Long Beach retail site prepares for its third iteration

City Place, a 14-acre, big-box center in downtown Long Beach, Calif., that was the site of the Long Beach Plaza Mall appears headed for redevelopment as a mixed-use center.

Turnbridge Equities and Waterford Property Company acquired the center for an undisclosed sum in a bidding process. While the partners plan to explore a mixed-use renovation of the center, they also expressed an intent to keep current tenants such as
Ross Dress for Less and Studio 111.

Former owner Tony Shooshani, a well-known Beverly Hills developer and Ferrari collector, sought to erect a 22-story student housing tower at City Place for the California State University at Long Beach. But the plan fell through last year and Shooshani defaulted on his $63 million loan for the project.

Turnbridge’s director of West Coast investments Michael Gazzano also envisions a role for residential space at City Place.

"Downtown Long Beach has excellent fundamentals, and this site offers great scale to go along with walkability, access to transit, and great pedestrian experience along The Promenade and side streets,” Gazzano said. 

The residential base in downtown Long Beach has grown since the completion of Douglas Park, a 4 million-sq.-ft. office park occupied by Virgin Orbit, Mercedes Benz, and several other companies that together employ thousands of high-wage workers.

Waterford has been an active participant in the population growth in Long Beach, having acquired and repositioned more than 15 projects there in just the past six years.

“Big-box retail stores are not the highest and best use for this site. It’s better suited for more density,” Waterford co-founder John Drachman told the Long Beach Press.