601 Pearl Street, Ojai — Shovel-Ready 9-Home Development

Investment Overview

A Shovel-Ready Subdivision in One of California’s Most Coveted Towns

The LAAA Team is proud to present 601 Pearl Street, a rare opportunity to acquire a shovel-ready, fully platted small-lot subdivision steps from downtown Ojai. The seller has completed the heavy lifting: ten lots recorded under Tract No. 5964, full approved plan sets across Architectural, Civil, Landscape, and Structural disciplines, and a development program for nine detached homes averaging 1,835 SF each. A buyer steps into a project ready to permit and pour foundations, in a market where new construction is exceptionally scarce.

The roughly 1.14-acre site sits adjacent to the Ojai Valley Bike Trail and is surrounded by everything that makes Ojai one of the most desirable small towns in California. Downtown shops, restaurants, and bars are a four-minute walk. The Ojai Athletic Club is next door. Two championship golf courses — Soule Park Golf Course and the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa’s private course — are both within easy reach. This is the kind of location where lifestyle sells the home before the floor plan does.

Ojai’s housing market is supply-constrained by design. The city’s strict growth controls and small-town zoning have protected its character for generations, and the result is one of the most consistently priced lifestyle markets in coastal Southern California. Recent single-family sales near downtown have traded at a median of $1.25M with a $/SF distribution that runs from the $600s for older product to north of $1,200/SF for premium and renovated homes. New construction trades at the top of that range and is the rarest product in the submarket.

At an asking price of $3,700,000, the offering represents $411,111 per buildable home and $73 per land square foot. On a development program priced at a $1,489,800 per-home exit — $1,300/SF on 1,146 SF of brand-new living space — against a total all-in build cost of approximately $6.1M, the residual model leaves a developer with roughly $2.34M of profit, an 18.4% margin on net revenue, at the current ask.

$3.7M

List Price

Buildable Homes

1,835 SF

Avg Home Size

$1,300/SF

Exit / Living SF

18.4%

Developer Profit Margin

Investment Highlights

Why 601 Pearl Stands Out

Shovel-Ready and Platted

Ten individually recorded lots under Tract No. 5964, with approved Architectural, Civil, Landscape, and Structural sets. No further mapping required. A buyer can pull permits and begin construction without entitlement risk.

Scarcity-Driven Ojai Market

Ojai’s growth controls suppress new supply by design. Across the trailing-12-month comp set of recent sales near downtown, virtually none are new construction. Subject is the only shovel-ready small-lot project of meaningful scale in the immediate downtown corridor.

Defensible Residual at the Ask

At $3.7M land, $365/SF hard cost, a $1,300/SF living-space exit and 18-month carry, the residual leaves $2.34M in developer profit (18.4% on net revenue). The exit sits right at the premium downtown comp ceiling, and an independent residual run by the LAAA Team produces similar results across multiple cost scenarios.

Multiple Exit Strategies

The same nine-home program supports a build-to-sell exit at $13.4M gross sellout or a build-to-rent hold with NOI of $605K–$632K at $6,000–$6,250 monthly rents. Optionality reduces market-cycle risk.

Walkable Downtown Location

Steps from the Ojai Avenue Arcade, downtown shops, restaurants, and the Saturday farmers’ market. Buyers in this corridor pay premiums for walkability. Pearl Street is one of the few residential blocks where buyers can have both town life and lot privacy.

The Project

Nine Detached Homes, Built and Sold Individually

The approved program delivers nine detached single-story Craftsman-style cottages, each 1,146 SF of interior conditioned space plus a 451 SF attached garage and a 238 SF covered porch (1,835 SF total under roof). Four floor plan variants are distributed across the nine lots for visual variety. Each home sits on its own platted, separately deeded lot, enabling lot-by-lot construction financing and lot-by-lot exit. Total buildable program is 16,515 SF under roof across 49,540 SF of land. See the Design & Plans tab for full plan-set detail.

