WM
A BSB DESIGN STUDIO
September 8, 2021
Ted Faturos
Associate Planner
City of Manhattan Beach
1400 Highland Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 802-5512
[email protected]
RE: Verandas Project - Building and Ceiling Height
Mr. Faturos,
I wanted to get back to you regarding standard ceiling heights for current residential multifamily product. To start with, all of the multi-family buildings that we have developed over the last 10 years, including many of our affordable projects, have a minimum ceiling height of 9 feet in the living areas and bedrooms. This is because the most restrictive condition is in the bathroom where we include a mechanical unit in the ceiling with ducts / soffits, which takes up a lot of room and usually reduces the ceiling down to 8' depending on the depths of the joists and other variables.
Nine feet is the minimum standard for multi-family housing in Southern California. The developer of Playa Vista, for example, Brookfield Residential, represented that every project in Playa Vista has a minimum of 9 ft high ceilings, with the majority of the projects having higher ceilings on the ground floor and on the top floor. The need for additional clear height at the ground floor is necessary to: (1) allow more natural light, to what would ordinarily be a darker space; (2) create more volume which is necessary to facilitate renting generally less desirable ground floor units; (3) to facilitate amenities typically located on the ground floor, which require more ceiling height due to the larger spans and deeper beams. As to the top floor, the need for higher ceilings is to allow for mechanical, as well as roof slope/drainage, etc. Brookfield said that they look for a minimum of 10 foot clear on both the ground and top floors.
An example of this typology that we designed and completed two years ago is called One South, a 52 unit condominium/mixed use project in Redondo Beach located at 1920S Pacific Coast Highway, Withee Malcolm Architects
A BSB Design Studio
2251 W. 190th Street
Torrance, CA 90504
310.2178885
www.witheemalcolm.com l
WM
A BSB DESIGN STUDIO
Redondo Beach. We also completed an apartment project, Bell South Bay Apartments, on Aviation just South of Imperial at the Green line station, located at 11622 Aviation Blvd., Inglewood that has 10 ft ceilings at the ground floor and 9 ft ceilings on the floors above. We also have two large multi- family projects in El Segundo, called Pacific Coast Commons, located at 475 and 625 N. PCH, El Segundo, that are currently being entitled and feature 10ft ceilings on the ground floor, and 9 ft ceilings on the upper floors.
Unfortunately, there are few examples of new multi-family projects in the coastal South Bay due to the restrictive zoning in place in most of these jurisdictions.
Our structural engineer, NSE Structural, has calculated that the floor section for our project requires 18 inches (structural truss, plywood sheathing, sound deadening material, lightweight conc, resilient channels and two layers of drywall below).
We are proposing the following floor to floor heights:
FIRST FLOOR: 11 ft-0 inches for the ground floor lobby/amenity space (net 9 ft 6 inch ceiling).
SECOND FLOOR: 10 ft-6 inches (net 9 ft ceilings)
THIRD FLOOR: 10 ft-6 inches (net 9 ft ceilings)
FOURTH FLOOR(TOP): 11 ft-0 inches (net 9 ft 0 inch) - (note: On the top floor we lose an additional 6" of clear height due to the slope the roof and required drainage).
In conclusion, the floor to floor heights featured in our project are the minimum necessary clear height that consumers, lenders, and investors require for a project in this market and in this location. They do not exceed the standards of multi-family projects being built throughout Southern California.
Sincerely,
Dan R. Withee, AIA LEED AP, BD + C
Principal
Withee Malcolm Architects
A BSB Design Studio
2251 W. 190th Street
Torrance, CA 90504
310.217 8885
www.witheemalcolm.com