One of the largest developments in Long Beach, at Ocean and Alamitos Avenue, officially began welcoming tenants in September, bringing Long Beach’s tallest building its first inhabitants.
Despite its luxurious price tag—studios start at $2,960 per month while the building’s hyper-elite, who-honestly-has-this-much-disposable-income, two-story penthouses can fetch upwards of $15,000 per month—the building is already 20% leased according to Ryan Altoon, executive vice president for Shoreline’s co-developer, Anderson Pacific. The other half of its development was led by Ledcor Development LP. It is owned collectively by Anderson Pacific, Ledcor, Qualico, and Landtower Residential.
“I think one of the most disappointing things I heard while we were developing this project was that, ‘You don’t have to go that nice for Long Beach,'” Altoon said. “And I found that frustrating because we’re talking about people—all kinds of people—and there are people who appreciate high-quality housing that pays attention to detail.”
Those details include things that Altoon describes as “pandemic-perspective living,” meaning that the several people not only want to work from home but choose to—and the Shoreline tower is a place where residents don’t have to leave for much of anything.
A private outdoor dog space and spa, the latter of which includes full bath spaces for large and small breeds attached to an outdoor play area on the second floor of the tower. A full gym with virtual boxing coaches and a room which can double as both a dance studio and a yoga studio. A spa. A rooftop pool. A conference room. A study lounge. A bike room with lockers and full repair tools. A delivery room which includes refrigerated sections for those that have perishables delivered.
Despite its luxurious price tag—studios can go for $2,960 per month while the building’s hyper-elite, who-honestly-has-this-much-disposable-income, two-story penthouses can fetch upwards of $15,000 per month—the building is already 20% leased.
It even has its own proprietary scent that is softly pumped throughout the entire building and an interior design by Hirsch Bedner Associates, known more for the interiors of hotels than residential towers.
It is, indeed, a type of living for which most find inaccessible but for Altoon, caters to a crowd that would have otherwise taken nearby housing.
“We have tenants that were in [the neighboring] Current [also developed and owned by Anderson Pacific] move over into this tower,” Altoon said. “I continue to stress that if we don’t build this type of housing, our housing crisis will continue worsen. I say this over and over and over.”
Though housing advocates continue to battle over “trickle down housing”—the idea that if luxury housing isn’t built, wealthy people will simply buy up existing housing stock and continue to push lower income families out—there is one glaring reality about both the Shoreline and Current towers: They were entitled before the city’s inclusionary ordinance was passed, assuring that every unit would and will remain market rate.
While some feel the Shoreline’s creation was a relatively new endeavor, it’s development has been nearly two decades in length. Following completion of the $70-million, 17-story Current tower—also owned by Anderson Pacific, Ledcor, Qualico, and Landtower—the footprint of Shoreline had long been a part of the original plan. In fact, before the Recession of 2008, the Shoreline Gateway tower was supposed to be built first, followed by the Current; plans obviously altered post-recession, with the Current opening its doors to rising rents and controversy in 2016.
Also, the Shoreline Gateway tower was set to hold 221 units with 6,367 square feet of ground floor retail. However, given an update from the original proposal by Shoreline Development Partners several years back, developers have added 94 more units and 344 square feet of additional retail space on top of its original proposal.
The Studio One Eleven-designed building—the city’s tallest at 417 feet high, usurping One World Trade Center which stands at 397 feet—at 315 residential units and 6,711 square feet of retail space. Additionally, the previously-approved 393 parking spaces will increase to 458 while pushing the subterranean parking garage from two levels deep to five along with a 10,000 square foot plaza conjoins the new tower and the Current.
