height. One of those buildings would be a standalone parking structure.

Pacific Commons site planWithee Malcolm Architects

Construction of Pacific Coast Commons is expected to occur over a roughly 34-month period, according to an environmental study circulated by the City of El Segundo.

While El Segundo has welcome new office complexes and hotels in recent years, apartments are a rarity for the South Bay neighborhood and aerospace hub. The city, which is among the least densely populated jurisdictions in Los Angeles County, has prohibited residential uses on the east side of PCH, and much of its land area is developed with a massive Chevron oil refinery.