2nd & PCH Retail Shopping Center Project Moves Forward

Sean Belk

After several failed attempts to redevelop the corner of 2nd Street and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in southeast Long Beach, a new project to build a two-level retail shopping center with dining patios, ocean views and rooftop parking is moving forward with more support than concerns from residents.

The Long Beach Planning Commission at its meeting on Sept. 7 unanimously approved certifying an environmental impact report (EIR), a site plan review and local coastal development permits for the project that includes demolishing the aging SeaPort Marina Hotel at the 10-acre site that has sat underutilized for decades.  

If all goes as planned, the more than 50-year-old hotel, which is now permanently closed, will be torn down sometime next year, according to city officials, and replaced with a 245,000-square-foot pedestrian-friendly shopping center offering 95,000 square feet of retail space and 70,000 square feet of restaurants. The center will also feature a new 55,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market store and a new 25,000-square-foot fitness/health club.

After struggling to gain support for previous proposals, the site’s longtime owner Raymond Lin and his family-owned company Taki-Sun, Inc. is partnering with El Segundo-based commercial real estate developer CenterCal Properties to build the new shopping center that city officials said has been designed with  “unique and visually attractive” elements that will take advantage of the Alamitos Bay Marina location.

“I’ve been living in Long Beach for 20 years, and our community desperately needs great retail and a great shopping experience,” said Lin during public comment. “As a part owner of this shopping experience, I’d like to promise you that this is one that we will all be proud of, and this will be a showcase for Long Beach.”

Over the past decade, previous proposals, including one in 2011 that called for a 12-story residential/hotel high-rise, were shot down by the City Council after residents raised concerns about high density, building heights, increased traffic and potential impacts to the nearby Los Cerritos Wetlands.

The new development project, however, requires no variances, comes with no residential or hotel component and conforms to current zoning standards, such as a maximum 35-foot building height requirement and designating a minimum of 30 percent of the site as usable open space.

While the EIR for the project identifies some unavoidable impacts to traffic and air quality, the current proposal received far less comments and objections than previous plans and has received much more support from residents and even wetlands advocates, who have lauded the developer for implementing bird-safety building measures.

Craig Chalfant, the city’s senior planner, confirmed with the Beachcomber via email that the project will not go before the City Council for approval unless an appeal is filed within 10 days of the planning commission’s approval.

During public comment at the commission hearing, some speakers raised concerns about whether the retail center will have adequate parking for the mix of land uses.

According to city staff, the shopping center will provide a total of 1,150 parking spaces within and atop parking structures on the site. While the development will provide 75 fewer parking spaces than required by zoning, city staff noted that a traffic study determined the parking supply would be adequate to meet projected peak demand.

Jean Paul Wardy, president of CenterCal Properties, assured the public that parking would be sufficient enough for patrons and pedestrians at the center.

“We are a long-term owner of these projects, we’re investing a significant amount in this project and we want it to operate at a very high level,” he said. “We spent a lot of time looking at parking and how the parking operates, and we think it will operate at a very acceptable level.”

Several speakers called for a project labor agreement (PLA) that would ensure union labor for subcontracted work in construction, however, city officials confirmed that such a condition of approval would not be legal for the city to require for a private development.

City staff also noted that various traffic mitigation measures with regard to possible changes to nearby intersections are not guaranteed since they would require approvals from outside agencies, such as CalTrans. However, the developer promised to report on progress during the development process.

In addition, it was noted that the city is working on traffic changes to Marina Drive, including adding protected bike lanes and a “road diet,” along with possible changes to PCH, however, the public infrastructure improvements are separate from the private development.  

Steve Shaul, senior director of development for CenterCal, said that an economic impact study found that the new shopping center once constructed will bring more than 1,000 new temporary and full-time jobs in addition to $2.8 million in annual net revenue to the city’s general fund.

The project, he said, has been designed in collaboration with community groups, city officials and consultants with a key focus on place-making, and accentuating characteristics of the site by opening up Marina Drive and making the center an iconic entryway into the City of Long Beach.

“We want this to be Long Beach’s focal point for gathering,” Shaul said. “We want there to be summer concerts, movies in the park or art walks, and we feel like we’ll be able to achieve that.”

He added that, unlike previous proposals, the new retail project has gained support from many residents in the community, including wetlands advocates.

“I can tell you every time I was out I heard positive feedback,” Shaul said. “It was always more of the statement of, ‘why can’t you  build it faster?’ We feel confident that the community wants to see this happen.”

sean@beachcomber.news

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