Silicon Beach Next Door, South Bay Prices
Westchester and Playa Vista sit right where the Westside meets the South Bay, and investors who know this area understand why it keeps showing up in smart portfolios. You have LAX driving commercial activity, Silicon Beach employers like Google, YouTube, Snap, and Electronic Arts generating tenant demand from Playa Vista, and a housing stock in Westchester that still prices well below what you would pay a few miles north in Mar Vista or Culver City.
This is not a sleepy neighborhood waiting to be discovered. It is an active market where we have closed over a dozen transactions in the last two years alone. We know the blocks, we know the buildings, and we know which owners are thinking about selling before they list.
The Playa Vista Effect on Westchester Rents
Playa Vista is one of the newest planned communities in Los Angeles. The tech campus there employs thousands of workers who need housing, and not all of them want to pay Playa Vista's Class A rents. Many of them look east to Westchester, where a four-unit building on Ramsgate or Reading Ave offers the same commute at lower rent.
This spillover demand is real and it shows up in the numbers. Westchester rents have climbed steadily as Playa Vista has built out, and vacancy rates in the 90045 zip code remain tight. For investors, that means your tenant pool is not just local. It includes tech workers, airline industry employees, and professionals from the broader Silicon Beach ecosystem.
Small Multifamily Dominance
The Westchester multifamily stock is mostly three to four unit buildings. Triplexes and fourplexes on quiet residential streets, the kind of product that attracts investors who want manageable properties with solid cash flow. These buildings trade between $275K and $350K per unit depending on condition and location within the neighborhood.
We have deep experience with this product type here. Over the past two years, we have sold properties on Ramsgate Ave, Reading Ave, and Manchester Ave, sometimes the same buildings twice. When an entire portfolio of development properties needed to be liquidated quickly, we moved 16 buildings across these streets over 14 months. That kind of volume gives us pricing intelligence that no other broker in this submarket can match.
Playa del Rey: Coastal Premium, Limited Stock
Playa del Rey rounds out this submarket with a different flavor. It is a small, coastal community tucked between Westchester and the ocean. The multifamily stock is limited, mostly older buildings on the bluffs with ocean proximity that commands a premium. When properties do trade here, they move fast. Investors who want coastal exposure without Santa Monica pricing look at Playa del Rey as a value alternative.
LAX Modernization and Infrastructure Investment
The ongoing LAX modernization project, including the Automated People Mover and the Metro connection, is pumping billions of dollars into the immediate area. This infrastructure investment does not just improve the airport. It transforms the surrounding neighborhoods. New transit connections, improved road access, and commercial development along the Century Boulevard corridor all contribute to rising property values in Westchester.
For multifamily investors, infrastructure spending is the most reliable predictor of long-term appreciation. When billions go into an area's transportation network, rents follow. We are seeing that play out in real time.
Development Opportunities Still Exist
Unlike the more established Westside markets where entitled land is nearly impossible to find, Westchester still has development opportunities. Land parcels trade here at prices that can make ground-up construction pencil, particularly along the commercial corridors. We have brokered land sales on Manchester Ave and understand the entitlement landscape in this part of the city.
That said, the development window is narrowing. As Playa Vista fills out and Silicon Beach expands south, available land in Westchester will become scarcer. Investors considering development plays should be looking now, not in two years.
Investment Thesis Summary
Westchester and Playa Vista offer what most Westside markets cannot: entry-level pricing with institutional-quality demand drivers. At approximately $310,000 per unit with cap rates around 5.3 percent, this submarket delivers better cash flow than anything north of the 10 freeway. Add in the tech employment base from Playa Vista, the LAX modernization tailwind, and the ongoing rent growth from Silicon Beach spillover, and you have a submarket that punches well above its price point.
We have closed more transactions in this area over the past two years than any other broker. If you are looking at Westchester, Playa Vista, or Playa del Rey, we already know the buildings you are looking at.
