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Published July 15, 2026
Hermosa Beach zoning favors single lots and duplexes. Torrance allows apartment buildings by right in most residential zones.
Hermosa Beach is harder for small multifamily buyers because its housing stock and zoning are built around single lots and duplexes, not apartment buildings. Roughly 46 percent of Hermosa Beach units are single family detached and about 19 percent are duplex or small conversions, with large apartment buildings a minority. Torrance is the opposite: only about 6 percent of its stock sits in 2 to 4 unit buildings, while 33 percent sits in 5-plus unit buildings, because Torrance zoning permits apartment houses by right in most residential zones.
We get calls every year from owners who assume the South Bay is one market when it comes to small multifamily. It is not. Hermosa Beach and Torrance sit fifteen minutes apart, but their housing stock tells two different stories.
According to Census-derived neighborhood housing data compiled by Point2Homes, Hermosa Beach's housing mix runs about 46 percent single family detached, roughly 19 percent duplex or small converted structures, and about 25 percent large apartment or high rise buildings. It is a beach town built lot by lot on a small lot grid, and most of what exists there was built that way decades ago.
Torrance tells the opposite story. Census-derived figures put Torrance at roughly 53 percent single family detached, about 6 percent single family attached, about 6 percent in 2 to 4 unit structures, and roughly a third in buildings of 5 units or more. Torrance simply has more apartment stock, full stop, and that did not happen by accident.
Hermosa Beach's municipal code is restrictive by design. In its R-2B zone, for example, a duplex or condominium use requires specific design conditions, and the city has kept density low citywide through small-lot single-family and limited two-unit zoning. Hermosa Beach has also drawn criticism, including a D rating from pro-housing advocates, for how narrowly it implemented SB 9 lot splits and duplex conversions, layering on setback, parking, and design review requirements that make small-lot additions slower and more expensive to execute than the state minimum.
Torrance zoning, by contrast, permits multifamily housing more broadly. Two-family units are permitted in the R-2, R-3, R-R-3, R-3-3, R-4, R-5, and RTH zones, and apartment houses are permitted in every residential zone except R-1 and R-2. That is a meaningfully wider by-right pathway, which is a big part of why Torrance built out more 5-plus unit stock over the decades while Hermosa Beach stayed a duplex and single-family town.
If you already own a small multifamily property in Hermosa Beach, do not expect an easy path to add units or convert a duplex to a triplex. Entitlement review in Hermosa Beach tends to be slower and more design-driven, and lot sizes there are often too small to support anything beyond what state density-bonus or ADU law forces the city to allow. Torrance offers more room to add units within existing zoning, but that also means more competition from other investors targeting the same 5-plus unit inventory.
Either way, the zoning code is the map. Before you make an offer on anything described as small multifamily in either city, pull the actual zoning designation, not just the county assessor's use code, and confirm what the parcel can legally hold today versus what a broker's listing implies it could hold.
If you are weighing a South Bay multifamily purchase, do not assume one city's playbook works in the next city over. Hermosa Beach protects its small-lot character; Torrance was built to hold apartment stock. Match your investment thesis to the zoning reality, not the neighborhood vibe.
If you would rather have someone else track the zoning file and permit history before you write an offer, that is what we do.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with a licensed professional before you act.
Last verified: July 2026.
Topics: market, zoning, multifamily, hermosa beach, torrance, south bay investing
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Schofield Properties is a family run property management company at 323 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245. We have managed the South Bay since 1972 and personally oversee about 186 doors today. Book a call to talk about your property.
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