Bruce Beach descendants sell back beach to county for $20 million

Officials said Tuesday that nearly $20 million will be paid to the heirs of a Black couple from whom Southern California beachfront property was taken through eminent domain a century ago and returned to them last year. The property will be sold back to Los Angeles County.
“The decision by the heirs to sell what was once known as Bruce’s Beach was announced by Janice Hahn, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Steven Bradford. This is a long-awaited effort to undo a long-ago injustice.”
“The Bruce family has always fought for what is best for them, and they feel that selling this property back to the County for nearly $20 million and finally rebuilding the generational wealth they were denied for nearly a century is what is best for them,” Hahn said in a statement.
“I supported the heirs’ decision to sell it to the county because current zoning regulations would prevent them from developing it in an economically beneficial manner,” said Bradford, who authored the state legislation that enabled the land’s return.

In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce purchased the land in the city of Manhattan Beach and built a small resort for African Americans on the south shore of Santa Monica Bay.
The Manhattan Beach City Council condemned the Bruces’ property and took it through eminent domain in the 1920s due to racist harassment from white neighbors. The city transferred the property to the state of California, and then Los Angeles County.
The land, which includes a small parking lot, was where the county built its lifeguard training headquarters.