A groundbreaking for a new retail center called Long Beach Exchange is the next step for the buildout of the former Boeing Co. land in northeast Long Beach known as Douglas Park.
The developers of Long Beach Exchange, alternatively known as LBX, are scheduled to gather Tuesday morning at land near the Long Beach-Lakewood city limits to commemorate the start of construction. If all goes to plan, LBX’s grand opening may take place on April 10, 2018.
That’s the word from Steve Thorp, a partner and director of acquisitions for Burnham Ward Properties, the Newport Beach developer behind LBX. Douglas Park is already home to several new office and industrial structures, and Thorp expects the center will be able to attract customers working in those buildings and surrounding neighborhoods.
“It’s a mix of both, and I think we’re going to see a regional draw,” Thorp said.
Long Beach’s Planning Commission approved the center in October, giving Burnham Ward permission to build some 266,000 square feet of new retail space southwest of where Carson Street crosses Lakewood Boulevard.
Burnham Ward’s portfolio includes the South Coast Collection, or SOCO, which is a high-end shopping center in Costa Mesa. That center’s businesses include furniture stores, restaurants and others who surround what’s called The O.C. Mix, a grouping of boutique merchants selling the likes of eyewear or outdoor gear, or serving coffee or wine to the center’s patrons.
As previously designed by another developer, that center had been designed as a place for shoppers on a mission to buy home furnishings.
“We made it more eclectic and gave people a reason to come in and stay,” Thorp said.
LBX gives Burnham Ward an opportunity to try something similar in Long Beach.
Thorp said the key feature planned for LBX is a hangar-shaped building with nearly 17,000 square feet of space to accommodate a mix of tenants dealing in products ranging from food to fashion.
Besides the smaller business that may operate inside the hangar, national retailers like Nordstrom Rack and 365 by Whole Foods have already been announced for Long Beach Exchange. The Seattle-based Nordstrom revealed plans to move its store at Lakewood Center Mall to Long Beach Exchange last month.
Thorp said Monday that he can also announce deals with T.J. Maxx and Orchard Supply Hardware to open stores at Long Beach Exchange.
Burnham Ward’s plans also call for design touches that may call attention the site’s history as a place where assembly workers built aircraft. Site plans also include a mock air traffic control tower and bronze plaques telling stories of local history.
Burnham Ward isn’t the only developer or property owners seeking to capitalize on Long Beach shoppers’ demand for boutique products.
Two examples: The ownership of the City Place shopping center in the city’s downtown have begun a process of redesigning the center to make room for more small businesses alongside the center’s chain stores.
Also, Lab Holding, LLC of Costa Mesa has acquired former redevelopment agency land in North Long Beach for a future retail project. That company’s projects include The Lab Antimall and The Camp shopping centers in Costa Mesa and Anaheim Packing District, the last being a place where restaurants serving many different styles of cuisine do business side by side.
