Manhattan Village Homes for Sale, Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Village sits in the eastern part of Manhattan Beach, and it is the only gated residential community in the three beach cities. That alone makes it unlike anywhere else in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach or Redondo Beach.

It is also the subject of a persistent misunderstanding that is worth clearing up before anything else.

Is Manhattan Village a senior community?

No. The homeowners association rulebook runs 41 pages and contains no age restriction of any kind. There is no 55-plus requirement, no 62-plus requirement, and no occupancy limitation based on age anywhere in it.

The confusion comes from a genuinely separate property. Manhattan Village Senior Villas, at 1300 Park View Avenue, is a 104-apartment building first occupied in 1997. It is restricted to householders aged 62 and over, or 55 and over for persons with disabilities, and it is deed-restricted affordable in perpetuity under City monitoring.

Two different properties, similar names, and the distinction matters if you are searching or being shown listings.

How is the association structured?

There are two entities, not one:

• Manhattan Village Homeowner’s Association, formed 1984
• Manhattan Village Estate Homes Association, formed 1983

The Homeowner’s Association is formally master over the Estates entity. For a buyer that means dues, governance and rules can differ depending on which part of the community a property sits in, and the governing documents are not interchangeable.

Ask for the documents that apply to the specific address rather than to Manhattan Village generally. That is the single most useful thing to do early in a transaction here.

What is inside the gates, and what is not?

This is worth separating carefully, because the MLS area and the gated community are not the same footprint.

The residential community is gated with monitored entry. The surrounding area that shares the Manhattan Village name includes a good deal that is not residential at all: the Manhattan Village mall, Raleigh Studios, the Manhattan Beach Country Club, Northrop Grumman, and the commercial frontage along the Rosecrans corridor.

Two public parks sit in the area as well: Manhattan Village Park and Marine Sports Park, the latter built in 2002 on what had been a TRW parking lot.

So a listing described as Manhattan Village may or may not be behind the gates. Confirm which.

What can you build here?

Manhattan Village falls in Area District II, the same district as the Tree Section. For single-family property that means a minimum lot of 4,600 square feet, a minimum width of 40 feet, and a height limit of 26 feet and two stories.

In practice the association’s rules matter more than the zoning for most projects here. A gated community with active governing documents will typically impose architectural review beyond what the City requires, and that review is the binding constraint on exterior changes.

The City’s tree protection ordinance also applies, since it covers Area Districts I and II. A tree with a trunk 12 inches or more in diameter sitting at least partly in the required front yard or corner streetside yard needs a permit to remove.

Is it served by walk streets?

No. Manhattan Village is served by a conventional sidewalk system, as are Liberty Village, East Manhattan Beach and the Hill Section. The walk streets are a Sand Section feature, running between The Strand and Alma Avenue in the north and Valley Drive in the south.

It also sits inland, so the coastal development permit requirements that govern The Strand and Ocean Drive do not reach it.

Which schools serve Manhattan Village?

Manhattan Beach Unified School District serves the whole city, and it publishes per-address elementary attendance boundaries, unlike neighboring Redondo Beach Unified. Assignment can be confirmed from a published map rather than assumed.

District elementary schools are Grand View (455 24th Street), Meadows (1200 Meadows Avenue), Pacific (1200 Pacific Avenue), Pennekamp (110 South Rowell) and Robinson (80 Morningside Drive). Mira Costa High School is at 1401 Artesia Boulevard. Confirm assignment for a specific address with the district.

Working with a Manhattan Village agent

Manhattan Village transactions turn on the governing documents more than most. Which association applies, what architectural review requires, what the dues cover, and whether a given address is actually inside the gates are all questions worth answering before an offer rather than during escrow. If you are buying or selling here, we are glad to walk a specific address with you, and our Manhattan Beach overview compares the sections.

Continue exploring Manhattan Beach

• Sand Section – the coastal strip and the walk streets
• Tree Section – where the tree ordinance began
• Hill Section – the largest lots in the city
• Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village – the Eastside north of the boulevard
• Mira Costa area – the Eastside south of the boulevard
• El Porto – the northern end, with the most permissive building rules
• Downtown Manhattan Beach – the mixed commercial and residential core
• The Strand – the beachfront frontage and its permit threshold
• Dune Section – a coastal pocket
• Gas Lamp Section – carries a City design overlay
• Poets Section – named in the General Plan
• Roth Tract and Bird Section – between Herrin and Peck
• Manhattan Beach overview – how the sections compare