Sold
The best address in South Redondo is not on the Esplanade; it is one lot behind it. 1603 South Catalina Avenue is a 3,200 square foot townhome built in 2018, set back from the street between neighbors on both sides, a block from the Esplanade and a short walk to Riviera Village, with a three stop elevator, a rooftop deck that looks at the Peninsula, the water and the city lights, and a beach-level suite with its own entrance from the garage. We listed it at $3,499,000 in the winter, carried it through the slow season, and closed at $3,450,000 on March 20, 2026, 69 days after listing, at $1,078 per square foot. This is the case for pricing a house at what it is and waiting for the buyer who agrees.
| Address | 1603 South Catalina Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA 90277 |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | South Redondo Beach |
| Property type | Townhome (two on a lot) |
| Bedrooms and bathrooms | 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms |
| Living area | 3,200 square feet |
| Lot | 7,258 square feet (shared) |
| Year built | 2018 |
| List price | $3,499,000 |
| Sold price | $3,450,000 (1.4 percent below asking) |
| Days on market | 69 |
| Closed | March 20, 2026 |
| MLS number | SB25233491 |
What was the house?
A modern townhome with the plan buyers in this pocket ask for and rarely find: three bedroom suites on one level with the laundry, a fourth bedroom and full bath at beach level with direct garage access and a lounge, the kitchen, dining and living on the main floor opening to a wraparound deck, and a rooftop deck above that. The kitchen carried Calacatta marble counters, a floating island, Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, a walk-in pantry and a home office alongside; the floors were wide-plank French white oak; the primary suite had a double door entry, a custom walk-in closet and a bath with two vanity areas, a soaking tub and a walk-in shower. The beach-level room was fitted as a golf simulator. The house was built in 2018 and had been kept as new.
What set it apart from the other new townhomes in South Redondo was the siting. The unit sits behind the street line, shielded on both sides, which takes it out of the road noise and foot traffic of Catalina Avenue while keeping it a block from the Esplanade. The listing called that a Strand-adjacent life without the Strand premium, and the buyer evidently agreed.
What was the goal?
A full price for a house with no comparable on the market, in a season with few buyers. The stakes were the usual ones for a townhome in the $3 million range in South Redondo: price it against the older two-on-a-lot inventory and it is undervalued; price it against single-family houses on the Esplanade and it will not appraise. We priced at $3,499,000, a number built from the 2018 construction, the elevator and the rooftop, the beach-level suite and the siting, and set the strategy as patience. A house that is one of a kind does not need to chase the market in December; it needs to be seen by the right buyer when that buyer arrives, and to have a disclosure package that answers every question the first time.
The buyer arrived in the first quarter. The sale closed at $3,450,000, 1.4 percent under the list price, after 69 days, which is a long marketing period for this office and a short one for a house priced at the top of its category in the winter. The seller kept 98.6 percent of the ask.
What does the sale say about South Redondo?
That the market pays for the plan, not the label. A townhome with a bedroom level, an elevator and a rooftop, sited off the street a block from the water, sold at a price per foot that is closer to the Esplanade’s single-family houses than to the two-on-a-lot inventory inland. Buyers in South Redondo are paying for how a house lives across generations of a household, the suite at beach level, the bedrooms grouped on one floor, the rooms that work as an office or a gym, and they will wait through a winter to find it. For the pocket itself, see South Redondo Beach page and the Redondo Beach hub; for how these buildings work legally, our Homes by Type page covers two-on-a-lot ownership.
Update: sold
Updated March 20, 2026: 1603 South Catalina Avenue closed at $3,450,000, 1.4 percent under the $3,499,000 asking price, after 69 days on the market.
If you own a newer townhome in South Redondo and want to know what the plan, the elevator and the rooftop are worth against the older inventory, send Neil the address. The Sellers page describes how we price a house that has no comparable.
Sources
- California Regional MLS listing record, SB25233491; closing figures as reported to the MLS
- South Redondo Beach; Homes by Type
Written December 2025; updated March 20, 2026. Property facts, list price and days on market are from the California Regional MLS listing record (SB25233491); the sale price and closing date are public record. Represented by Neil Chhabria, Chhabria Real Estate Company. This article is general real estate information about one sale, not tax, legal, lending or investment advice, and not a statement about the value of any other property.
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