Beach Cities Health District

Every property tax bill in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach carries a line most owners never read: the Beach Cities Health District. It is a public agency with an elected board, a share of the property tax, a campus in Redondo Beach that used to be a hospital and more than 40 programs that touch the three cities from junior high to retirement. It is also in the middle of the largest redevelopment decision since the hospital closed. This page explains what it is, what it costs an owner, what it runs and where the campus plan stands, from the District’s own publications as of September 16, 2026.

What is the Beach Cities Health District?

In 1955 the residents of the three cities voted to create the South Bay Hospital District. The hospital opened in 1960 with 146 beds and closed in 1998, and that year, after Senate Bill 1169, the agency was renamed the Beach Cities Health District and turned to prevention. Its own account states the mission as optimizing health for the Beach Cities community through innovative and inclusive programs, partnerships and spaces, and its FAQ describes it as a healthcare district focused on preventive health serving Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach. It does not operate a hospital.

It is governed by five publicly elected directors serving staggered four-year terms, currently Jane Diehl as President, Noel Lee Chun, M.D. as President Pro-Tem, Vanessa Poster as Secretary and Treasurer, Martha B. Koo, M.D. and Michelle Anne Bholat, M.D. The board meets at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the month except August and December, at 514 North Prospect Avenue or by Zoom, and directors receive a $100 stipend per board or committee meeting.

What does it cost a homeowner?

The District’s FAQ puts it at $0.0088 for every dollar of property tax collected, and gives the worked example: a $12,000 tax bill sends $105.60 to the District. For fiscal year 2023 to 2024 the District reported property taxes of $5 million, or 33 percent of incoming funding, up from $4.8 million the prior year; the rest came from property leases at 27 percent ($4.1 million), grants and interest at 15 percent ($2.4 million), user fees from AdventurePlex and the Center for Health and Fitness at 14 percent ($2.1 million) and limited partnerships at 11 percent ($1.7 million). The District projects a shortfall when the 514 building is decommissioned, which is the financial logic behind the campus plan below.

What does it actually run?

The programs residents use most are the Center for Health and Fitness at 514 North Prospect Avenue, a membership gym open weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with monthly rates from $42 to $134 effective July 1, 2026; AdventurePlex at 1701 Marine Avenue in Manhattan Beach, a 16,000 square foot indoor play and camp facility for ages 4 to 12, open Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed Saturdays for private parties; the free older adult fitness classes at the three cities’ senior centers; the free Moai walking groups; Blue Zones Project, which it has run since 2010; allcove Beach Cities, a youth mental health center for ages 12 to 25; and care management for older adults. The free fitness page has the current class schedule and the Blue Zones page has the well-being figures. Those are the District’s own facilities. The private studios and gyms alongside them are covered separately in our guide to fitness studios by discipline.

What is happening to the campus?

The Healthy Living Campus occupies the block from Diamond Street to Beryl Street and Prospect Avenue to Flagler Lane in Redondo Beach. The 514 building opened in 1960 as the hospital, 510 followed in 1971 and 520 in 1991, and the District says the old hospital was built to 1950s seismic standards. The plan, in the District’s FAQ, has four phases: moving the Center for Health and Fitness from 514 to 510 North Prospect, opening a PACE center in 510, building a permanent allcove Beach Cities at the southwest corner of Beryl Street and Flagler Lane with a $6.3 million state grant, and redeveloping 514. Current plans call for the old South Bay Hospital building to be demolished in 2027.

The developer has changed. On August 8, 2022 the board voted 5 to 0 to select PMB and Watermark for a 217-unit residential care plan. On March 18, 2026 the District signed a non-binding letter of intent with Sunrise Senior Living for up to 217 memory care, assisted living and independent living units, and on May 28, 2026 the board authorized its chief executive to sign an agreement to enter into a ground lease with Sunrise. The District describes a 99-year lease structure delivering $10 million to the District over the first decade, a conditional use permit application to the City of Redondo Beach expected in fall 2026, tenants vacating 514 by March 31 and May 31, 2027, and notice to Silverado to vacate by May 29, 2027. An older FAQ entry still refers to the earlier developer and due diligence extended into 2025; the Sunrise agreements are the current status.

For a nearby owner the practical points are the construction timeline, the conditional use permit hearing at the City, which is public, and the fact that the District’s revenue plan now depends on the lease. The District has documented one piece of neighborhood infrastructure from the project so far, a 450-foot Diamond Street bike and pedestrian path funded mainly by a Metro grant; we found no other bike lane or transit commitment documented by the District or the City.

What we could not verify

AdventurePlex prices sit on a separate rates page we did not capture. The care management page was not opened. Figures above are the District’s own as of September 16, 2026, and the campus schedule is the District’s projection, not a permit.

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