About the Building
Ocean Towers went up in 1971 at Ocean Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard, at the north end of Palisades Park where the avenue meets the bluff. The cooperative's own website credits the design to William Krisel, the Southern California modernist, and names the J.H. Snyder Company and Loews Corporation as developers; that attribution rests on the building's own site and is not corroborated in an independent architectural record. It opened as rental apartments. In 1978 the property was converted to a housing cooperative, and it has operated in that form ever since.
Ownership is the thing to understand first, because it is not condominium ownership. The building is held by Ocean Towers Housing Corporation, a stock cooperative: a buyer acquires shares in the corporation and takes a proprietary lease on a specific apartment rather than a deed to real property. Lenders secure against the shares and the lease through a share loan rather than an ordinary mortgage, and far fewer banks write them. The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that monthly charges cover property taxes, maintenance, insurance and management, and a brokerage describes an underlying corporate loan serviced alongside them.
Counts conflict across otherwise reliable sources. The cooperative's own site, the Santa Monica Daily Press and The Real Deal all give 317 units, while the Santa Monica Observer gives 306. The building's site describes a nineteen-story twin-tower building in one passage and sixteen stories over a three-level garage in another, an internal contradiction that has not been reconciled publicly. The mix runs from studios to three-bedroom apartments across the two towers, which share a subterranean garage. Listings carry a letter after the unit number, which appears to identify which of the two towers the apartment sits in.
Service is the strongest part of the offer. The cooperative lists a doorman and security around the clock, full valet parking, and concierge staffing, with on-site maintenance and management. The recreation level holds a heated pool and sun deck, a jacuzzi, separate saunas, a fitness room, a library, a recreation room, a conference room and banquet facilities with a kitchen and bar. A brokerage additionally reports car wash and dry cleaning services, guest parking and dog walking, and states that pets are permitted; the written policy itself is not published anywhere public.
Two things set value here. The first is position: Palisades Park directly across the road, the bluff beyond it, and no parcel between the building and the ocean that could be built on. The second is the ownership form, which narrows the buyer pool because share loans are harder to arrange and a cooperative board approves purchasers. The corporation has run a condominium-conversion subcommittee since at least 2021, and a completed conversion would remove much of that discount. Governance has been contested: a court appointed a receiver over the corporation in 2018, and a new board was elected in 2021.
Amenities & Services
The Residences
The cooperative describes a mix running from studios to three-bedroom apartments across both towers. That range is unusually wide for a building of this address, and it produces a correspondingly wide spread in monthly carrying charges.
The property is a twin-tower scheme sitting over a shared subterranean garage. Sources describe it as nineteen stories, though the cooperative's own site elsewhere says sixteen stories above a three-level garage.
The cooperative's site, the Santa Monica Daily Press and The Real Deal give 317 units; the Santa Monica Observer gives 306. The difference may reflect combined apartments, but no source explains it.
A purchase conveys shares in Ocean Towers Housing Corporation plus a proprietary lease on one apartment. There is no individual deed, and the lender's security runs against the shares and the lease instead.
The cooperative states the building was vacated and seismically renovated in 1997 following Northridge, with shear walls strengthened and common areas, hallways, amenities and balconies reconstructed. Apartment interiors vary widely by owner since.
The cooperative describes the building as enveloped in glass walls on the ocean elevations. Views are quoted to the ocean, the pier, the mountains and the city, depending on tower, floor and orientation.
Due Diligence
Both towers share a subterranean garage and the cooperative provides full valet service rather than self-park. Guest parking is offered. How many spaces attach to a given apartment is not published and should be confirmed in the proprietary lease.
A brokerage states pets are permitted and that dog walking is available. The cooperative itself publishes no pet policy, so the governing rules and any size or number limits must be read in the house rules before offering.
Cooperatives commonly restrict or require board consent for subletting, and Ocean Towers publishes no policy. Because units are shares rather than separately deeded homes, a buyer intending to lease should get the rule in writing before proceeding.
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that shareholder charges cover property taxes, maintenance, insurance and management, which is broader than a typical condominium assessment. A brokerage also describes an underlying corporate loan serviced as a separate monthly line.
The building was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, then vacated and seismically renovated in 1997 with shear wall strengthening. That places it among the small number of Santa Monica towers with a documented, completed retrofit.
A court appointed a receiver over the corporation in 2018 and a new board took office in 2021, so financial statements from that period deserve close reading. Request several years of audited accounts, minutes and any capital plan.
The cooperative lists doorman and security coverage around the clock, valet parking, concierge, and on-site maintenance and management. A brokerage adds car wash and dry cleaning. Staffing at this level is a large share of monthly charges.
No alteration policy is published. In a cooperative the corporation owns the structure, so approval standards for work touching plumbing, electrical, floors or balconies are typically stricter than in a condominium. Ask for the alteration agreement.
Everything above is drawn from public records, city permit data and published sources. The association’s statutory disclosure package is the only authoritative answer on dues, rules, reserves, insurance and litigation — Ben will request it and read it with you before you remove contingencies.
Common Questions
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Residences here reach the open market rarely, and some never do. Ask Ben to tell you when one is coming, including quietly.
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