Big Construction Projects Taking Shape in New Year

The southland economy is strong enough to see major construction projects launch in 2024, some of which will take a few years to complete. There had been concerns floating in the air about another recession coming, or at least a substantial slowdown. It doesn’t seem to be stopping anything yet.

If you have any doubt about whether new construction is getting the financial backing it needs to get underway, go take a drive into Orange County or the South Bay, not to mention Los Angeles and, of course, Long Beach. This city will see a few projects launched or carried forward in 2024 at the Port, the Hard Rock Hotel, and in the city’s housing market.

And don’t expect to see the Queen Mary going away anytime soon!

Pier B Project a Sign of Growth at the Port

In late 2023, the Port of Long Beach announced it would be going out to bid in early 2024 for its first construction contract to begin building the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility. Fifteen years in the making before the Port’s recent approval, the $1.567 billion state-of-the-art facility project will be built in phases with the final segment due to be completed in 2032.

Major improvements are expected to come from moving more of the cargo by rail to handle increased cargo growth. The new facility will more than double the size of the existing Pier B rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres and more than triple the volume of on-dock rail cargo the Port can handle annually, from 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 4.7 million TEUs. It will add 130,000 feet of rail, quadrupling the number of tracks from 12 to 48, widening the rail bridge over the Dominguez Channel from two to three tracks, and reconfiguring and improving nearby Pico Avenue and Pier B Street.

“By augmenting our ability to increase velocity in container movement by rail and move more cargo by rail, the Port is well-positioned to handle cargo growth, prevent supply chain delays and reduce emissions associated with Port activity into the future,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero.

The program will be built through 10 projects, starting with the rail yard’s East Expansion. Bids will be solicited for the first segment during the first quarter of 2024. Construction is expected to start in the fall. The Port also expects to seek construction bids on the locomotive facility that will begin construction in 2025.

The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility is one of several improvements the Port has been making to the rail network in recent years. Even during the height of the global pandemic over the past three years, the Port completed the double-track project from Pier G to Pier J, the fourth track at Ocean Blvd., and the on-dock rail yard at Middle Harbor.

Get Ready for the Hard Rock Hotel

Ever been to a popular Hard Rock Hotel location in Las Vegas, New York City, or Orlando? Another one of these sites will be opening in Long Beach, but you’ll have to wait until mid-2027 to go there. The construction crew is expected to break ground this summer.

An artistic rendering shows a building 31 floors high that will take the space of the former Jergins Trust Building at 100 N. Ocean Blvd., on the southeast corner of Ocean Blvd. and Pine Ave. It’s expected to have 427 guest rooms and suites.

Mayor Rex Richardson has said the famed Jergins Tunnel that used to connect downtown to the Pike will be repurposed as part of the project. He expects it will support the city’s music scene.

It will join San Diego as Southern California’s second Hard Rock Hotel location, and the first in nearly a decade in this region. The Long Beach location will have what is being billed as the tallest open rooftop bar on the Southern California coast, overlooking the Port of Long Beach and other nearby tourist attractions such as Alamitos Beach, Shoreline Village, Long Beach Cruise Terminal, and the Aquarium of the Pacific. It will also have an outdoor swimming pool, a fitness studio, two restaurants, and other Hard Rock-branded offerings.

‘Elevate ‘28’ will be Supporting 2028 Olympics

Long Beach plays a part in Los Angeles being chosen for the 2028 Summer Olympics, just as it had done in 1932 and 1984. Long Beach will host various events for the Olympics including rowing, handball, BMX, canoeing, water polo, and open-water swimming.

The City of Long Beach included the ‘Elevate ’28’ Plan during its 2024 budget process to support those efforts. That five-year infrastructure plan has been designed around lifting up the city in preparation for the Olympics. City Manager Tom Modica said the budget will be funding 64 new projects from the Public Works Dept. that include significant street improvement plans and the construction of the new Belmont Pool.

