Black family who won back Southern CA beachfront will sell it back to LA County for $20M

A Black family in California who won a long-fought battle last summer to regain a beachfront property that was stripped from their ancestors in the 1920s is now preparing to sell the property back to Los Angeles County for $20 million.

The Bruce family won the 7,000 sq. ft. property back from the town of Manhattan Beach in southern California in June last year after almost a century since it was stripped from their great grandparents based on their race.

Bruce’s Beach was owned and run by the Bruce family from about 1912 to 1924 for Black beachgoers who were segregated from other beaches in the area. It remained undeveloped for many years after the town stripped the property from the Bruces using eminent domain laws, until it was made into a public beachfront park in the 1960s.

The descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce have decided to sell the parcel of land back to Los Angeles County for $20 million in order to rebuild the generational wealth lost from their family since the takeover of the land in 1924.

“This fight has always been about what is best for the family, and they feel what is best for them is selling this property and finally rebuilding the generational wealth they were denied for nearly a century,” said LA County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Janice Hahn.

It is unclear what the county will do with the property once the purchase is complete.