Company:

Shea Homes

Status:

Awarded

Awarded:

Urban or Land Development Project of the Year

Additional Files

Ocean Place - Supplemental Information
Ocean Place Aerial

Additional Information

Please see the uploaded supplemental information attachment.

Ocean Place

Project Location:

Seal Beach, CA

Project Description:

Ocean Place is a new waterfront community on an 11-acre parcel that was once the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Seal Beach power plant. The plant was retired from service in 1951 and demolished in 1967. In 2003, Bay City Partners bought the land. After several years of discussions, proposals and community meetings about the future of the land, Bay City Partners won approval to build 32 homes on 4.5 acres with 6.4 acres to be dedicated as open space. Shea Homes ultimately purchased the land and built Ocean Place, a community of 30 upscale single-family homes with a public community park. The project is located across the San Gabriel River, near Seal Beach’s quaint Old Town area, the historic Seal Beach Pier and Long Beach’s Alamitos Bay Marina. Ocean Place’s exclusive $2M+ homes range in size from 3,140 to 4,640 sf and feature rooftop decks with panoramic views.

Project Justification:

There were many “out of the box” designs and innovations created for this project:

• Responding to a marine environment with high ground water, tidal flow and saltwater vegetation issues, unique water quality basins were designed. These incorporated mini flap gates and a dual directional weir to control ocean water influx and urban runoff flows to the ocean. 
• Created unique sewer designs using unconventional ideas to solve complex issues with shallow cover, material type, crossing conflicts and underground structures. The optimal solution involved eliminating a potential sewer lift station by working with staff on strategic design guidelines for shallow cover, pipe material type, and pavement strength.
• Extensive ground and wall stabilization solutions were designed due to poor soil structure, high ground water and immovable underground interferences.  Because compacting soil sufficiently next to adjacent property was out of the question, the team re-designed a wall on piles embedded into bedrock to maintain proper safety factors.
• Challenging project entitlements involving adjacent homeowners, city interests and multiple late night public hearings.
• UAV scans were utilized to produce a 3D model and view simulations of the homes and neighborhood for the initial phases of the project.

Special Circumstances:

There were extensive challenges and obstacles overcome, as enumerated above.

Project Attachments:

Please see the uploaded supplemental information attachment.

Award Citation::

Shea Homes’ Ocean Place is a new 11-acre waterfront community of 30 upscale single-family homes and public community park. This project required many “out of the box” designs and innovations involving unique water quality and sewer solutions as well as initial UAV scans.

Suggested Award Summary:

Ocean Place is a new waterfront community on an 11-acre parcel that was once the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Seal Beach power plant. The plant was retired from service in 1951 and demolished in 1967. In 2003, Bay City Partners bought the land. After several years of discussions, proposals and community meetings about the future of the land, Bay City Partners won approval to build 32 homes on 4.5 acres with 6.4 acres to be dedicated as open space. Shea Homes ultimately purchased the land and built Ocean Place, a community of 30 upscale single-family homes with a public community park. The project is located across the San Gabriel River, near Seal Beach’s quaint Old Town area, the historic Seal Beach Pier and Long Beach’s Alamitos Bay Marina. Ocean Place’s exclusive $2M+ homes range in size from 3,140 to 4,640 sf and feature rooftop decks with panoramic views.

There were many “out-of-the-box” designs and innovations created for this project:

• Responding to a marine environment with high ground water, tidal flow and saltwater vegetation issues, unique water quality basins were designed. These incorporated mini flap gates and a dual directional weir to control ocean water influx and urban runoff flows to the ocean. 
• Created unique sewer designs using unconventional ideas to solve complex issues with shallow cover, material type, crossing conflicts and underground structures. The optimal solution involved eliminating a potential sewer lift station by working with staff on strategic design guidelines for shallow cover, pipe material type, and pavement strength.
• Extensive ground and wall stabilization solutions were designed due to poor soil structure, high ground water and immovable underground interferences.  Because compacting soil sufficiently next to adjacent property was out of the question, the team re-designed a wall on piles embedded into bedrock to maintain proper safety factors.
• Challenging project entitlements involving adjacent homeowners, city interests and multiple late night public hearings.
• UAV scans were utilized to produce a 3D model and view simulations of the homes and neighborhood for the initial phases of the project.