Long Beach City Council Approves 138-Unit Mixed-Use Development

Last week, the Long Beach City Council adopted a resolution certifying an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Addendum, clearing the way for a 138-unit mixed-use development to be located on nine lots at 201-245 West Pacific Coast Highway and 1827 Pacific Avenue.

The proposed development by Urbana Development, would consist of two five-story buildings with 138 market-rate residential units and 24,911 square feet (SF) of ground-floor commercial space. The buildings would have a terraced design that pushes their mass away from adjacent residential properties to the north and toward Pacific Coast Highway to the south. The site is primarily surrounded by residential and commercial uses that do not exceed two stories.

The Council approved the applicant’s request to extend the Midtown Specific Plan (MTSP) Transit Node Low (TNL) district to the project site, which will enable the developer to build a mixed-use project on the site of up to seven stories in height. The project site is located in a high-quality transit area served by light rail and high-frequency bus service, and thus contributes to the city’s transit-oriented development goals. 

Designed by Studio T-Square 2, the project would feature a raised pedestrian bridge connecting the two buildings, above a public paseo running north to south through the project site that will be lined with retail and commercial uses. The city considers the current project site to be blighted and claims that the new project will activate pedestrian activity in the area, contribute to a feeling of greater public safety for pedestrians, encourage more public transit use, and provide current area residents with retail options. The current site contains an operating 9,100 SF market, but would be replaced with a 23,000 SF supermarket as part of the new project. Therefore, the city concluded that the project would not result in a net loss of grocery stores for the area.