Consortium OK’d for Revamp of CityPlace Long Beach

Developers will replace part of the vacant CityPlace Long Beach shopping center with a retail and housing village in Downtown.

New York-based Turnbridge Equities, Newport Beach-based Waterford Property Company and Monument Square Investment Group, based in Beverly Hills, won approval from the city’s Planning Commission to redevelop CityPlace at 151 East 5th Street, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.

Construction of the 5.5-acre project isn’t expected for a year, according to city planners.

The consortium will build three eight-story apartment buildings with 900 apartments, including 54 affordable units for very low-income households, and 38,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. Parking will serve 1,383 cars and 138 bicycles.

The trio of real estate investors acquired the beleaguered shopping center in March of last year through the sale of a $63 million loan.

CityPlace had replaced the Long Beach Plaza, a 676,000-square-foot indoor mall built four decades ago with three large anchor tenants. It was demolished in 1999.

The 14-acre property was taken over by Developers Diversified Realty in 2002, which built out 450,000 square feet of commercial space and named it CityPlace. It included a downtown-style Walmart, which didn’t draw enough traffic and closed in 2016.

Part of CityPlace south of Fourth Street not be impacted by the new project has been renamed The Streets, and renovated since 2017.

The last mixed-use project, dubbed Mosaic, will be built between Third and Sixth streets and Pine Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard.

Plans call for redeveloping two parcels that include the former Walmart and a commercial building that now houses a GameStop, Fashion Island and a T-Mobile store.

The first parcel on the southwest corner of Long Beach Boulevard and East Sixth Street would contain a 269-unit apartment complex and pedestrian paseo at its north end. The southern portion would feature a 359-unit complex and 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

The second parcel at the southwestern corner of Long Beach Boulevard and East Fifth Street would contain a mixed-use apartment building with 272 units and 20,000 square feet of commercial space.

The developers aim to make Mosaic more pedestrian-friendly by closing The Promenade to vehicle traffic between Fourth and Fifth streets and extending the pedestrian-only zone north to Sixth Street.

It will include a two-story, 2,400 square-foot retail pavilion along Fifth Street and The Promenade North. A paseo would run between the former Walmart property and a parking garage to the west.

The retail buildings south of Fourth Street — including Ross, Studio One Eleven and Portuguese Bend — will not be impacted.

Shooshani Developers acquired CityPlace Long Beach, built in 2005, from its developer, then defaulted on a $63 million loan last year. The new ownership group bought that debt through a bidding process.

— Dana Bartholomew