Long Beach Council Lifts Key Obstacle to Retail Complex

A controversial entertainment and retail center--which supporters say will be the cornerstone of waterfront development in Long Beach--overcame a key hurdle when the City Council gave final approval to floating $43 million in municipal bonds for a parking structure at the project.

Council members voted 7 to 2 Tuesday night to approve terms of the bond sale, despite growing opposition from community groups and downtown businesspeople, who say the $100-million Queensway Bay proposal could threaten other redevelopment projects and businesses in the city.

Proponents assert, however, that the long-delayed project is necessary to reshape the port city as a major recreational destination and to help boost attendance at the 2-year-old Aquarium of the Pacific.

“This was the last City Council action. We can now proceed with construction,” said Robert Paternoster, the city’s director for the project. “It would have been disastrous to pull the plug at the eleventh hour with all the investment that has been made.”

Queensway Bay, which was proposed in the early 1990s, will be an 18-acre development south of Ocean Boulevard between the aquarium and the Long Beach Convention Center.

Plans call for 12 buildings that will contain a 15-screen theater, more than a dozen restaurants and several retail outlets. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next month and the opening is expected in October 2001.

City officials and supporters predict that the project will eventually attract 10 million new visitors a year to downtown Long Beach and generate $2.5 million in annual tax revenue. If successful, they say, it will bolster the city’s economic recovery from the recession of the 1990s.

The project has become controversial partly because the city has backed off on promises made several years ago that it would not use public subsidies for the development.

The developers sought the city’s financial help after the council decided to require 700 more parking spaces.

City officials have offered to forgo about $4.5 million in water and building fees, and to contribute other municipal revenue to the project, including parking meter funds.

The city also has agreed with the builders, OliverMcMillan of San Diego and Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty, to forgive lease payments of $1.45 million a year if the two companies do not make a 12% profit during the first seven years of operation.

More than 20 people spoke out against the project during Tuesday’s City Council meeting. About 10 others, including the Chamber of Commerce president, expressed their support.

Critics contend that the current mix of movie theaters and restaurants for Queensway Bay is not different enough to become a major tourist attraction. They also predict that the entertainment center will create an oversupply of food and retail outlets that will threaten businesses around Pine Avenue as well as stores and restaurants in Belmont Shore.

“This thing has gone from wow to woe. The excitement is just not there anymore,” said Jeff King, co-founder of King’s Seafood Co. on Pine Avenue. “While there have been successes on Pine Avenue, there certainly have been a lot of failures.”

Paternoster acknowledged that some businesspeople are concerned about competition, but said none of them want the project killed. He predicted that Queensway Bay will become a major regional attraction in California and ultimately benefit many local businesses.