Leasing agent tells Harbor Commission Beach Life drew tens of thousands and nearly $2M in incremental spending

Leasing agent Bridal Campbell told the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission that recent events on the waterfront are producing large visitor lifts and measurable economic benefit, while regional office and retail markets remain under pressure.

"Beach Life visitors, 46,000 people over just those 2 days," Campbell said, adding that the three-day total was extrapolated to "57 to 60,000 people" and that the event generated an estimated incremental spend of about $1,870,000. He also reported average dwell time for Beach Life rose to roughly 3.5 hours from a typical weekend baseline of about 1.5 hours.

Why it matters: The data matters to harbor leases, tenant performance and event planning across King Harbor and the International Boardwalk. Campbell said targeting events that increase dwell time can boost restaurant and retail revenue and suggested tiered pricing and targeted marketing to nearby markets such as Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Campbell opened with a regional market overview, calling the Southern California commercial real estate market "bifurcated," with high office vacancy and retail vacancy near 5.7 percent. He told commissioners that Pier Plaza leases generally start in the $2.50–$2.75-per-square-foot range for office space and that the city had built modest annual escalators into many leases.

On event data methodology, Campbell said the analyses use geofencing focused on Fisherman's Wharf retail areas (excluding some park and beach geofences by design) and accepted trade data to estimate incremental spending. He acknowledged limitations — some merchant-level sales data would require merchants to provide their numbers — and offered to run additional geofences or reports on request.

Commission questions and public comment centered on how the data is shared. One commissioner urged wider distribution to merchants and community groups; public commenter Mark Hansen, identifying himself as a King Harbor voter, said the presentation should be attached to agenda materials and made available earlier so potential tenants and businesses can review it before meetings.

Safety and operations updates: City staff reported that Beach Life was largely successful and that hotels reported high occupancy, but that a Sunday-morning swatting call prompted a police response and a temporary closure of the pier; the festival reopened after checks and was allowed to run later that evening to recover lost programming time. Staff said the police and fire response was coordinated and that the investigation is ongoing with FBI assistance.

Other harbor business: Staff updated the commission on near-term capital projects. Consultants on the public boat-launch project (Moffatt & Nichol) are rerunning wave run-up technical studies for the selected design alternative; staff expects updated analyses later in the month and plans to engage the subcommittee. The Army Corps has submitted harbor-access permits for the breakwater repair project and indicated construction could start the first week of June, with staging planned at Moonstone Park and the yacht club; staff is scheduling a stakeholders meeting.

Action taken: The commission voted to receive and file the leasing presentation and related materials, which staff said will be added to the blue-folder meeting materials after the session. Separately, commissioners voted to cancel the commission's June meeting (scheduled for June 8).

What’s next: Staff said it will share presentation files with the peer and harbor associations, follow up on consultant deliverables for the boat launch and breakwater work, and report back on how the Seaside Lagoon project will remain coordinated between Community Services and harbor staff.

Quotes that capture the meeting tone:

"This is the Southern California commercial real estate market report," Campbell said as he opened his presentation. "They're talking about a bifurcated economy..."

"Beach Life brings in the most affluent, best educated crowd," Campbell added, while noting the festival also is "bringing in people from further away."

The commission adjourned after taking the items on file and approving the June calendar change.