Curving Coastal Complex of Hotel, Offices Coming to Long Beach
Sweeping in a graceful curve, Shoreline Square has been approved by Long Beach to add a focal point to the city’s Convention Center complex and rapidly growing downtown cluster of high-rise office and hotel towers.
The $125-million project will consist of a 500-room hotel and a 24-story office building connected by a 60-foot-high atrium and occupying the block bounded by Ocean and Long Beach boulevards and Elm and 1st streets in the Long Beach Redevelopment Area.
The arc of the hotel will encompass a quarter of a circle and its curve will be complemented by the stepped design and rounded corners of the 400,000-square-foot office tower, with the multilevel atrium between them.
Jerry Allmand, director of design for Maxwell Starkman Associates, the architect, explained that the design was developed to complement the city’s existing downtown buildings, to maximize the hotel’s view potential and to provide a focal point for downtown redevelopment.
Ground breaking is scheduled for next March with completion expected by January, 1988. The builder will be Pankow Construction Co. of Altadena and Merchant Associates will contribute the design of the interiors.
The developer is a joint venture of Stan Cohen, Newport Beach developer; Taisei Corp., Japan’s largest engineering-construction-real estate company, and Marubeni Corp., one of Japan’s largest trading companies.
The hotel will have lobby lounges and bars, with conference and hospitality facilities on upper floors. The second level will feature a grand ballroom, secondary meeting rooms and its own lobby overlooking the main lobby, from which it will be reached by a grand staircase. Other features of the hotel will include a swimming pool with a health spa and lounge area, including an outdoor cocktail terrace.
The atrium connecting the office and the hotel will contain specialty stores and restaurants. An underground parking garage accommodating 1,400 cars will serve both buildings.
“The decision by Taisei and Marubeni to select Shoreline Square as their first major commercial development venture in the United States is further confirmation of Long Beach’s growing recognition as an international city,” co-developer Cohen said.
“We believe Long Beach is well on its way to becoming one of the most important business centers on the West Coast and perhaps the principal beneficiary of Pacific Rim commerce. In that context, we hope to see Shoreline Square become the architectural and commercial focal point of downtown Long Beach.”
