Densification alert 2!

Attention all my fellow anti-McMansioners!  Was perusing through several recent sales and wanted to draw folks' attention to these two lots:

 (Source: Google Maps)

(Source: County of LA)

I'm referring to the corner lot and the neighboring vacant lot which were purchased in December 2010 for $1.3M in Palos Verdes Estates' Lunada Bay neighborhood. The lots were purchased by developer John Katnik of Katnik Homes (/www.katnikhomes.com), who subsequently hired Doug Leach to design two homes for the two sites.

 The first lot, which totals a mere 6,600sf is comprised of the lot labeled 22 and a portion of the lot 21.  The other lot, which measures a tiny 5,000sf, is labeled 19 on the site plan above.

As you can see from the pictures, the first lot currently has a home on it - a nice, 1,590sf single story ranch built in 1953.

 (Source: MLS)

(Source: Google Maps)

(Source: Google Maps)

Public records show Katnik/Leach drew up plans to build a home on each of the lots.  In a bittersweet decision, plans for the lot which currently has a home on it were approved, while (thankfully!), plans for the vacant lot were denied.  Remember the guidelines I mentioned for building a new home in PVE from my previous post (which can be found here)?  Let's do some calculus here:

The second lot measures just over 5,000 square feet. So that means that the maximum first floor living area is 1,050 plus a 450 square foot garage.  The maximum living area that could be built is 2,050sf (1,050sf on first floor, 1,000sf on second floor), meaning that the second floor would have a first floor coverage ratio of 67% - which would present several challenges for massing.  Do the economics on this project (lot #2)  work?  Let's see:
- Land cost $579K (5,000sf/11,600sf x $1.3M)
- City fees/permits + architect fees: $75K
- Construction cost: $625K ($250 x 2,500sf)

Our total is $1.28M.  If we gross up for 6% realtor commissions, that comes to $1.36M or approximately $664 per finished square foot.  Who would pay almost $1.4M for a 2,050sf home with a small back yard?

I don't know why Katnik doesn't just join the two lots to form a nice, expansive 11,600sf lot on which he could build a comfortable 4,500sf home with a huge backyard?  It would be more in keeping with the character of the city and immediate neighborhood.  Let's hope the city officials stick to their guns and prevent the further densification of PVE!

If you'd like to express your opposition to City Council or the Planning Commission, here are the relevant contacts:
City Council:  Citycouncil@pvestates.org
Planning Commission: arigg@pvestates.org

KEY STATS

Location: 1616 Addison Rd & 36 Margate Square, Lunada Bay, PVE
Style: TBD
Year built:  2011 (proposed)
Architect: Doug Leach
Square footage: TOO BIG!
Lot size: 11,600sf