Long Beach Ca Development And Redevelopment

Lawyers for the Port of Long Beach have appealed a judge's order blocking construction of a cargo terminal on the site of the city's closed naval station. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert H. O'Brien had ruled that port officials improperly made a commitment to build a terminal for China Ocean Shipping Co., or Cosco, before an environmental impact study was completed. City officials contend that the judge had no jurisdiction to stop the project.

The developer of a $90-million shopping center and housing project called CityPlace that will replace a failed mall in downtown Long Beach has struck a deal with a Los Angeles-based company and a Long Beach firm to develop the project's 221 apartments. Developers Diversified Realty Corp.

Although plans for the Walt Disney Co.'s billion-dollar expansion in the city remain secret, City Council members will be asked today to approve spending $101,000 to study the economic impact of the proposal and its potential costs to the city. Municipal officials said the three-phased analysis would first look at the current economic status of the area in the vicinity of Disneyland and then incorporate Disney's future plans as they become available. Deputy City Manager Tom Wood said a "base-line" analysis of the area must be done to update the city's revenue sources in the area.

The state Lands Commission on Monday removed the final government snag facing Long Beach's plans for a waterfront renaissance. The state panel voted to allow construction of a 16-screen theater on public tideland as part of the Queensway Bay Project, a $100-million retail-entertainment complex along the city's downtown coastline. In exchange, the state will get land close to the Los Angeles River in Long Beach.

In remarks suggesting that Long Beach may be losing the race for the Walt Disney Co.'s new West Coast theme park, Mayor Ernie Kell said Thursday he believes that there is an 80% chance the company will select Anaheim as the home of its next $3-billion resort.

A quiet countdown continues in the Burbank headquarters of the Walt Disney Co. Leaders of two separate Disney development teams said this week that they are racing against a self-imposed deadline that is about to enter its final two months.

Ending nearly a year of speculation, Walt Disney Co. unveiled plans Wednesday for a $3-billion expansion at Disneyland that would include a second theme park patterned after its highly successful EPCOT Center in Florida. A highlight of the expansion, to be called WESTCOT Center, would be a giant golden sphere called Spacestation Earth that probably would join the Matterhorn as Disneyland's best-known landmark.

They're all gone from Long Beach's Walk of a Thousand Lights now--Reckless Ross, the Stone Man, Painless Parker, the bullet-riddled Al Capone Car (which really wasn't), the Oklahoma Mummy Man (which really was, although no one knew it at the time). The Walk of a Thousand Lights, better known as the Pike, is about 997 short today. It's a 13-acre asphalt desert inhabited by a couple of abandoned buildings, junked cars, a cafe, a bar and, lit up by a red copper sign, Looff's Hippodrome.

Sitting behind the desk in his 13th-floor office, City Manager James C. Hankla has a sweeping view of Long Beach's waterfront. It is a view he is proud of, one that bears his personal stamp. As he gazes out the window, the man many consider to be the most powerful person in Long Beach can see the gleaming steel-and-glass Convention Center, the end result of a $100-million gamble that many considered folly but which now is paying big dividends.

Reeling from losses, layoffs and production cuts, Boeing Co. is expected to announce today that it will abandon plans to add a specialty 737 assembly line at its Long Beach facility, according to sources at the company. The decision would reverse a commitment made by Boeing in August, dashing hopes for new jobs in the region. It would also render useless the millions of dollars in improvements made inside the plant that was to house the new production line.

Crown Theatres of South Norwalk, Conn., has agreed to operate a 15-screen movie theater that will anchor the Queensway Bay project in Long Beach. Developers Diversified Realty Corp. selected Crown Theatres after two other operators, Edwards Theaters Circuit Inc. and Resort Theaters of America, filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of financial problems that have hit the movie theater business.

Retreating from threats to fire the developer of a long-stalled waterfront project, the Long Beach City Council has granted the builder a 15-month extension to break ground on the $100-million entertainment and retail center. Council members voted 6 to 1 on Tuesday night to let an Ohio-based company continue with the Queensway Bay project, which has been described as a cornerstone of the city's effort to remake itself into a prime tourist destination.

In 1889, two public parks that formed a mile-long promenade of flower beds, eucalyptus and Moreton Bay fig trees on the coastal bluffs of downtown Long Beach were dedicated in perpetuity for recreation. Today, Santa Cruz and Victory parks along Ocean Boulevard don't seem so public anymore. Modern office buildings, high-rise condos, walls, steps and driveways encroach on much of the land.

In a state of the city speech sprinkled with jokes about local politics, Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill announced Tuesday that the city has strongly recovered from the last economic recession, but still faces substantial challenges to redevelop its downtown waterfront.

Frustrated by delays in their waterfront redevelopment plan, Long Beach city officials Wednesday told the builder of a proposed $100-million entertainment complex to move forward on it within 30 days or face dismissal. The ultimatum reflects the city's growing discontent over the stalled Queensway Bay development, which officials had hoped would lure tourists to attractions such as the Queen Mary ocean liner and the struggling Aquarium of the Pacific.

Plans for the Queensway Bay redevelopment project on the Long Beach waterfront have stalled again, threatening to unravel efforts by city officials to remake their downtown into one of the hottest tourist destinations in Southern California. In recent months, two major movie theater chains that were considered anchor tenants have had to bow out or face serious questions about financial viability because they are in bankruptcy court.

In what could be a critical blow to the rebirth of downtown Long Beach, the state attorney general's office said Thursday that the city violated state environmental laws when it approved the Pike project, a mammoth swath of oceanside high rises said to be one of the nation's most ambitious renewal efforts.

Attempting to resurrect a failed shopping area in the heart of downtown Long Beach, the City Council has cleared the way for a $75-million retail and residential complex on the site of a defunct redevelopment project.

Attempting to resurrect a failed shopping area in the heart of downtown Long Beach, the City Council has cleared the way for a $75-million retail and residential complex on the site of a defunct redevelopment project.

At night, it shimmers like Xanadu, rising from the inland flats along the 605 in Long Beach to a crest of 70 feet, spreading itself over an 82-acre site that once accommodated the Long Beach Navy Hospital. Its neon bright glow beckons for miles, like a stadium, like a small city, and fanned around its edges are its pilgrims. Cars and trucks and minivans, blocks of them, turn-signals blinking like a frenzy of fireflies, all head toward a parking lot slightly smaller than Delaware.