New High-Rises Develop In Downtown Long Beach

There are cranes hanging over downtown Long Beach, with work underway or soon to start on multiple, multimillion-dollar mixed-use developments.

City officials and business leaders say a sort of renaissance is taking place, with new housing and retail soon to be available in the citys urban center. Michael Conway, the citys director of Economic and Property Development, said he is encouraged seeing construction crews at work, calling it a sign of a strengthening downtown marketplace. He added that the planned new Civic Center is going to be yet another boon to downtown development.

Among those major developments underway today, Long Beachs Development Services Department lists three major projects: The Current, The Edison and The Parc Broadway.

But besides those, smaller new development projects and adaptive reuses also are under way with much more on the horizon, promised Conway and Downtown Long Beach Associates President and CEO Kraig Kojian.

Development of the Sixth Street Lofts, for example, is turning what was once a real estate site left for dead into 30 loft apartments at 431 E. Sixth St. That project could be complete in early 2015.

New developments still in the entitlement phase include a proposal for 207 Seaside Way that would accommodate a five-story, 113-unit residential component over a two-story parking garage, among other features.

A proposal for 442 Ocean Blvd. is working its way through the process to make way for another five-story complex with 95 residential units over a two-story parking garage, among other amenities.

The former AMC movie theater at Pine Square is being transformed through adaptive reuse into 69 residential units. Other proposed adaptive reuses include: plans to reuse the Ocean Center historic office building as residential and retail/restaurant space at Pine Avenue and Ocean Boulevard; adapting the former Security Pacific Tower at 110 Pine Ave. into 118 residential units; among other projects.

While the construction does create jobs short term, the even better long-term benefits, Conway said, are a collateral effect of having more people and a different demographic living downtown, ultimately bringing in other new developments and retailers that the city hasnt had before.

The real multiplier here is the additional residential density we are going to have downtown, he said. Its still a bit of a tough market, and downtown has a somewhat challenging demographic. Its been a long plan and a long road to bring the downtown to its current status as a very popular and lively downtown. Twenty years ago, I couldnt say the same thing, but I think it is an extraordinary downtown and this development is a testament to its economic vitality.

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New High-Rises Develop In Downtown Long Beach