Among these 64 projects will be youth sports facilities, park improvements, arts and cultural centers, and the landmarking of historic and cultural sites throughout Long Beach. ‘Elevate ‘28’ is based on lifting up all Long Beach neighborhoods, youth and culture, in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Another incentive to make these changes soon will be coming from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Los Angeles will be one of 16 cities hosting a game for the international men’s soccer championship, which is expected to bring a wave of tourists to Long Beach during that time.

Funding for ‘Elevate ‘28’ is coming from the 2024 budget’s five-year plan. It will also be getting an extra $214.6 million from Measure A funds, grants, bonds and other funding sources, according to the City of Long Beach.

The Belmont Pool project had been downsized in the 2024 budget after a larger, previous years-in-the-making plan. This budget includes a 50-meter outdoor pool with diving springboards, zip lines and climbing walls; an instructional pool for swim lessons and laps; and a recreational pool for children.

The California Oil and Gas Well Regulations Referendum will determine much of the available funds. If it gets voted down in November, it would revive Senate Bill 1137, which was signed into law in 2022. That law, which was sponsored as a bill by state Sens. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, and Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, prohibits the issuance of oil well permits and the construction and operation of new production facilities within a health protection zone of 3,200 feet from a “sensitive receptor.” Sensitive receptors would include a residence, school, childcare facility, playground, hospital, or nursing home, according to a legislative summary.

If voters support SB 1137 and defeat the November ballot initiative, it could have a major impact on the reserves in Long Beach’s Tidelands Area Fund, a city official said – and how much funding the city can allocate to what was previously a larger and more expansive Belmont Pool proposal.

Housing May Be Expensive, But It Will Continue to Expand

While area residents are being hit hard by increasing rental rates, Long Beach won’t be slowing down adding a lot more housing units in the next few years. The assumption is that the demand will continue to be strong, and rental units will continue to be filled even if the cost of rent continues to rise. The Long Beach Development Projects Map continues to be filled with approved housing projects in the works, with most of them in the downtown area.

The city is setting a cap on rent increases under the implementation of state law AB 1482. On July 1, 2023, the city capped out rent increases at 8.8% annually. That means rent will continue to increase significantly even with some level of control over how high it can increase each year.

Some of these large housing projects in development include the 432-unit Onni East Village on the 200 block of Long Beach Blvd., which started construction last summer. Three projects are underway near the 2ND & PCH shopping center that will be adding about 1,300 units to that area. The West Gateway project, a mixed-use project located at 600 W. Broadway, north of the World Trade Center, got underway last year. It’s expected to bring 756 rental units to the downtown.

Don’t forget about the Queen Mary!

Would you like to see a good sign that the iconic, historic Queen Mary won’t be going away anytime soon? How about the fact that for the first time in three years, the ship was able to host two New Year’s Eve parties?

After a three-year closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing maintenance problems, a reopening process started in April 2023. The City of Long Beach has had to play a more active role in the ship’s future. Instead of doing the usual, bringing in a third-party leaseholder, the city has taken on an active leadership role. A new management company, Evolution Hospitality, was brought in to slowly open up the ship again to the public under the city’s supervision.

Small tours were allowed to access the ship, and a limited number of rooms opened up in June last year. In July, Evolution was able to increase that number to 200 of the ship’s 347 staterooms that became available for stays.

Evolution Hospitality reported that the Queen Mary closed out the year in the black, according to financial records the company provided. The Queen Mary appears to be in a more solid financial outlook after about 17 years of operational deficits and a reported loss of nearly $31.4 million from 2007 to 2019, according to the Long Beach Business Journal.

The stateroom rate will vary depending on the night you stay there. Standard staterooms on the Queen Mary start at $209, and family staterooms start at $259 per night. The prices will fluctuate based on the usual travel prices you see on the market – it’s more expensive to stay over on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night than it is on the other four stayover nights, according to the ship’s pricing calendar for January.

Jon LeSage is a resident of Long Beach and a veteran business media reporter and editor. You can reach him at jtlesage1@yahoo.com.