Development Program

Buildable Homes: 9 detached SFDs, single-story
Interior per Home: 1,146 SF (conditioned)
Total Under Roof per Home: 1,835 SF (incl. 451 SF garage + 238 SF porch)
Architectural Style: California Craftsman cottage
Floor Plan Variants: 4 (Plans A, B, C, D)
Lot Count: 10 platted (Tract 5964)
Total Site Area: 49,540 SF (~1.14 acres)
Plan Sets in Hand: Architectural, Civil, Landscape, Structural
Permit Status: Ready to pull

Title & Ownership

Vested Owner: Pearl Street Associates, LLC
Estate: Fee Simple
Tract: No. 5964, Book 169, Pages 38–40
APN Count: 10 (one per lot)
APN Range: 023-0-141-445 to -535
Known Easement: City of Ojai storm water (1948)
Property Tax Redemption: ~$22K, curable at closing from seller proceeds
Listing Price: $3,700,000

Design & Plans

What’s Been Approved — in Detail

A buyer is not acquiring raw entitlement. The project has been designed, engineered, and approved across all four disciplines. Below is what the approved plan set actually delivers: a nine-home Craftsman cottage community, single-story, oriented around a private drive, with full civil and landscape engineering ready to permit.

Per-Home Program

Stories: 1 (single-story)
Building Height: 17 ft (plate 9′-1″)
Interior Floor Area: 1,146 SF (conditioned)
Attached Garage: 451 SF
Covered Porch: 238 SF
Total Under-Roof: 1,835 SF
Construction Type: V-B wood frame
Occupancy: R-3/U
Code: 2016 CRC
Fire Sprinklers: Required (NFPA 13D)

Site Composition (49,540 SF)

Lot Coverage (buildings): 16,515 SF (35%)
Landscape Area: 18,672 SF (38%)
Interlocking Pavers: 7,428 SF (15%)
Asphalt Drive: 2,385 SF (5%)
Site Hardscape: 2,530 SF (5%)
Floor Area Ratio: 0.208 (interior)
Density Allowed: 8 units / acre
Units Approved: 9
Frontages: Pearl St (N), Ojai Valley Trail (S), Bald St (E)
Access: Private asphalt drive with 2 fire-dept turnarounds

Site Plan

Nine detached homes arranged around a private east-west drive, with frontage on Pearl Street to the north and Ojai Valley Trail to the south. Existing mature trees are preserved along the drive. Each home sits on its own deeded lot with an individual driveway off the common drive. Two fire-department turnarounds are built into the plan.

Elevations — California Craftsman Vernacular

The architectural language is on-brand for Ojai: gabled rooflines with deep overhanging eaves, stone wainscot at the base, horizontal lap siding above, multi-pane wood-trim windows, and cedar-shake roof texture. The homes read as cottages rather than tract product — a deliberate choice that supports the per-home premium the residual model assumes.

Elevation rendering of approved Craftsman cottages — Elevation rendering — stone wainscot, lap siding, gabled cedar-shake roofs (Mark Shelnutt, Architect, Inc.).

Four Plan Configurations

The approved set delivers four floor plan variants — Plan A (base), Plan B (Plan A mirrored), Plan C (Plan A with end garage), and Plan D — distributed across the nine lots to create visual variety along the drive. Each plan keeps the same 1,146 SF interior program with a primary suite, secondary bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open kitchen-living layout opening to the covered porch.

Landscape

Designed by Gregg Toland Landscape Architect (LARC #2243). The landscape package includes the planting plan, irrigation system design, site-lighting plan, and a soils management program tied to grading. Thirty-eight percent of the site is dedicated landscape — well above what typical small-lot product delivers — producing a real-yard feel for each home.

Civil & Infrastructure

Six-sheet civil set covering existing topography, street improvements (Pearl Street curb cut, Bald Street frontage), precise grading, water line improvements to serve all nine lots, erosion control, and sections/details. All off-site infrastructure has been engineered — a buyer is not exposed to design risk on utilities or street work.

