Long Beach Civic Center, a $520M public-private partnership project, reaches financial close

Rendering of the Civic Center in Long Beach (credit: Skidmore Owings & Merrill)
Rendering of the Civic Center in Long Beach (credit: Skidmore Owings & Merrill)

Something big is a brewing over in Long Beach.

The city, along with the Port of Long Beach, has closed financing on a $520 million deal for the Long Beach Civic Center project, a joint mixed-use venture between public and private entities known as P3. 

The developer and leader of the project is Plenary Group, which is providing $21 million. The project also involves Clark Construction, Edgemoor, SOM and Johnson Controls. Allianz will provide long-term financing of $237 million, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking will contribute a $213 million loan, and the city of Long Beach will provide $11.8 million in cash and $30 million worth of land.

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Arup, a design and consulting firm, will be the lead advisor to the Port of Long Beach. According to Arup’s project team leader Orion Fulton, a traditional development process would have taken three to five years. The partnership will expedite the project to span only two years, GlobeSt.com reported.

Now that the project has reached a financial close, construction will begin.

Long Beach is currently in the midst of several major developments, including a 29,000-square-foot expansion to the Aquarium of the Pacific and the revamping of the Queen Mary ship, including its surrounding area. [GlobeSt]Cathaleen Chen