Opinion: New Dev’t in Bacolod’s Sister City, Long Beach

The last decade of investment delivered transformational changes to the Downtown skyline, and those skyscrapers and towers have contributed considerable

vibrancy of the human scale. As the national economy rebounds, local planners, developers and investors are gearing up for the next boom cycle and corresponding real property investment with property investment opportunities. The next wave of investment will continue Downtown Long Beach’s remarkable evolution, as the accompanying summary of new development projects demonstrates. All told, the next swell of planned development will deliver up to 2,297 residential units, 403,000 sq.m. of office spaces, 525 hotel rooms, 150,000 sq.ft. for arts-related use, 31 court rooms, and more than half a million sq.ft. of civic spaces.

Featuired projects include: Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse - 545,000 sq,ft. building with 31 civil and criminal courtrooms, 63,000 sq.ft. of county office spaces and 9,200 sq,ft. of retail spaces. These are being devewloped by the Long Beach Judicial Partners.

ArtExchange - 15,000 sq.ft. of working artist studios, creative spaces and educational facilities.These are being developed by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency.

Vons Market - 48,000 sq.ft. grocery store with 128 rooftop parking spaces. These are being developed by Safeway Company.

Parking - There are nearly 15,000 15,000 publicly accessible parking spaces in Downtown Long Beach. Recent operational changes by the City have enabled the 2,400 spaces within the three parking garages of CityPlace Shopping Center to offer oil customers a "first two hours free" utilization enticement. Additionally, a 90-minute validation is offered at the 2,200-space Pike at Rainbow Harbor parking structure.

Bicycling - Long Beach has declared the unabashed goal of becoming the "most bicycle-friendly city in the US." Accompanying that goal are considerable investments in bicycle infrastructure, ranging from bike-rental kiosks, enigmatic bike racks, and the nation’s first Bikestation which offers a 24-hour secure indoor bike parking facilities and other amenities. Most recently, the City opened the first separated bikeways in Southern California, which run in tandem with the Broadway and 3rd Street one-way pair that transverses the Downtown in an East-West fashion.*