Long Beach : Office-Tower Builders OKd
The Redevelopment Agency has settled on Treptow Development Co. of Houston and Cushman Investment and Development Corporation of Los Angeles to construct an office building city officials expect to stand out as landmark.
The joint-venture partners propose building a $75-million tower with a polished granite facade at the northwest corner of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue. About 30,000 square feet on the ground floor will be set aside for the Long Beach Art Museum, and the rest of the ground floor will be reserved for retail shops. At 435 feet, the building will soar the equivalent of 31 stories into the Long Beach skyline.
Treptow and Cushman were recommended by a seven-member Developer Selection Committee, which included two members of the city’s Redevelopment Board, three members of city staff and two consultants. Other bidders for the last remaining office site on Ocean Boulevard included Kilroy Industries, IDM Corp., Stanley Cohen and North American Taisei, and Paragon Place Associates.
Of the bidders, Treptow was the only one that had no previous involvement with Long Beach projects.
Tuesday night, at the request of Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, in whose 1st District the project area lies, the City Council voted 5-4 to ask the agency to delay selection for two weeks to allow further study of the proposals.
On Wednesday, agency members decided to go ahead with selection because, they said, the negotiating process would allow ample time to review Treptow and Cushman’s proposal. Agency members also voted to form a subcommittee to review the proposal.
Now the agency will enter into a 90-day negotiating period with Treptow, which will also be required to post a $250,000 good-faith deposit. The completed agreement, which is expected to include some financial participation by the Redevelopment Agency, must also be approved by the City Council.
Treptow Development Co. was a joint-venture partner in the recently completed the Chase Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, and is renovating the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Cushman Investments has extensive leasing experience, said Hank Cunningham, assistant executive director of the Redevelopment Agency.