Project Team

Discipline	Firm / Lead	Set
Architecture	Mark Shelnutt, Architect, Inc. (Oak View, CA)	18-sheet set, A1–A8+
Civil Engineering	(named on architectural cover)	6 sheets including Water Line, Grading, Erosion Control
Structural Engineering	Laima B. Reeder, P.E.	7-sheet set, foundation through lateral
Landscape Architecture	Gregg Toland, LARC #2243 (Sherman Oaks)	9 sheets including irrigation, lighting, planting
Applicant / Owner	Pearl Street Associates, LLC	—

Note on Square Footage

The approved plans show 1,146 SF interior conditioned area per home plus 451 SF attached garage and 238 SF covered porch, totaling 1,835 SF under roof. The development pro forma uses the 1,835 SF under-roof figure for cost-per-SF construction analysis (the standard convention for builder economics), but prices the brand-new exit on living (interior conditioned) square footage at $1,300/SF, producing $1,489,800 per home (about $812/SF on the under-roof basis). At $1,300/SF on living space, the exit sits right at the top of where premium downtown Ojai product is currently trading on aged stock (216 E. Matilija at $1,266/SF, 314 W. Aliso at $1,313/SF) — a defensible position for brand-new product in a corridor where new construction is essentially absent from the recent comp set.

Development Pro Forma

The Residual Model at $3,700,000

The pro forma below is built at $365 per SF hard cost, an 18-month build, and a $1,300/SF exit on living space. At the $3.7M asking price, a developer earns approximately $2.34M of profit on $12.74M of net sale proceeds, equating to an 18.4% margin on net revenue.

Development Cost Build-Up

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Hard Construction Cost	16,515 SF × $365/SF	$6,027,975
School Fees	Remaining to break ground	$53,323
Permit Fees	Remaining to break ground	$56,835
Total Development Cost		$6,138,133
Construction Loan Interest	7.5% × 18 months	$458,617
Property Tax + Insurance (during build)	18 months	$104,063
Total Carry & Financing		$562,680
Land Cost (Asking)	$3.7M ÷ 9 units	$3,700,000
Total Project Cost		$10,400,813

Sale Revenue & Profit

Line Item	Calculation	Amount
Gross Sales Proceeds	9 × $1,489,800	$13,408,200
Closing Costs of Sale	5.00%	($670,410)
Net Sale Proceeds		$12,737,790
Less: Total Project Cost		($10,400,813)
Developer’s Profit	18.4% on Net Revenue	$2,336,977

Alternative Exit: Build-to-Rent

The same nine-home program supports a build-to-rent hold. At $6,000 to $6,250 in monthly rent per home, the program generates $605,000 to $632,000 of NOI. On an all-in basis of approximately $10.4M (land plus development plus carry), this implies a stabilized yield in the 5.8 to 6.1 percent range — a credible Plan B for a buyer who wants to retain the asset through a softer for-sale cycle.

Comparable Sales

What 1,200 to 2,000 SF Homes Are Trading For Near Downtown Ojai

The comp set below pulls every recorded single-family sale within a one-mile radius of downtown Ojai over the trailing 12 months, filtered to the seven transactions most directly comparable to the subject’s 1,146 SF living-area target product. Median sale price across the subset is approximately $1.26M; $/SF runs from the low-$700s on tired vintage product up past $1,300/SF on renovated downtown homes. Critically, virtually none of these comps are new construction — brand-new product is essentially absent from the market and commands a structural premium when delivered.

Address	Bd/Br	SF	Lot SF	Year	Sale Date	Sale Price	$/SF
202 N. Fulton St	3/2	1,196	7,405	1977	Jul 2025	$1,293,500	$1,082
309 Topa Topa Dr	2/2	1,384	7,504	1946	May 2025	$1,230,000	$889
314 W. Aliso St #A	3/1	914	6,969	1929	Jun 2025	$1,200,000	$1,313
301 Park Rd	2/2	1,659	8,957	1947	Sep 2025	$1,300,000	$784
1209 San Ramon Way	3/2	1,987	12,196	1985	Oct 2025	$1,395,000	$702
201 Fox St	3/2	1,135	4,791	1948	Feb 2026	$1,029,500	$907
216 E. Matilija St (Premium tier)	2/3	1,955	7,840	1957	Dec 2025	$2,475,000	$1,266

Source: MLS-tracked closed sales near downtown Ojai over the trailing 12 months, filtered to comparable size product (with one premium-tier reference point). Full comp set on file with the LAAA Team. 216 E. Matilija St is a renovated downtown home trading at $1,266/SF — a direct demonstration of buyer willingness to pay well above $1,200/SF for premium downtown product on aged vintages.

