Fisherman's Village Is Booked Every October Weekend While the County Asks What It Should Become

"One of the largest waterfront redevelopment opportunities in Southern California." That is how Los Angeles County described three pieces of Marina del Rey in a developer survey released in June 2026. The three places it was talking about are Fisherman's Village, Mother's Beach and the waterfront strip along Admiralty Way.

On October 3, Chazzy Green, The Funky Sax Man, opened a month of free afternoon shows at Fisherman's Village. The schedule has music from 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday through October 31. The place the County calls a major opportunity is the same place that is on this month's free calendar. The County's own paperwork also lays out how long it would take to get from one to the other. That timeline runs in years, and the changes residents will notice first are smaller ones that are already funded and dated.

Why these three sites made the list

The County's Department of Beaches and Harbors, working with consultant HR&A Advisors, picked these sites "due to the upcoming expiration of multiple long-term parcel leases." Marina del Rey is County-owned land. When the long leases on these parcels end, the County gets to decide what comes next. All together the three sites cover more than 30 acres. The whole harbor covers 804 acres, 403 of water and 401 of land. The County calls it the largest built small craft harbor in North America, with room for about 4,600 boats.

The survey belongs to Marina del Rey for All, a planning effort that came out of a July 2022 Board of Supervisors motion. It is led by Beaches and Harbors and championed by District 2 Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. Its guiding principles include more ways to enjoy the water, better walkability and parking, and the use of County land for public benefit, including affordable housing. The full market sounding survey is public and runs about twenty pages.

What the County sketched for each site

The site descriptions show what the County hopes developers will propose. These are ideas the County floated to test developer interest. None of them is an approved design.

Most of the parcels have 45-foot height limits. A few have higher allowances. Parcel 22 at Mother's Beach and parcel 150 on Admiralty Way are listed at 225 feet, and parcel 95 at Mother's Beach at 45 or 140 feet. All four Fisherman's Village parcels are capped at 45 feet.

The County also set some rules any project would have to meet. New residential buildings would need to set aside 30% of their units as affordable. Two-thirds of those units would go to very low-income households, and one-third to a mix of low- and moderate-income households.

The steps between a survey and a shovel

Developer responses were due June 30, 2026. The initiative's What's New page lists the survey and that deadline as its latest item, and the survey itself is market research ahead of any formal request for proposals. The County's survey describes the steps that would have to happen first:

1. Beaches and Harbors signs an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with a chosen development partner.
2. The developer secures full entitlements, which means approvals, including environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
3. If the project changes how the land can be used, the County's Local Coastal Program has to be amended, and the California Coastal Commission has to approve that change.
4. Only after the project is fully entitled does the County sign a ground lease.

Step three sets the pace. For the Admiralty Way site, the County says outright that adding housing or a hotel would need a coastal program amendment, which "typically takes several years." Several of the survey's questions to developers are about how to structure deals "for a site that may require a long-term LCP amendment process," and when it would make sense to sign a lease based on value after entitlement. The County is planning around a long clock, and its documents say so.

Fisherman's Village this October

The Fisherman's Village that exists today is still adding to itself. On May 30, 2026, the Village held a ribbon-cutting for the new Fisherman's Village Historical Society at 13723 Fiji Way. The next day it kicked off its 2026 Summer Music Series. Yo! Venice reported that El Torito, La Marina Trattoria, KC Crêpes Cafe, Lighthouse Fountain & Grill, Marina Mart and Alibaba Fresh Grill would be open that weekend.

The music didn't stop when summer did. September had six weekend shows. October has nine, all free and family-friendly, according to the October schedule:

• Oct 4 and Oct 18: Upstream, playing reggae, calypso, soca and steel drums
• Oct 10: US99, playing classic rock and roll, surf and rockabilly
• Oct 11 and Oct 25: Jimbo Ross & the Bodacious Band, playing Chicago blues and zydeco
• Oct 17 and Oct 31: Ohio Plus Trio, playing doo wop, R&B and soul classics
• Oct 24: Select Vibez II on the decks, plus a Halloween event

The boats are still running too. Marina del Rey Sportfishing lists trips into October 2026 from Dock 52 at 13759 Fiji Way. Blue Pacific Yachting runs a sailing school in the Marina, with courses that include ASA 103. The County is also planning a dedicated floating dock for seals and sea lions near Fisherman's Village. The goal is to ease crowding on boat docks across the harbor and give the public a place to watch the animals. The County's project page lists it with a site plan but no construction dates.

The changes that are already scheduled

While the long-range plan waits on surveys and coastal approvals, Beaches and Harbors has a separate list of projects with dates attached. These are the changes that will show up on a weekend walk first.

Mother's Beach. The restroom and boat-storage renovation on Parcel 19 was finished July 2, 2026. It expanded the restroom and office building and added dry boat storage with better access.

Lot 4 at Admiralty Way and Mindanao Way. The surface lot closed December 1, 2025, for a new parking structure with 368 spaces. The project includes a plaza and rest area connecting to the Marvin Braude Bike Path and the Visitors Center. The County's January release said it would be done by late fall 2026. The project page lists December 2026. No completion had been announced as of early October.

The public boat launch at 13477 Fiji Way. Work was set to begin at the start of fall 2026 and finish in summer 2027. It replaces the aging docks, adds an accessible queuing dock, and includes stormwater upgrades and a restriped parking lot.

Parcel 77 dock. A replacement dock for kayaking, rowing, sailing and other small boats is in plan check. Construction is expected to start in late 2027.

One waterfront dining spot is still in limbo. Tony P's Dockside Grill closed in summer 2025 after its owners retired. In October 2025, the County said the California Yacht Club had a license to use the site and was designing a sea-to-table restaurant, with an opening targeted for spring 2026. Spring has come and gone, so the County's announcements page is the place to check for an opening date.

On the calendar through December

These dates come from Beaches and Harbors listings.

October 24 has the most going on. Spooktacular takes over Burton Chace Park that afternoon, and Fisherman's Village holds its own Halloween event with a DJ on the waterfront. For updates on the long-range plan, the Marina del Rey for All site is where the County has posted each step so far, and the Beaches and Harbors development page tracks the dated projects.

Living on County land means expiring ground leases decide what the waterfront looks like a decade from now. If you'd like to talk through what the Marina del Rey for All process could mean for your building or your block as the County's next steps come out, Janet Heinzle is glad to walk you through it. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.