Long Beach Planning Commission Approves 30-Story, 429 Room Hotel Project

Yesterday, the City of Long Beach Planning Commission approved a proposal to develop a 30-story hotel, retail and large-scale event space development to be located on the southeast corner of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue just north of the Waterfront in Downtown Long Beach.

American Life Inc., the project applicant, plans to develop a 537,075 square-foot (SF) hotel with 429 rooms, 23,512 SF of restaurant uses, and 26,847 SF of meeting rooms, ballrooms, and pre-function space. The building would be 30 stories high and up to 375.5 feet high, consisting of a 27-story tower over a 3-story podium.

The hotel rooms would consist of 171 king rooms, 152 double queen rooms, 76 suites, and 30 penthouse suites. Hotel amenities would include a pool deck and bar, fitness center, executive lounge, guest laundry, and a main floor lounge.

The project includes improvements to Victory Park along Ocean Boulevard, including retaining the existing curb cuts on Ocean Boulevard to provide passenger loading and unloading, providing pedestrian pathways, and new landscaping. The project would also provide public access to the Jergins Trust Tunnel, a Historic Landmark in the City. The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission proposes to use the tunnel for educational tours, including interpretive signage, images and artifacts.

The Tunnel was constructed in 1927 to provide a pedestrian “subway” to the beach stretching north-south below Ocean Boulevard. The tunnel led through the Jergins Trust Building, which is also a designated Historic Landmark but was demolished in 1988 and is the site of the new project.

Designed by GBD Architects, the project has a contemporary architectural style with a blend of precast concrete and aluminum framed glass system with spandrel glass and metal accent panels. A curtain wall composed of glass and metal materials will accentuate the tower form of the building. Over half of the building facade will consist of precast concrete, metal panels, louvers, or opaque glass. The remaining facade will be vision glass.

Due to the sloped nature of the project, the primary entrance would be located on Level 3 of the tower. Level 1 will contain a secondary pedestrian lobby and access to the Jergins Trust Tunnel, and level 2 would contain meeting rooms and a Jergins Trust Tunnel Gallery. The podium feature would rise from Seaside Way, with shifting rooftop decks on Levels 3, 6, and 7 along different sides of the building.

Levels 4 and 5 would house the ballroom, Level 6 would house offices and an outdoor deck featuring a pool, spa, bar, and landscaping, Levels 7 through 29 would comprise hotel rooms, and a rooftop restaurant would be on Level 30.

Vehicular access to the project would be provided via driveways along Seaside Way and Pine Avenue, with primary access from Seaside Way. 431 parking spaces would be provided in total, including 151 onsite spaces.

The applicant’s proposal included a Site Plan Review, a Local Coastal Development Permit, and Certification of the Environmental Impact Report.