Malibu for less than $1 million

In Malibu, $1 million is usually chump change. But in a few months, that’ll be enough to buy a home in a district favored by tycoons and wealthy celebrities.

Real estate manager Pacific Eagle Holdings is planning to offer luxury condo units starting at $975,000 this summer — a rare price point in the notoriously expensive area.

San Francisco-based Pacific Eagle is hoping to take advantage of pent-up demand in a tight market by revamping the Villa Malibu rental community in Point Dume, remaking the property as the Cavalleri condominiums.

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The layout will include 40 two-bedroom, two-bath units and 28 three-bedroom, three-bath units. The condos will range in size from 1,577 square feet to more than 2,200 square feet.

Of the first 34 units to be renovated, two units will be marketed at less than $1 million, while the most expensive unit is expected to command more than $1.8 million.

But when pre-sales launch this summer, only five units will be available for sale initially, with one priced below $1 million.

This year, residential properties in Malibu — excluding empty lots or foreclosures — are being listed at a median $2.25-million price point, compared with $1.4 million last year, according to real estate website Trulia. The median price in the pre-recession market was $1.5 million in 2007 but slid to a low of $795,000 in 2010.

“Malibu is arguably the most high-end, exclusive residential beach destination on the West Coast, but at the same time, the market for new property is extremely difficult and highly restrictive,” said Hans Galland, senior vice president of Pacific Eagle. “There are very high barriers to entry.”

Pacific Eagle purchased Villa in September, paying $62 million to previous owner Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C., private equity firm.

Tenants have since vacated, and renovations are launching in June; the firm declined to divulge how much it plans to spend to remake the property. The project is slated to finish in the fall, with new residents moving in shortly after.

The 68 Cavalleri units will sit on a gated, 10-acre plot near Zuma Beach. Pacific Eagle hopes the Spanish Revival styling and school district will attract families, second owners and snowbirds.

Santa Monica company Pamela Burton & Co. will head up landscape design; the San Francisco design firm Edmonds + Lee will handle the architectural plans.

Malibu’s residential development standards are notoriously restrictive. Pacific Eagle decided to work native plants into the landscaping and will refrain from adding more units to the existing Villa floorplan.

“By staying within certain parameters and working very closely with the city, we are able to obtain the necessary support,” Galland said.

In 2011, Pacific Eagle dropped plans to construct luxury condos on the grounds of its Huntington Langham hotel property in Pasadena when well-heeled neighbors protested.

At Cavalleri, the condos will feature hardwood floors, upgraded bathrooms, gourmet kitchens and eco-friendly details. The complex will have a 52-foot swimming pool and spa, a fitness center, an outdoor dining pavilion, dog parks, a yoga terrace and meditation labyrinth, two tennis courts and a bocce ball court.

The project, at 6487 Cavalleri Road in Malibu, was unveiled to brokers June 8.

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