Lulu's Place: What's Being Built Between Westchester and Playa del Rey

Lulu's Place is a $170 million, 34-acre academic and athletic campus rising on airport land north of LAX, between Westchester and Playa del Rey. It includes 24 tennis courts, soccer fields, and a learning lab, and it is on track to open in mid-2027.

If you have driven Westchester Parkway lately, you have seen it. Steel frames, cranes, and a lot of dirt moving on land that has sat mostly empty for as long as most of us can remember. People ask me constantly what it is going to be, so let me lay it out.

What is actually going up

Lulu's Place is a privately funded youth campus on roughly 34 acres of the LAX Northside area, the buffer land Los Angeles World Airports has owned since the 1970s and 80s. The site sits next to St. Bernard High School, tucked between the north airfield and the Westchester and Playa del Rey neighborhoods.

The build includes 24 premium tennis courts, eight multi use courts, three soccer fields, a multi use athletic field, a 13,000 square foot Welcome Center, and a 25,000 square foot TGR Learning Lab, plus on campus wellness clinics and athletic training.

The partner list is unusual for a project this size: the TGR Foundation, which is Tiger Woods' charity, the USTA and USTA Foundation, Winward Academy, Cedars-Sinai, and Providence. DPR Construction is building it, Lincoln Property Company is developing it, and RIOS did the design.

Who it is for

This is the part that gets lost in the renderings. Lulu's Place is not a private club. It is built to serve more than 10,000 students a year, drawn primarily from about 50 Title I schools within a 10 mile radius, at little or no cost to families.

It is named for Carol "Lulu" Kimmelman, a Southern California native, former public elementary school teacher, and lifelong tennis player who died in 2017. Her husband Doug and their four children funded and drove the project. That is the whole reason a $170 million athletic and academic campus is being handed to a neighborhood rather than sold into it.

Where the project stands right now

I pay close attention to construction timelines, partly because of my own background in construction and development, and partly because timelines are where community projects tend to slip. This one has held up well.

The ceremonial groundbreaking was in May 2024, and vertical construction started in April 2025. By the end of 2025 the team had poured 1,600 cubic yards of concrete, fabricated 580 tons of steel, and planted 130 trees. In February 2026 they topped out the Welcome Center, meaning the final structural beam went into place on the signature building.

The organization says it remains on track to welcome students, athletes, and families in mid-2027. Barring surprises, neighbors should expect roughly a year of finish work, landscaping, and site improvements before opening.

What it means for Westchester and Playa del Rey homeowners

I want to be careful here, because it is easy for an agent to turn any new project into a promise about your home value. So here is my honest read.

Large amenities like this do not move prices overnight. What they do, over five and ten year horizons, is change the story a neighborhood tells about itself.

The numbers in both neighborhoods look very different depending on what you are buying, so it is worth separating them rather than quoting one blended figure.

In Westchester, single family homes are the bulk of the market and generally run from about $1.4M to $2.2M and up depending on the street, the lot, and how updated the home is, with a single family median near $1.7M. Condos and townhomes near the Westchester village are the more attainable entry point. Blended across all property types, the median sale price sits around $1.6M, up about 3 percent year over year, with buyer demand running high.

In Playa del Rey, condos and townhomes generally run from about $550K to $900K, while single family homes typically start around $1.5M and climb into the multimillions for blufftop view homes. Blended across both, the median sale price sits near $1.0M, up about 9.5 percent year over year, with median time on market around 50 days.

Both are neighborhoods people move to for schools, sports, and space rather than for glamour. Westchester in particular has always been the Westside's value play, strong single family stock, real neighborhood feel, and a price point that undercuts everything to the north.

The fair caveats: traffic and parking on the surrounding streets were the main concerns residents raised during community outreach, and they have not fully been answered yet. Falmouth, West 92nd, and the Westchester Parkway corridor are worth paying attention to as opening approaches. If you are buying nearby, that is a question to ask, not to wave away.

Frequently asked questions

When does Lulu's Place open in Westchester?

The organization says it is on track to welcome students, athletes, and families in mid-2027. The Welcome Center topped out in February 2026.

Is Lulu's Place open to the public?

It is built as a youth center serving students from roughly 50 Title I schools within 10 miles, at little or no cost. Public access details and community programming are still being finalized, so check lulusplace.org for current information.

Where exactly is Lulu's Place located?

On the LAX Northside land north of the airport, adjacent to St. Bernard High School, between the Westchester and Playa del Rey communities in Los Angeles.

Will Lulu's Place raise home values in Westchester?

No one can promise that. A major, permanent, family oriented amenity supports the case for a neighborhood that already sells on schools, sports, and community, but effects like that show up over years, not in a single quarter. For reference, Westchester single family homes currently run about $1.4M to $2.2M with a single family median near $1.7M, and condos and townhomes near the village sit below that.

Thinking about Westchester or Playa del Rey?

I grew up on this coast and I have watched this stretch of land sit empty my whole life, so it is genuinely satisfying to see something good going into it. If you are weighing a move to either neighborhood, start with my Westchester and Playa del Rey guides, then get in touch. I can walk you street by street and tell you which blocks will feel the difference.

Project details reflect information published by Lulu's Place and local reporting as of July 2026. Timelines and plans for projects of this size can change, so confirm current details directly before making decisions. Market figures reflect mid-2026 neighborhood data and are refreshed quarterly.

Megan Majd, Compass · DRE #02089919 · (310) 845-6209