How the Comps Support the Exit Assumption

Median price across the comp subset: approximately $1.26M. Median $/SF: approximately $907 — on aged, re-sale stock.
Brand-new exit at $1,300/SF on 1,146 SF of living space produces $1,489,800 per home (about $812/SF on the under-roof basis) — the new-construction premium reflects zero deferred maintenance, modern systems, manufacturer warranties, and current code compliance.
Premium downtown re-sale product is already trading at this level on aged vintages (216 E. Matilija at $1,266/SF, 314 W. Aliso at $1,313/SF), demonstrating clear buyer willingness to pay $1,300/SF for the right quality and location. The $1,300/SF living-space exit places brand-new product right at that proven ceiling.
Across the comp set, virtually none are new construction — the subject is the only shovel-ready small-lot project of meaningful scale in the immediate downtown corridor and, delivered brand-new in 2027, will trade as the scarce new-build option.

Location

Ojai — Coastal California’s Most Protected Small Town

Ojai sits 14 miles inland from Ventura and roughly 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles, in a long east-west valley sheltered by the Topa Topa Mountains. The city’s population is roughly 7,500, and growth controls keep it that way. Strict zoning, a town-wide architectural overlay, height restrictions, and a tightly capped subdivision pipeline make new for-sale product genuinely rare. The result is one of the most supply-constrained lifestyle markets on the Southern California coast.

Aerial view of 601 Pearl Street site — Aerial view of the 1.14-acre site at 601 Pearl Street, Ojai.

Aerial showing proximity to Ojai Valley Inn, Athletic Club, and Downtown — Site proximity to Ojai Valley Inn & Spa (1.6 miles), Ojai Athletic Club, Bike Trail, and Downtown Ojai (4-minute walk).

Aerial showing proximity to Soule Park Golf Course, Athletic Club, and Bike Path — Soule Park Golf Course, Ojai Athletic Club, Ojai Bike Path, and Downtown Ojai — all surrounding the site.

What Drives Demand in Ojai

Destination economy. Ojai Valley Inn, the Ojai Music Festival, downtown wellness and arts scene draw a steady flow of high-income visitors who often convert to second-home buyers.
Lifestyle migration. Buyers from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and the Bay Area continue to pay a premium for the climate, the hiking and biking access, and the small-town character.
School district. Ojai Unified is the local district and a major draw for permanent residents with families.
Tight supply. Growth controls cap new subdivisions. The result is a structurally undersupplied housing market that has resisted broader California softness.
Downtown walkability. Pearl Street is steps from the Arcade, the post office, restaurants, and the Saturday farmers’ market. Buyers in this corridor pay premiums for the ability to walk.

Demographics

Ojai’s resident profile skews affluent, educated, and established — the buyer base that sustains premium pricing in a supply-constrained market.

Ojai at a Glance (2020–2023)

Population: 7,637 (2020 Census)
Median Household Income: $79,202
Per Capita Income: $60,511
Median Age: 49.7 years
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 46.2%
Owner-Occupied Housing: 54.3%
Population Density: 1,753 per sq mi

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

The 220-acre Ojai Valley Inn is the valley’s marquee destination and a powerful demand driver for the residential market. Established in 1923 with a championship golf course designed by George C. Thomas Jr., the resort expanded to a full-service luxury inn in 1934 and has operated continuously for nine decades.

Today the property features 218 guest rooms, an 18-hole championship golf course, and the 31,000 SF Spa Ojai. A member of Historic Hotels of America since 1991, it has hosted generations of high-profile visitors — from Clark Gable and Walt Disney to modern-day wellness seekers from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and the Bay Area.

The Inn’s presence anchors Ojai’s reputation as a destination market. Visitors who arrive as resort guests frequently return as homebuyers, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of demand for residential product near downtown — exactly where 601 Pearl sits.

Your Team

Exclusively Marketed By

Ventura County deals are led by Logan Ward, the LAAA Team’s specialist for the Ventura and Santa Barbara County corridor. Logan partners with co-founders Glen Scher and Filip Niculete — senior managing directors who together have closed more than $1.4 billion in transactions across Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.

Logan Ward

Associate — Ventura/SB Specialist

(818) 212-2675
Logan.Ward@marcusmillichap.com

CA License 02200464

Glen Scher

Senior Managing Director Investments

(818) 212-2808
Glen.Scher@marcusmillichap.com

CA License 01962976

Filip Niculete